The Greatest Ships

airmanpatroler said:
The Greatest ship would be The USS. Constitution

Hello airman,


Why was Constitution the greatest? She never fought a ship of eqaul size, let alone a bigger opponent.

Two victories, one over HMS Guerriere and another over HMS Java, both 18 pounder frigates(Constitution was a 24 pounder), hardly constitutes greatness.

Check out this website about HMS Victory.

http://www.hms-victory.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
 
godofthunder9010 said:
The Yamato was a monster and shouldn't be left out of any discussion about the most amazing Battleships of all time. It had its flaws, but its the only Battleship that stood a decent chance in a one to one fight with one of the Iowa Class Battleships.

The HMS Dreadnaught, CSS Virginia (Merimack) also deserve significant praise.

Both the Monitor and the Virginia were major steps forward in warship design so I agree they deserve a mention
 
I like heavy cruisers. I'll go with the USS Houston. It was caught in a tough situation in the Java Sea. As POWs, the surviving crew was part of the group that built the bridge on the River Kwai.
 
godofthunder9010 said:
The Yamato was a monster and shouldn't be left out of any discussion about the most amazing Battleships of all time. It had its flaws, but its the only Battleship that stood a decent chance in a one to one fight with one of the Iowa Class Battleships.

The HMS Dreadnaught, CSS Virginia (Merimack) also deserve significant praise.

On a related story.

I would love to see the Yamato, Shinano (un-modified of course), Bismark and Tirpitz go at it with the Iowa, Missourri, Wisconsin and New Jersey. Sure the Japanese ships were more heavily armed and armored but the Iowa class ships had radar guided guns which were more accurate at greater distance than the Japanese and Germany ships. I think that the Iowa Class ships would be victorious in the end because of their superior firing systems, but if anyone has any information that could rain on my parade please keep it to yourselves and let me have my dreams. ;)
 
Well USS Arizona is certainly a ship of historical value, but what makes you think it was a great ship? Remember, I don't just want names tossed out. You have to state why you feel the ship should be mentioned.
 
For me the biggest ship is The Santa Maria, one of the ships Cristobal Colón used to discover America. Can you imagine to go through the Atlantic Ocean in this piece of wood during months,without enough food, water, medicine....

carabela1.gif
 
Greatest Ship-Santa Maria

Im sticking with my choice HMS Victory but certainly don't want to derogate your choice. Since the Vikings may have been here first, an argument could be made for one of their longships. There is also Magellan's flagship and for epic voyages Captain Bligh's launch. I still think that one thinks of a great ship the Victory meets all requirements- aesthetically pleasing, a great history behind it and durabilty. Best
 
Excluding weapons delivered by airplanes and submarines, ship to ship, what weapon inflicted the most damage during WWII?

My hunch is ship-to-ship torpedoes.
 
USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is the best ship ever constructed from a modern naval point of view. It convinced the DoD that nuclear-powered supercarriers were the way to go in aircraft carrier design, and prompted the design and production of the Nimitz-class (and, soon, the CVNX series) of supercarriers.
 
Okay, I see this thread wandering off a bit. This isn't a "What ship was the best one?" thread. It's a "What SHIPS were the best?" thread. I really want to see more than just one ship picked by you guys as the best. Pick a few - preferably from different eras - and remember to state why you think the ships deserve mention. The goal of this thread is not a pissing contest, but a poll of the most significant ships in history.
 
I love ships....these are only a few of my favorites and notables

1st Choice: USS Monitor. This warship not only spawned the first practical birth of revolving encased gun platforms, but was one of the first warships totally dependant on engines alone to get her into the fight, no sails at all. She also introduce the innovation of forced air draft for the engines (her engine room in effect was under pressure to ensure their maximum heat potential) forced central ventilation for the crew, and in my opinion, was so darn cute looking!

2nd Choice: DD 963...USS Spuance. the first modern destroyer built for the navy in 1975 in over 25 years, the Spruance holds a place in my heart because it and its 40 sister ships saved pascagoula Mississippi from being a ghost town. That and its jet turbine engines, fire control system, and few other thing made it a force to be reconized...destroyer indeed!

3rd choice...USS Laffey. This ship took seven separate hits from japanese suicide planes...and lived to tell the tale simply because its crew would not let the ship die. One of the most intriguing stories of damage control to come out of WWII.

4th choice...in the Big gun category...USS Texas. Why this one? Well she is the oldest and only dreadnought class battleship still afloat, as a memorial in Houston texas. The dreadnoughts were the more interesting as they were the new way to take the big guns to sea. (I also liked the original HMS dreadnought..i mean those side turrets made it look so viscous...)

In the small boy capacity..the confederate David. somehow, the thought of taking a boat designed to be semi submersible (it was flooded down till it barely poked above the water) and ramming it with a spar torpedo into the side of a union ship just sends shivers down my spine.

in the odd man category...has to be the USS Kathadin. This was as far as i know, the only US ship built from the ground up to defeat another ship by...ramming it. Actually was so slow it never could catch any vessel it went after. looked interesting though.

in the really spectacular feat department..The HMS Cambletown (Campletown?) The use of this ship as one of the largest floating bombs during the raid on St Nazaire to stop the subs from getting out, has to be the high point for the quick end of a ship. literally packed with explosives and driven through the dock gates, she exploded spectactuarly.

In the carrier category...for me its not the enterprise...not the hornet...Its the USS Saratoga. the third of the original US carrier fleet (langley, Lexington, saratoga and ranger) she made it all the way through WWII..and 2 atomic bombs designed to send her to the bottom during operation crossroads.

For infamy...Its the USS Somers in the early 1800s. It was the only us vessel in history...where crew members were tried, convicted, and hanged for the crime of mutiny.

finally..pointing towards the future..the USS Seashadow. anyship that was copied for a James Bond Movie cant be all bad... :D
 
Thanks, Mark, good thoughtful choices. Even managed to toss out a few I didn't know about. This is just the kind of answer I'm looking for.

Just a couple clarifications:

It was the HMS Campbeltown (ex-USS Buchanan a WWI four piper the Brits gained from the destroyers for bases deal) at the St. Nazaire raid.

USS Saratoga didn't fight all of WWII - she was knocked out of action for most of 1944 due to numerous torpedo hits that had only been given temporary fixes for far too long in the years before. It took that long to get her permanently repaired.


An interesting note about USS Somers was that one of the crewman hanged was Midshipman Philip Spencer, the son of Secretary of War Spencer. Can you imagine that? I'd hate to be the captain of a US ship today who executed the son of Donald Rumsfeld for comparison.
 
What about the Beagle, even if you don`t beleive in evolution Darwens voyage had a profound effect on science and the academic world
 
KC72 said:
What about the Beagle, even if you don`t beleive in evolution Darwens voyage had a profound effect on science and the academic world

Agreed but it was Darwins work that made the voyage great not the ship.
Essentially the Beagle carried out a shorter circumnavigation of the globe to the Golden Hind and the Drake did it almost 300 years before the Beagle.
Darwins Voyage (1831-1836):
Survey_02.jpg


Drakes Voyage 1577 - 1581:
mapbw-lg.gif


Therefore in my opinion the Beagles voyage (ie the sailing bit, I dont want to take anything away from Darwins achievements) did not achieve anything that hadnt already been achieved.


Personally I will rate the HMS Victory as my number one ship for all the reasons others have.

I would also add the Bismark in there, despite a very short operational life few other ships have created the same level of fear and respect in opposing navies as the Bismark and to a large degree this is still shown in the level of interest the ship gets even today.

To be honest I find this a rather hard thread to reply to as its question is to general to answer fully, by this I mean there have been great ships from a technical point of view that achieved little (ie the Monitor, phenomonal step forward technically but after its battle with the Virginia really didnt do a lot more than shore bombardment) and were retired before ever seeing service, there were great ships from an achievement point of view that were really nothing more than 1 of 1000 ships of that class made but become great through the exploits of the crew (ie The Golden Hind).
 
To be honest I find this a rather hard thread to reply to as its question is to general to answer fully, by this I mean there have been great ships from a technical point of view that achieved little (ie the Monitor, phenomonal step forward technically but after its battle with the Virginia really didnt do a lot more than shore bombardment) and were retired before ever seeing service, there were great ships from an achievement point of view that were really nothing more than 1 of 1000 ships of that class made but become great through the exploits of the crew (ie The Golden Hind).

Shouldn't be that hard. The thread is intended to be general. The goal, as I've stated more than once, is to gain knowledge of contributions of various ships to history - nothing more. Surely that's not beyond your grasp? Mark Conley provided an excellent example of what I'm looking for.
 
Surely that's not beyond your grasp?


You really don't take dissenting opinions well do you?.

So far I have listed several ships that I think rate on your "general" scale:

- Monitor
- Victory
- Yamato
- Bismark
- Golden Hind

I have given reasons where mine differ from others but it would appear that much like the "Rate the Tank" discussions you are only looking for opinions that agree with you so I am guessing I will depart this thread unless you something else have something else you would like me to comment on?
 
You really don't take dissenting opinions well do you?.

Hmm? Not at all. You however seem to make a point of being hostile to anything I say or do. If you don't like my threads, feel free to stay out of them.

Also, you only listed several ships. You said nothing about what made them great in your opinion. I've stated more than once in this thread that I am not looking for a list of names only. Information about the ships you choose is what's key here.

I have given reasons where mine differ from others but it would appear that much like the "Rate the Tank" discussions you are only looking for opinions that agree with you

Again, you're hostile where no hostility is called for. If you read any of this thread, and didn't have some kind of vendetta against me you'd see that I've encouraged and enjoyed choices that others have made whether I agreed with them or not. The only thing I've told people that they've done "wrong" is to not state why they chose the ships they did.

so I am guessing I will depart this thread

If you can't reply to this thread without hostility and are unwillingly to state in your own words rather than saying "for all the reasons others have" or just providing a list of names, then please do depart.
 
I agree with you, KC72. HMS Beagle does deserve mention in this thread. To say that it was Darwin who made the voyage great and not the ship is comparible to saying the Santa Maria was not great but only Columbus. As with Columbus, it was great that HMS Beagle was provided by the government of Great Britain for exploration. If you accept MontyB's arguement than you could just as easily say that no ships were great - just the men who sailed in them. That's all off topic in any event. The subject is the great contributions to history made by various ships. HMS Beagle certainly fits that bill. I'd rather people made their own contributions to this thread rather than denigrating the choices of others. There's too much hostility on these forums as it is.
 
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