Those in the Navy present or past?

[Bella the Ball 360]

I am applying for a summer social studies program which involves working on a battle ship. I needed to write an essay as to why I would like to take the program and I was not sure if one refers to a battle ship as "she". For some reason I did not think this was the correct pronoun for this type of ship. Can anyone correct me on this?

 

[planning]

I was in the Navy from 93-98 and we always referred to our ship as that. From Wikipedia, here is the correct syntax, but we never made a distinction between ships named after men versus ships named after something else:

Ships and countries

Traditionally ships, even ships named after men such as USS Barry, countries, and oceans have been referred to using the feminine pronouns. The origins of this practice are not certain, and it is currently in decline (though still more common for ships, particularly in nautical usage, than for countries). In Modern English, calling objects "she" is an optional figure of speech, while in American English it is advised against by The Chicago Manual of Style.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I was in the Navy from 93-98 and we always referred to our ship as that. From Wikipedia, here is the correct syntax, but we never made a distinction between ships named after men versus ships named after something else:

Ships and countries

Traditionally ships, even ships named after men such as USS Barry, countries, and oceans have been referred to using the feminine pronouns. The origins of this practice are not certain, and it is currently in decline (though still more common for ships, particularly in nautical usage, than for countries). In Modern English, calling objects "she" is an optional figure of speech, while in American English it is advised against by The Chicago Manual of Style.

Thanks a million....I am going to go with tradition since the ship is a famous land mark over 200 years old.