Why is ship of feminine gender in English?

Answer 1

A ship, being a non-living, 'inanimate' object, is genderless, i.e. neither masculine nor feminine. Therefore most people refer to a ship as it.

e.g. "At 11:40 p.m. Newfoundland time and two and a half hours ahead of Central Time the Titanic struck an iceberg and two hours and 40 minutes later at 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912 itsank." -Chicago Sun-Times online, April 15, 2011.

However, sailors and those in the shipping/sailing world often refer to boats and ships by using feminine gender pronouns. (e.g. she, her etc)

e.g. "Titanic had left her dock and tugs had positioned her to face downstream. As she picked up speed..." -'Titanic Stories', Titanic website.

Some also use feminine terminology when referring to cars or countries:

• "I have an old Saab. She runs well..."
• "Britain to glory in her history at today's wedding" -The Tribune, May 29, 2011, reporting on the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Usage of she/her for ships, cars and countries is simply 'customary usage', a traditional style which, by using the feminine gender, imputes a degree of 'personality' to the object, much more so than by referring to the object simply as an 'it.'

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Answer 2

The tradition of assigning ships as feminine dates back to ancient seafaring cultures, where ships were often named after goddesses or important women. This tradition carried over into the English language, where ships are commonly referred to with feminine pronouns as a sign of respect and tradition towards these powerful vessels.