For the ships question, that's been answered a bunch of times before. See below:

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1o0zzs/why_are_war_ships_always_referred_to_in_the/

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/16rx0u/why_are_ships_personified_as_feminine_when_did/

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/19197n/what_were_the_naming_conventions_of_ships/