On Wed, 27 Apr 2016 09:09:41 -0400, Wolf K wrote:

A ton is 20 cwt. A cwt is 112lb in the UK but only 100lb in the US
therefore a UK ton is 2,240lb while a US ton is 2,000.

Right. I plead bad proofreading. However, I do recall a 2,000lb ton
termed a "short ton" when I was a schoolboy.

Yes, that's the US ton, the UK ton is the long ton.

I don't know of
a difference when referring to a ship but maybe it's the UK ton of
2,240lb which I've always taken it to be.

Here's the skinny on that:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonnage

That's a whole new bag of worms I've decided to not go too near :-))


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