What was the most interesting ship that you have seen?

Unique/unconventional (Strange in a good way):
USS Albany class CGN-10 (Imposing)
USS Long Beach CGN-9 (Imposing)
Sufferen class (large dome 3D radar) (Eye catching)
Soviet Slava class (Scary)
USS Ticonderoga class (Futuristic [when deployed])
USS Arleigh Burke class (Slick)

Odd (Strange in a bad way):
IJN Ise and Hyuga seaplane conversions. (Obnoxious)
The 'Dunce Cap' on the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) before 1979 "Complex overhaul". (Tackey)
Moscova CGH in the 1970s not the renamed Slava CG (Freaky)

Classic Warship Look (Baseline for determining first 2 groups):
Bundesmarine Hamburg class DD (post ww2) (Classic layout)
USS Baltimore and USS Cleveland classes (Half-sister classes bristling with guns, classic)
Soviet Sverdlov class cruisers post (ww2) (Bristling with guns on classic layout)
USS Kidd (DDG-993) (Post war missile ship benchmark, precident)

Do you mean actually saw, or that you know of?

Actually saw ... Missouri/New Jersey/Iowa/Wisconsin ... at different times in my 56 years and usually in mothballs. I saw literally hundreds of Gearing/Sumner destroyers and love them as the ultimate all-gun tin-cans. I was hosted to a short cruise on the Abe Lincoln and got a backseater ride in a strike Hornet ... that was very interesting.

I guess I'd have to give first place to an obvious one: the Mary Rose. When I last actually saw her, in 1992, she was still being sprayed constantly with water; I believe the conservation process has moved on to the next phase now. But even under rather primitive exhibition conditions, and despite the fact that only a fraction of the hull is left, just standing there staring at the decks that were last trod by Henry VIII's sailors was fascinating. And the nearby museum, in which the artifacts that were found on board the wreck are kept, is wonderful. Hope to get back next summer.

I'd have to say the Wasa...for the same reasons mentioned by our esteemed Professor!

Jeff

The Schooner "Highlander Sea", at Tall Ships Chicago, because? Because, when I went onboard, and looked around, all the fittings, that had only been two dimensiomal drawings, were there, touchable, full size, three dimensional! That was an educational afternoon!
Pete

i would have to say the USNS Zeus (T-ARC 7) its a cable repair ship. use google to find pictures and you'll see what i mean.

I have two on my list, But unfortunitly they are new ships but stunning just the same.
I had a tour a while ago on the USS Virgina SSN 774 amazing boat.. Like touring the starship enterprise..
Then there is the George Washington CVN 73.. Had a tour on her also..
Enough said..

I was near NAS Alameda when the Enterprise ran aground on a sandbar back in '83 I believe. Watched it happen!

Was also out on the Channel Islands (off So. Cal) when USS New Jersey was tesing out the Tomahawks after retrofit. AWEsome sight to behold!! She even blasted the main batteries

This is a converted tanker that is now used as a barge.....the engines have been removed so she has to be towed. IIRC she can be ballasted down to a depth of 9 meters. These are the only pics that I could find of her online.

Here is a pic of the USNS Zeus

And here is an ugly ferry

HMS Victory in HM Dockyard Portsmouth. Going on board takes one back to Nelson's time and the great wooden warships.

The scene of Nelson's death and a true artifact from the great Battle of Trafalgar some 200 years ago. The victory gave England command of the seas for over a century.

As an alternative, USS Constitution. "Old Ironsides", the oldest commissioned warship in the US Navy.

Both viable candidates for the most interesting warship.

For commercial ventures, the clipper Cutty Sark. Survivor when sail ruled the seas and ships under sail were beautiful things to behold.

Not one of the most famous ships of all time but vitaly important none the less was the old bucket dredge that used to work the River Ouse at Newhaven Sussex.
I used to spend hours watching her work and the sight and sound of those buckets clanking and banging their way around the endless chain was utterly facinating.
Then the old steam powered Manly Ferries were great. Again as a youngster when ever we went to Manly for the day it was a toss up as to wether I would stay on deck and watch the harbour traffic or go inside and watch the engine reciprocate. Steam, oil and polished brass flashing before ones eyes. I have always loved steam power from the old Merchant Navy Class "Spam Cans" to the 660Meg electricity generating units I finished up operating.
Dai

Not exactly the most interesting but more of 'seen in the most interesting place'. The Albion class LPDs of the Royal Navy were built, in sections, under cover in the Devonshire Dock Hall and then moved along a public road to the slipways for assembly.



There are some more pictures here...

http://david-j-ross.fotopic.net/c744622.html

I have seen and photographed many ships, but I would have to single out the Glomar Explorer and the Sea Shadow as two of the most interesting ships I have seen.

Kurt

And here we have some pics of the Sea Shadow and Glomar Explorer.

A few days after I got my old job at the Mariners' Museum, back in 1983, two gentlemen from the Cousteau Society showed up and asked if somebody could show them around. Because I had a little (very little) French, I got the job. We had a great time that morning (largely because their English was considerably better than my French), and they invited me to tour the Calypso, which at that time was operating out of Norfolk. The following Saturday I drove over there and was treated to a tour that lasted a couple of hours. The Calypso ranks almost as high as the Mary Rose in my recollection, in terms of sheer interest. (She was also one of the dirtiest ships I've ever seen. Pure function; little in the way of aesthetics.)

I spent another afternoon touring the S.S. United States. She was tied up to a pier in Norfolk, supposedly waiting for her new owner to turn her into a cruise ship. (That, as it turned out, never happened.) Several staff members, including me, got to go through her in search of artifacts for the museum to purchase. Our guide was Commodore Roy Alexanderson, former captain of the ship and Commodore of the United States Lines. That was one of the most fascinating afternoons I've ever spent - though prowling around the deserted passageways and cabins of that great old ship, in the company of a man who'd presided over her during her glory days, had a bittersweet feel.

Working in a maritime museum most definitely is not the constant source of pleasure that lots of ship modelers imagine. (Three years of it was about all I could stand - for financial reasons among others.) But it does give one some opportunities that just can't be found elsewhere.

I also toured the SS United States just before she was sold and towed away. There was an abundance of aluminum fittings and furnishings if I remember correctly. (To facilitate a fast speed). The ship had a very 1950's feel to her.
I think that the strangest boat (it is really too small to be called a ship) that I've ever been on is the NR-1, ADM Rickover's pet project nuclear submarine.

Back in 69-71 my uncle Ernie was a crewman aboard the USS Hancock (CVA-19) homeported at NAS Alameda at the time. The family use to hang out at the Goldengate bridge to watch her come in. They had to tear down the mast & wait for lowtide in order to pass under it. then rebuild it before pulling up to the pier. As a kid, I walked her halls & the flight deck during "open house" That was great. I seen her again in 1977 (Sept. I believe) in Long Beach,Ca with her flight deck removed proir to her being sold for scrap. ( my great uncle was working on an oil rinery supply ship across from the Long Beach shipyard & I took a pic. (i'll post it here when I find it!)

The CSS Hunley as she sits in the preservation tank in Charlestown, SC.  Just an amazing thing to see with your own eyes.

-Devin

I agree with the USS Virginia SSN 774 - cutting edge technology there

A close 2nd would be the USS Jimmy Carter SSN 023 - another technological marvel but very different from Virginia

Hi all,

I've not visited that many ships, just the North Carolina, the Torsk, and the Constellation (the sloop of war), the Pride of Baltimore II, Pennsylvania's Brig Niagara, and short tours on a number of "tall ship" sailing training vessels. I have plans to visit other ships sometime before I die, and I'd love to do a working tour on the Niagara or do a day sail in the Pride of Baltimore.

The most interesting of those has got to be the Constellation This past New Year's Eve (Dec. 2004-Jan. 2005), my wife and I attended the party held on the ship. There was plenty of food, good beer, my wife looked fantastic, and the night was cool, but not cold. The highlight of the evening, though, was the tour by the curator, Ken Hickman. When the tour was announced, my wife and I were the only party goers to show up (though a few others joined us by the end of the tour).

Over the next hour and a half, we had a most informative tour by Mr. Hickman. He's a Penn Stater, like my wife and I, who graduated either shortly before, or shortly after I started there. He truly knows the ship inside and out. He explained her history, the restoration efforts, and future plans. It was a fantastic night!

The champagne and fireworks later that evening were okay too.

Needless to say, I came away from that tour with a much greater appreciation of the ship's design, history, and the magnificent work done by the museum.

Regards,

Most Imposing, well the Long Beach when she came alongside us on her last cruise. Now that was a CRUISER!

Most Facinating, One of the Aegis Class cruisers during REFTRA after the mass conflagration drill. When she came up along side us it was like a scene off the Autobahn. "Oh look here comes the (Mobile Bay or Valley Forge can't remember which)  She was a good mile to two miles aft of us. Them boom WTF? How'd she get here soo soon? There she is starboard side about 50 yards out. The Skipper of our carrier thanked her Skipper and then it was hard a starboard for her and her port gunnels were in the water big puff of black smoke from her exhaust vents (or stack, don't know exactly what they are called on the newer jet powered boats) and she was gone and I mean GONE!!!!

Most Surprising, The Mikasa when I was stationed in Japan, My last day there before coming home I looked over in the bay and there she sat. I'd wanted to take a tour never knew where she was then poof! Oh well didn't get to take a tour but it was wild.

Most interesting, the Comfort I think during Desert Shield we met her out in the gulf somewhere and all the nurses and such were all out in their bathing suits, after a hundred and ten days at sea my 180mm to 300mm telephoto lense with the 2x converter was gettin a major workout LOL Whooooo doggies!!!

 

Then there was Papa bear Momma bear and Baby bear, The Enterprise, The Constellation and the Ranger or Kittyhawk all three moored at North Island one weekend definitely showed the contrast in sizes of Birdfarms.

Tracy

P.S. I saw the Queen Elizabeth in HK also she was still there in 89 but I think she's finally gone, she was being salvaged through the next few times I was there although not very quickly.

 

 

Tough Q. There was the SS Savannah atomic ship, or maybe the LCM beached at Great Lakes (I know it's not a ship) that the ENs played with. LCACs (not ships really) are pretty cool too and use the same engines as the Perry class frigates.