Some good suggestions here. I'm glad the fire ships get mentioned. Iowa class capitol ships were massive vessels, but yes they also marked the end to a long era of battleships. But what a high to end it on. Rating the top five boats in naval history are meant to be on a global scale. Of course, you could device a list of boats coming from one single country. There are no set rules.

These kind of debates are interesting, but so open to .......debate.

By "naval history" does one mean impact on World History????

If so, those fire boats sent against the Spanish Armada are probably tops. Either that or the trireme's sent against the Persian fleet.

While I'd rate Enterprise (WW2--CV-3?) high, but it isn't like Japan would have won the war if she'd been lost. Ditto, Old Ironsides.

I don't see where Iowa class BB can be included since they are basically an evolutionary dead-end. Although, through retro-fitting, they still serve today; Aegis class ships are far superior.

tigerman

Manstein's revenge

Tirpitz

Zuiho

Roma

Shinano

Fuso

Fuso? Could you elaborate why?

SSBN- 658 Mariano Vallejo. Of the first generation SSBN, my Godfather was the skipper, and she  was the last to patrol, last to off-load her missiles and the last to arrive in Washington making her the last of the "Forty-one for Freedom."

Manstein's revenge

Tirpitz

Zuiho

Roma

Shinano

Fuso

Fuso? Could you elaborate why?

HMM.-- 1-H.M.S. VICTORY

            2-U.S.S.CONSTITUTION

            3-H.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH

            4-U.S.S.MAINE/OLYMPIA

            5-D.K.M. SCHARNHORST/BISMARK

This list is matched to my knowledge of warships.All usually follow "logical progression of design" All are significant for their time. Now there are many more and way to many to list in the top five,and,as you can see ,I fudged-sorry !      TANKER-builder

subfixer

Old Ordie

... An interesting thing, though, about US Navy designations, especially in aviation, is that they change frequently (carrier and squadron designations).  An example would be, when I was embarked on the Kitty Hawk, she was CVA-63.  When she was decommisioned, many years later (nearly forty, in fact), she was designated CV-63, and had been for some time.  Which should I use when writing about her?

I was stationed on USS Lexington. When I served on her she was CVT-16. She was also CV-16, CVA-16 and AVT-16. When I have seen it all written out it is USS Lexington CV-16/CVA-16/CVT-16/AVT-16.

Well, that answers that question.  Thanks, subfixer.

Gamera

HMS Lollipop...

She was a good ship...

Yes, she was.  HMS Lollipop, mmmmmm ...

Old Ordie

GMorrison

Old Ordie

Breaking off that attack to rush to the defense of the CVL USS Gambier Bay, the Johnston drove off another heavy cruiser.  She then fought off

Gambier Bay was actually a Casablanca class CVE, as were the other carriers.

You are absolutely correct, sir.  In my day, the little ones (which were much larger than Gambier Bay) were not designated that way, one of the dangers of working from memory a good deal when I write - cross bleeding time periods (aka, just plain befuddlement, LOL!)  CVEs were even punier than CVLs (run, Yamato, run ).

An interesting thing, though, about US Navy designations, especially in aviation, is that they change frequently (carrier and squadron designations).  An example would be, when I was embarked on the Kitty Hawk, she was CVA-63.  When she was decommisioned, many years later (nearly forty, in fact), she was designated CV-63, and had been for some time.  Which should I use when writing about her?

HMS Lollipop...

She was a good ship...

Tirpitz

Zuiho

Roma

Shinano

Fuso

Sort of like white phosphorous but not real.

stikpusher

Thats better than the name I heard for her from a freind of mine who served on the Vinson...

LOL!  My guess is that the first word in the phrase starts with an S, and the second word is Kitty.  We called her that ourselves ... sometimes.

subfixer - No doubt about it, the boomer is the most powerful warship ever, talking raw power.

Manny - ... then everyone would think I was talking about a place in North Carolina ...

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) as the first nuclear powered submarine must be included in this list. The forerunner of the ultimately most powerful type of warship ever known- the fleet ballistic missile nuclear submarine. There, I've said it! Nothing else can compare to the SSBN in its successful peacekeeping (to date) or its apocolyptic potential.

Yeah, I've been reading about the Royal Navy. Amazing how resilient sailing ships were. The wood was somewhat elastic and could absorb the blow from a cannonball without taking too much damage. The greatest weakness was as you said- fire. Once it started it was almost impossible to put out. I can understand how terrifying fire-ships were.

I'm not an expert on classic ships. But you make a valid point here. These ships represent a huge milestone in ship designs and tactics. No doubt these ancestors have shaped our perception and innovation of the modern war ships we have today.

Another ship that deserves som credit, is the fireship (or known as the hellburner). through centuries it was known as a ship loaded with explosives that would come charging completely unmanned towards a fleet of enemy vessels like a ghostship. On contact the explosive charges would blow up, and spread wild fire to the nabouring ships. This would hurl many people into panic and create total chaos and forcing their ships to break formation. In the late middleages they started this by using greek fire. It was most efficient and could easily demoralise the attackers. The english used this method against the Spanish armada at the Battle of the Gravelines.

Well, I assume you're looking for a specific vessel but still I'm surprised no one mentioned the Trireme used by various Greek leaders like Athenian Admiral Themistocles to stop the Persians from several invasions of Greece. If Darius had succeeded Western Civilization would have been based on the Persian idea rather than the Greek.   

Also the Kobukson or Turtle Ship associated with Korean Admiral Yi who in the 16 century stopped several attempts by the Japanese to invade Korea and by extension China. The Turtle Ship was one of the first if not the first armored ironclad warship. 

Thats better than the name I heard for her from a freind of mine who served on the Vinson...

Old Ordie

 

An interesting thing, though, about US Navy designations, especially in aviation, is that they change frequently (carrier and squadron designations).  An example would be, when I was embarked on the Kitty Hawk, she was CVA-63.  When she was decommisioned, many years later (nearly forty, in fact), she was designated CV-63, and had been for some time.  Which should I use when writing about her?

SS Mont-Blanc + SS Imo - put them together & they darn near blew Halifax NS off the map...

Thanks Ordie!

I have enjoyed this thread immensely myself. Really appreciate all the input as well as the enthusiasm you all bring to the table. Really good stuff!

The ship is just an empty floating collection of wood or metals, until it has a commander and crew. And then she becomes something more that succeeds or fails in her roles.

Bissyboat, great thread!  Lots of fun so far.    

In Bissyboat's OP he said, "Rank them according to size, tonnage, firepower and merits."  I supposed leadership, pugnacity, esprit and so on to be among  the 'merits', and I guess my posts thus far have indicated how important I think 'merits' are.  As for the other criteria, here's how I'd rank them:  Size?  Obviously, today's big carriers.  I would list the largest five of those. Tonnage?  See my answer for size.  Firepower?  Whichever five boomers that carry the most warheads.  That leaves merits by which to include, exclude and differentiate ... 'nuff said.

GMorrison

Old Ordie

Breaking off that attack to rush to the defense of the CVL USS Gambier Bay, the Johnston drove off another heavy cruiser.  She then fought off

Gambier Bay was actually a Casablanca class CVE, as were the other carriers.

You are absolutely correct, sir.  In my day, the little ones (which were much larger than Gambier Bay) were not designated that way, one of the dangers of working from memory a good deal when I write - cross bleeding time periods (aka, just plain befuddlement, LOL!)  CVEs were even punier than CVLs (run, Yamato, run ).

An interesting thing, though, about US Navy designations, especially in aviation, is that they change frequently (carrier and squadron designations).  An example would be, when I was embarked on the Kitty Hawk, she was CVA-63.  When she was decommisioned, many years later (nearly forty, in fact), she was designated CV-63, and had been for some time.  Which should I use when writing about her?

Ninetalis

LOL? Yamato sunk by 'only' one destroyer?

She was taken out after beeing attacked by nearly 400 aircraft, also, I remember a guy posting somewhere that his dad worked on a Gato-class(?) sub, shooting torpedos at the Yamato several times and hitting it.

The Yamato has never had a surface fight, and if it did and it would of used its main guns it would had taken the SH** out of the enemy, instead, it was sunk by aircraft because it had no air cover, EVERY (battle)ship would have been sunk, remember Force Z?

Also "Spruance ordered Admiral Deyo to assemble a force of 6 battleships (USS Massachusetts, Indiana, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Missouri), together with 7 cruisers (including USS Alaska and Guam) and 21 destroyers, and to prepare for surface action against Yamato should the airstrikes prove unsuccessful." 

And if the Yamato-class doesn't impress you, maybe this will. 

Still, you could go on and on about how this ship came to late, since it was the dawn of the aircraft carrier and all that BUT it still is the biggest, heaviest, most armored battleship build with the biggest armament ever mounted on a battleship...

In 1942 the US Cruisers got their butts handed to them most of the time by the Japanese. It was a steep learning curve and much of the New Orleans class paid the price that year. Even a successful cruiser like USS San Francisco took a beating...

stikpusher

If you want to see something that was highly effective, look at Japanese Heavy Cruisers. In 1942 they ruled the South Pacific in almost all surface actions.

Old Ordie

Breaking off that attack to rush to the defense of the CVL USS Gambier Bay, the Johnston drove off another heavy cruiser.  She then fought off

Thank you for that hot tip Ninetails! I will certainly look into that. The I-400 really tickles my brain. I got my self a mission now.

Regards Bissyboat