Naval Gazing Main/Why are ships called she? (opens in new tab)

Back when I was a tour guide, people would occasionally ask me why I referred to Iowa as she. My reply was always the same. "To quote Admiral Nimitz, 'A warship is always referred to as she because it costs so much to keep one in paint and powder.'" It's a good line, and it almost always got a laugh, and let me move on quickly. Because the one problem is that it's not really true. Keeping Nimitz in paint If you ask a linguist, they'll tell you that the use of "she" for ships is a remnant of w...