Forum:Pronoun for ship

Anon user 163.150.15.180 changed the Enterprise-E article from this


 * It was built at the San Francisco Fleet Yards in orbit of Earth.

to this


 * She was built at the San Francisco Fleet Yards in orbit of Earth.
 * (emphasis mine)

Traditionally in English, a ship is referred as by the feminine pronouns. The Royal Navy does so on its website. The US Navy's style guide also follows tradition:
 * "her, she - Appropriate pronoun when referring to a ship." - http://www.news.navy.mil/tools/view_styleguide.asp?sort=H

Many organizations including Wikipedia seem to be moving toward the neutral term "it", which also seems common here.

In canon, Kirk and Sisko, maybe others, have used the feminine form:
 * " Risk... risk is our business! That's what this starship is all about... that's why we're aboard her!" – James T. Kirk, referring to the Enterprise,
 * "She may have flaws, but she has teeth" – Benjamin Sisko, referring to the Defiant,
 * (emphasis mine)

But you can probably find references to "it" as well. Is there a preference here? Or, whichever you use, keep it consistent within the article? – StarFire209 22:45, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
 * We may only be able to use "she" for ships from specific races/groups. Federation starships (and I believe Earth Starfleet vessels) were repeatedly referred to as "she", so that is no problem. Hell, Kirk even had something akin to romantic feelings for the Enterprise.
 * It gets a bit muddier when dealing with ships from other races. For example, on Earth American and British ships tend to be referred to as "she", while Russian ships are "he", if I recall correctly. It is quite possible the same is done in Trek, say for Klingon ships. I don't remember off the top of my head, but we may need to keep track of what races have used "she", what used "he", and what didn't use anything. --OuroborosCobra talk 22:51, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm... That could be a problem. People might get confused trying to sort out which races' ships were feminine, which masculine, which neuter, and which varied. :{ It might be better to use the same approach regardless of the native speaker's practice. I'd prefer the traditional RN/USN way but it might be easier to get consensus for the "neuter" approach. Whatever we do, I hope we're consistent within a page. (Unlike anonymous' change to E-E.) – StarFire209 00:55, 7 September 2007 (UTC)-


 * I agree that at a minimum, we need to be consistent on a given page. -- Renegade54 13:33, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Personally, I think we should use the neuter pronoun to describe ships, unless it's used in a quote. Naufana : talk 04:29, 11 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Little problem, that Enterprise-E link goes to the Enterprise-D page. -Lord Hyren 17:03, 4 November 2007 (UTC)


 * In some circles, calling a ship 'it' is considered an insult to the crew. Wrecks are 'it', enemy warships are often 'it', ships held in respect are 'she' in some places or 'he' in others.--Indefatigable 02:13, 1 August 2009 (UTC)