Talk:Out of the Dark, Into the Night

Lady Plato

The standard designation for ships in both the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy (the U.K. Navy) is feminine, ie. ships are referred to as "she", regardless of their name. This is due to traditional reasons; the Olde English word scip was initially gendered as masculine, but later became feminine. Hence, the gender of ships changed. This changeover was complete before the 15th century, when the last written accounts of ships being referred to as masculine appear. Languages that have gendered nouns refer to ships as feminine (compare "mothership"), regardless of their designation. As example the USS Franklin -- named after Benjamin Franklin and nicked "Big Ben" -- is always referred to as a "she". So yes, the Plato is a "she". Selectah 03:44, 18 March 2008 (CST)