[sandworm101]

Or someone who has to spend too much time around navy people who obsess about these definitions, people for whom small errors can lead to poorly loaded holds or vessels hitting rocks because they didn't know their draft from their hull depth.

[NotEvil]

But thise people won't come here to find answers to there questions. Whould they? They will learn it in there professional or academic life.

[VLM]

I live in a recreation state, and to provide some numbers there are well over three times as many registered boats in my home state than there are naval O-6 rank ship captains. Just in one state.

Admittedly "beaching" a nuclear air craft carrier is more important to the USA than a local bubba beaching his fish trawler on a sandbar; but to bubba as an individual, its more important not to beach his fishing boat as avoidance of beaching his fishing boat is actionable for bubba, whereas watching TV reports of a naval accident are not.