Ugliest ship afloat?

OK time for my say.
The live sheep export ships, known as the Baa-Baa Express. Not only are the ships ugly but so is the trade. To top it off they STINK!!
As for beauty I saw the James Craig under full sail a couple of weeks ago. Realy a thing of beauty.
Dai

A sheep ship? Now what?? At least the sailors won't be lonely. I guess it's a good thing there aren't any pig ships, we have pig trucks around here toting swine to slaughter for the people at Smithfield Hams. Every now and then one will wreck and the pigs get loose and run amok. You talk about a stench!

I'd also vote for ships that were built during the transition from sail to steam. Some of the navel ships were just plain weird.

A sheep ship?? Man, that would be one job I'd not want to show up on my resume' nor would want to mention it at the local pub.

Submarines were once called "pig boats".

Subs are still called that by some old timers around here but couldn't be any cleaner. Although we still get a few Peruvian Navy diesel boats in here sometimes. Those sailors smell like pure fuel oil.

I think that the Brittish during the 50s-60s put out some of the uglyist ships I ever saw. Digger

I would say one of the most beautiful ships ever built was the USS Missiouri during her WWII days. Something about the brute size and strength of a battle ship that gets balanced out by the beauty of its bow slicing through the water. The majestic Guns that said go ahead and try it. Sure now adays its antiquated but there was something romantic about those big beauties. It's a shame that things have to be retired.

Come on guys.

Cruise ships are not that ugly.

I wish that there were more models of modern cruise ships and ocean liners available to model makers.
That is not to say that I don’t build warship models.
Presently I have under construction (time allowing) the following models in 1:350 scale

USS Enterprise
USS Ohio
USS New Jersey
USS Sprunce
USS Bunker Hill
RMS Lusitanian
RMS Titanic

I have been involved with overseeing the construction of the interiors on some of the largest cruise ships in the world.

I do agree that some cruise ships look very top heavy and very box shape, but I can assure you they are very stable and are built to the highest safety standards.
With all the amenities on board that you could imagine.

Here are some of the ship I have been involved with.

R.M.S. Queen Mary 2 for Cunard Line ltd. built by Chentiers de L’Atlantique in Saint Nazaire, France.

C.S. Costa Mediterranea for Costa Cruise Line SpA. built by Kvaerner Masa Yards in Helsinki, Finland.

C.S. Carnival Miracle for Carnival Cruise Line. built by Kvaerner Masa Yards in Helsinki, Finland.

C.S. Zuiderdam for Holland America Line, Inc. built by Fincantieri Spa shipyard in Marghera-Ve, Italy.

C.S. Aida Vita for P&O Seetours. built by Aker MTW in Wismar, Germany.

C.S. Norwegian Star for Norwegian Cruise Line, Inc. built by Jos L. Meyer Werft GmbH & Co in Papenburg, Germany.


The builders models of these ships are really fantastic works of art and most of them are built to 1:50 scale

I agree with you bill that the Burkes are the nicest warships afloat. they are just awsome. I love there sleek profile. They just Rock.

Out of that list, only the QE2 isn't butt-ugly! A cruise ship is not much more than a Las Vegas casino pushed over on its side with a couple of props stuck into the basement! You can have them. Diesel power, just a big motorboat. Steam, that, and wind, is what should push a ship.

I have to agree that container ships and cruise ships are both pretty 'ugly', nothing blocks up a beautiful view of the sea like a frappin' criuse ship (not to mention all of the wide eyed tourists coming ashore to clog up the town for a day!). Although it's not still afloat, I think the Arizona was pretty ugly and in the same breath one of the coolest (and should I say, beautiful?) of old battle ships. It's certainly my favorite!

Ron.

Has to be the modern cruise ships, c'mon are you kidding? They win hands down. Carriers look cool- sort of like interstellar battlecruisers. Car carriers- ugly only because of their form. Cruise ships COULD be better looking, but aren't, just to cram more people in.

Best looking military ship? KM Scharnhorst, with her North Atlantic bow.
Best looking old timer?: Sail designer Donald McKay's James Bains

Ugliest military ship, recent times: HMS Rodney
Ugliest military ship, ever? : USS Choctaw, Union Mississippi River gunboat

The absolute ugliest, smellyest, disgusting contraptions afloat are Whale Processing Factory Ships. Few are operating now because of International Laws. If you ever encounter one...just don't get downwind!

"Should we prosper it shall be as is our custom...by Miracle!"

I wouldn't say that the criuse ship is all that ugly,in fact they are perrty sable on the sea.
With a little imagation you could put a pair of doors in the front and back to open and allow aircraft to takeoff and land.This would make the criuse ship a very vaulible ship in the navy.Think about it,you send a couple of them to a country you want to go to war with.
Have your sailors dress up like tourist and just when them welcome you with all of your money,walla the doors open and operation get started.It would be the perfect stealth ship ever built.Digger

Dear All,

My votes go to some of the British battleships of the 1870s. God, they were grotesque. How's about the Glatton? So little freeboard it wasn't safe to be let out of harbour when the breeze was blowing. Insufficiently seaworthy to get across the Channel and too much draught to be used inshore. One turret that was supposed to have 360 degree field of fire by having superstructure so narrow that the guns could theoretically fire on either side of it!!!! I wish Combrig would bring out a kit of this singularly hopeless monstrosity.

Or a bit more modern, the WW2 monitor Abercrombie, with those massive bulges and the barbette that looked 3 storeys high? When I finish my model of it, I'm going to put my own initials in signal flags on it. Why? Because if I put anybody else's on it, they' be sure to take it as an insult!!

Regards

David

Ugliest.. U.S.S. Long Beach... ARGGG http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/cgn-9.htm I mean.. Look at that thing!

Prettiest.. I will have to agree with joe100... the Alaska-class battle cruisers.. were pretty sleek.. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/CB/CB-1_Alaska.html and the Iowa BB's too.

And I think runner up goes to the IJN Yamoto http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/japan/japsh-xz/yamato.htm


I also agree with the difficulties of hiding an aircraft carrier... http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/cvn-77.htm The thing is still huge, no matter what shape you make it.

And coolest ship.. the Sea Shadow... http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/sea_shadow.htm

Hmm, ugliest ship afloat? Gotta be a big rusting hulk tied up to a dock in a shipyard. Partially dis-assembled, lost and forgotten, its fate in the hands of the sea and Mother Nature. Damn near breaks my heart!!!!!!

I decided,...

This is an ugly ship.
It ranks right up there with the Honda Element, and the Toyota Scion

http://www.shipphotos.co.uk/pages/prideofportsmouth.htm

Umi wins. How does that thing not capsize?

Ugly indeed ... How do they manage to keep her on course in a cross wind?

Or does she just meander along collecting channel buoys as she goes ...
Bruce

Whatever happened to aerodynamics????? Looks like a crackerbox on a barge.

I agree, too. Umi wins hands down. That's a floating shoebox.

By far, the ugliest ship ever, are car-carrier that ferry new cars to whereever they go to be sold.

A hull only a mother could love:







At least, cruise ships have attractive colours.

other ship in need of plastic surgery:





Sorry, this will take up a lot of time to load...

As for nice ships, although everybody seems to find them ugly, I like the OH Perrys - they are the racecar of the warship world!

I also like the new Queen Mary 2 - much better looking than other hulking carribbean cruise ships...

I'd have to say that USS Long Beach was unattractive, and that IJN Fuso was downright ugly

stealth ships imo look like cardboard boxes foldeded a few times and then painted lovis grey. as for lookers, id say that i cant resist generic "man o war" s. yanno the old kind with cannons and jibs and all that jazz. ooh ! and a monkey ! and also a one-eyed capt'n with a parrot and a wooden leg ! :D

How about we get an Iowa class out of mothballs and sink some (empty of people) cruise ships?

U.S.S. Frank Cable, this rusting antique sits across the harbor from me as I type. What an eyesore!

Umi:

The "Pride of Portsmouth" may be one of the few ships that could have a 100% super-detailed and accurate scale model built completely from Lego pieces!

Golly! Maybe the 1:1 original was built that way!?

"Should we prosper it shall be as is our custom...by Miracle!"

The Frank Cable is not that old. As sub tenders go, it is a good one. Its hull number is what? 37? I ve worked on some truly old buckets like the Fulton- AS-11, I think it was, the Proteus and the Gilmore. Those ships serviced S class diesel boats before they were modified for nukes. What are you doing in Guam, woo7master? Been there long?

No, the Cable isn't really that bad. It's just a joke we have here that it's the ugliest commissioned ship and I couldn't help myself. I'm a MA attached to Naval Security Force Det, Guam. Been here about 5 mo now, just recently got into modeling as it's a much better choice than going to bars every night.

Especially bars on Guam, it's not a place to be single! And then again, it's not a good place to be married either, a lot of couples can't take the isolation. Personally, I love the place and started my navy civil service career there after I got out of the Navy. Hafa dai!