Are submarines boats

Answer 1

The term "Boat" used to reference Submarines goes back to the very earliest submarine designs. A "Boat" is a term used for a vessel launched from a Ship; Submarines were first designed during the days of wooden sailing vessels, and were launched like any other boat from the ship.

Though the official U.S. Navy designation for a submarine ("SS", for Submersible Ship) goes back to the days when submarines were surface vessels (Ships) that had limited submerged operational capability, submariners have always referred to them as "Boats". Even today, 20 years after leaving the Submarine Force, I still get irritated when someone refers to a submarine as anything other than a Boat.

Today's submarines are true submersibles - their operational capability is limited only by their crews (still need food, even if everything else is taken care of). Even modern Diesel Electric submarines, who in WW2 could only stay submerged for hours, can now remain submerged for weeks.

The other major difference that changed the submarine was the switch to a hull design that favored submerged operations. The old WWI and WWII boats were much faster on the surface than submerged. In contrast, today's boats are much faster submerged than they are on the surface.