Mankind has been battling it out for control of the oceans ever since the first boat set sail. Over the years, plenty of different ships have been launched with bigger and better weaponry. Some of them have been incredible marvels of technology and brilliant ocean-going craft.
We’ve summed up some of the best ships ever to grace the oceans. From battleships bristling with canons to enormous aircraft carriers for the modern age.
HMS Victory
Despite its age, the HMS Victory might be one of the most well-known warships of all time. This was Lord Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar but also took part in multiple other fights including the Battles of Ushant, the Battle of Cape Spartel, Cape St Vincent and the Siege of Gibraltar.
The HMS Victory sported 104 guns, carried around 850 men and was capable of a top speed of 11 knots. It first set sail in 1765 and was moved to dry dock as a museum piece in 1922. It’s stillavailable to visitas well and is technically still in service, making it the world’s oldest ship to still be in commission at over 241 years' young.
USS Constitution
The USS Constitution is another ancient vessel with quite a history. This US Navy vessel is said to be the world’s oldest commissioned to still be afloat. It’s second only to the HMS Victory which is older but in dry dock, not ocean-going.
The USS Constitution first set sail in 1797. It’s a 44-gun frigate that’s capable of a top speed of 13 knots while holding 450 crew members. This ship is also interesting as it essentially represents America in every possible way. Even its name is inspired by the supreme law of the United States.
This ship also famously fought Britain in the War of 1812, where it defeated five different British warships. Another point of interest is this ship was built at a time when ships were expected to serve up to 15 years, it’s certainly managed a lot more than that.
German battleship Bismarck
The Bismark, along with the Tirpitz, famously has the title of being the largest battleship ever built by Germany and technically the largest ever built by any European country.
It was a monster of a ship, armed with eight 38 cm SK C/34 guns, twelve 15 cm L/55 guns, sixteen 10.5 cm L/65 guns and sixteen 3.7 cm L/83 guns and twelve 2 cm anti-aircraft cannons.
It first launched in 1939 but was seen as such a threat that it didn’t last long in service. The ship was involved in the Battle of the Denmark Strait where the HMS Hood was sunk by fire from this ship and the Prinz Eugen. The British then relentlessly pursued the Bismark, attacking it with all manner of vessels includingobsolete biplane torpedo bombers.
Thousands of shells were fired at the Bismark to put an end to it and eventually it was so badly damaged that First Officer Hans Oels gave the order to scuttle her. Despite the order to abandon ship, the attack and scuttling lead to massive loss of life. Of 2,200 men aboard, only 114 survived.
USS Missouri
The USS Missouri is an interesting vessel due to its modern history. It’s certainly not as old as other ships on this list, but that doesn’t make it any less significant. It was launched in 1944 and fought in the Pacific Theater against the Japanese during World War II. The ship also had the honour of hosting the ceremony that marked the surrender of Japan in August 1945.
The war might have been over, but that wasn’t the end of the fight for the USS Missouri as the ship went on to battle in the Korean War and was even reactivated in the 1980s before later going on to fight in the 1990 Gulf War. In 1998, the ship was finally removed from service and sent to Pearl Harbour where she would go on to act as a museum ship.
Zumwalt Class Destroyers
Not an individual warship as such, but a whole class of destroyers are next on the list. 32 of these weirdly futuristic ships were planned to be built by the US Navy.
These are modern multi-role battleships with enhanced stealth capabilities. The design of these warships includes a low-radar cross-section and a wave-piercing hull. They’re designed to be fast and invisible to enemy radar. The stealth systems and design of the Zumwalt Class Destroyers make them 50 times harder to spot than standard destroyers.
They also pack some serious firepower that includes an Advanced Gun System which comprises of a 155mm naval gun capable of firing a Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) over 80 nautical miles. It can also fire both Tactical Tomahawk missiles and Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine ordinance, making it incredibly versatile.
HMS Dreadnought
The HMS Dreadnought graces our list due to being one of the most significant vessels thanks to the revolution it brought to naval power.
This ship launched in 1906 and hit the waters with such incredible technological advancements that it rendered many other ships obsolete. A generation of warships followed with entire classes named after this single vessel. Even the battleships that came before it were then known as “pre-dreadnoughts”.
The Dreadnought was designed to be faster and capable of firing heavy ordinance at a much longer range. It had 10 large 30cm guns, 27 12-pdr (7.6cm) guns and five torpedo tubes too. It was the first capital ship to be powered by steam turbines which made it the fastest battleship in the world at the time, topping out at 21 knots.
Despite all the advancements, the HMS Dreadnought didn’t really engage in many significant battles and was best known for the ramming and sinking of German submarine SM U-29. It was decommissioned in 1919 and scrapped two years later.
HMS Queen Elizabeth
It would be rude not to include the HMS Queen Elizabeth on this list.
It would probably be treason in fact, as this ship is named as a tribute to the ship of the same name that was a leading dreadnought battleship from World War I. That ship was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen.
The new HMS Queen Elizabeth was launched in 2017. This is an aircraft carrier of epic proportions and the largest warship ever constructed for the Royal Navy. It is capable of carrying as many as 60 aircraft and up to 1,600 service staff. It has a top speed of 25 knots, can travel 10,000 nautical miles and boasts some serious firepower to protect itself from attack.
HMS Defender
The current HMS Defender is the eighth ship to bear the name. This is a Daring-class air-defence destroyer in service with the Royal Navy. It was launched in 2009 and hit the oceans bristling with technology that includes a multitude of air surveillance radar and tracking systems as well as some significant anti-air firepower. The HMS Defender is also nippy, being capable of over 30 knots but is perhaps most interesting for its service history.
In 2016, the ship helped seize a metric tonne of high-grade hashish from a fishing dhow south of Oman it also escorted the RMS Queen Mary 2 through the Gulf of Oman that year. In 2019, it helped defend British shores from the Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov, that was thought to be armed with aFilin 5P-42device - a weapon that’s designed to cause dizziness, nausea and disorientation, as well as hallucinations in some cases.
USNS Spearhead
The USNS Spearhead is not your traditional battleship, but it is certainly interesting.
It’s a large Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport craft that’s in service with the United States Navy’s Military Sealift Command.
It’s capable of a top speed of 43 knots, but interestingly only holds a maximum of 41 crewmembers. It’s built with a modular design that allows it to be refitted with all manner of equipment and to operate as a transport craft for troops or equipment. As such, it plays an important part in US Navy operations and should not be dismissed as uninteresting.
The HMS Hood was built in 1916 and cost a whopping £6,025,000 to construct. She was an Admiral-class battlecruiser and the largest and most powerful warship in the world for almost 20 years after being first commissioned. That fact earnt the ship the nickname “The Mighty Hood” and it was thought to be invincible by many at the time.
However, the Hood is perhaps most well-known for its sinking. The ship took part in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, shooting it out with both the Bismark and Prinz Eugen. Those two ships concentrated fire on HMS Hood and less than 10 minutes after the battle started, she was hit by a fatal blow from the Bismark that lead to her sinking. Tragically, only three of the 1418 crew aboard survived and the sinking of Britain’s largest ship was a blow to the Royal Navy. This is probably why the Navy then went on to relentlessly pursue the Bismark until it too was sunk.
