Warship Definition (UNCLOS Art 29)

UNCLOS Article 29 defines a warship as a ship belonging to a state’s armed forces, bearing the external marks distinguishing such ships of its nationality, under the command of a duly commissioned officer whose name appears in the appropriate service list, and crewed by a regular armed-forces complement subject to discipline. The definition matters because warships enjoy sovereign immunity on the high seas (Article 95) and hold the enforcement powers, right of visit, interdiction, that civilian vessels lack.