Ships and boats have developed alongside mankind. In major wars, and in day to day life, they have become an integral part of modern commercial and military systems. Fishing boats are used by millions of fishermen throughout the world. Military forces operate highly sophisticated vessels to transport and support forces ashore. Commercial vessels, nearly 35,000 in number, carried 7.4 billion tons of cargo in 2007.UNCTAD 2007, p. x and p. 32.

These vessels were also key in history's great explorations and scientific and technological development. Navigators such as Zheng He spread such inventions as the compass and gunpowder. On one hand, ships have been used for colonization and the slave trade. On the other, they also have served scientific, cultural, and humanitarian needs.

As Thor Heyerdahl demonstrated with his tiny boat the Kon-Tiki, it is possible to achieve great things with a simple log raft. From Mesolithic canoes to today's powerful nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, ships tell the history of man.

Nomenclature

detail: Glossary of nautical terms Ships can usually be distinguished from boats based on size and the ship's ability to operate independently for extended periods.Cutler 1999, p. 620. A commonly used rule of thumb is that if one vessel can carry another, the larger of the two is a ship.Cutler 1999, p. 611. As dinghies are common on sailing yachts as small as , this rule of thumb is not foolproof.

A number of large vessels are traditionally referred to as boats. Submarines are a prime example. Other types of large vessels which are traditionally called boats are the Great Lakes freighter, the riverboat, and the ferryboat.cn: date=October 2008 Though large enough to carry their own boats and heavy cargoes, these vessels are designed for operation on inland or protected coastal waters.

Prehistory and antiquity

Roughly 5,000 years ago, Ancient Egyptians already knew how to assemble planks of wood into a ship hull.Ward, Cheryl. "World's Oldest Planked Boats," in Archaeology (Volume 54, Number 3, May/June 2001). Archaeological Institute of America, 1. Woven straps were used to lash the planks together, and reeds or grass stuffed between the planks helped to seal the seams.

At about the same time, people living near Kongens Lyngby in Denmark invented the segregated hull, which allowed the size of boats to gradually be increased. Boats soon developed into keel boats similar to today's wooden pleasure craft.