Top Ten Warships of All Time- Miltary Channel

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Subject: Top Ten Warships of All Time- Miltary Channel
buzzard 5/30/2006 10:54:25 AM

OK, yesterday I caught part of this show on the Military Channel. It had, IMO a rather odd set of picks for the top ships in history. I really don't quite get how they made their evaluations. 1 Iowa Class battleships 2 Nimitz Carriers 3 Aegis Cruisers 4 Queen Elizabeth Battleships 5 Fletcher Destroyers 6 North Caroina Class 7 Essex Class carriers 8 Bismark 9 Graf Spee 10 Hood (!?!) Now I'm not sure of the order (precisely, though I know 1-4 are correct), and maybe they limited things to the 20th century (which seems like the only way this list could be excusable). I have to ask, what the hell were they thinking? The Hood did not even vaguely deserve to be on the list other than due to noteriety. The Bismark and Graf Spee were pretty much meaningless in effect. Why are there no submarines even on the list? So, given this rather strange list we are presented with, what would your choices be. For the sake of argument, let's limit things to 20th century. Since I chose this forum choice, why don't we stick to surface ships at that. buzzard

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french stratege RE:Okay...My List 5/31/2006 8:28:07 PM

For me it is ship whom design was revolutionnary and changed way of warfare. It could go from La Gloire (first armored ship) to Oscar subs which never see combat but could have changed way of naval warfare with these supersonic antiship missiles. Bismarck class is top of history of battleship and first ship to have electronic calculator fire director .So it deserves a mention. I don't remember the first successfull aircraft carrier with angled deck and steam catapults but it deserve a mention also. The first Aegis cruiser with VLS is also a big change like Dreadnough a century before. However never a war was won by a single model of ship.

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french stratege RE:Okay...My List 5/31/2006 8:30:53 PM

I would say that Swedish have produced the two real revolutionary ships of end of XX century: First AIP subs : Gotland class First real stealth ship : Visby with a carbon fiber hull

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ambush RE:If you're going back to the 18th century....... 5/31/2006 9:20:01 PM

>>Because what the US classified as frigates were larger and had more numerous guns than what the RN classified as frigates.<< It was more than just more guns, most ships of the time carried more guns than they were rated. It was also the types of guns and the fact that the AMerinca crews which were not pressed into service were better trained. Those US firgates were more solidly built. The war of 1812 forced the Royal Navy to make some changes. As somebody already pointed out Adminral Nelson warned during the US war with the Barbary Pirates: "there is in the handling of those transatlantic ships a nucleus of trouble for the navy of Great Britain." Those early US Frigates belong on a top 10 list.

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perfectgeneral RE:If you're going back to the 18th century....... 6/1/2006 5:59:53 AM

I'd put HMS Warrior top of the pile, for detterring naval warfare for such an extended period. Job done.

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MadRat RE:If you're going back to the 18th century....... 6/1/2006 4:20:19 PM

Two or three HMS Warriors were not so ferocious it would seem as the ironclad.

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realitycheck FALSE! 3/20/2007 4:51:04 PM

Americans...always bragging for nothing.

The ultimate biggest "dreadnougth class" warship ever built was the YAMATO (JAPAN) with 65000MT.

in comparation, the IOWA class (missouri and others) had only 57000MT, BISMARK class (both ships) (GERMANY) was in the 53000mt range.

British dreadnought HOOD was in fact a 51000MT.

Now if we step OUT of the dreadnought class to include carriers, then yes, USA had the biggest one with the CVN-72 (A.Lincoln) 91000MT Nimitz class (total of 3 ships).

So many tons of armor steel to be render useless simply by a good power crash...lol!

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Herald1234 3/20/2007 6:18:11 PM

Americans...always bragging for nothing.

Samar ring a bell? No US bragging here just history where the "invincible" Yamato and other Japanese battleships cruisers and destroyers totally failed against Fletcher Class destroyers, Dealey Class destroyer escorts, Casablanca Class escort carriers. How about Midway where Akagi,, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu totally failed against the Yorktown Class?

Four top classes of surface warship of then 20th century proven there in battle. All of them US.

The ultimate biggest "dreadnougth class" warship ever built was the YAMATO (JAPAN) with 65000MT.

Sunk by Essex Class carrier borne aviation off Okinawa. The fifth top surface warship class of the twentieth centuty again proven by battle.

in comparation, the IOWA class (missouri and others) had only 57000MT, BISMARK class (both ships) (GERMANY) was in the 53000mt range.

Iowa Class battleships survived. Yamatos didn 't, neither did Bismark.

British dreadnought HOOD was in fact a 51000MT.

It didn't survive either.

Now if we step OUT of the dreadnought class to include carriers, then yes, USA had the biggest one with the CVN-72 (A.Lincoln) 91000MT Nimitz class (total of 3 ships).

Total of TEN;

2.1 USS Nimitz (CVN-68)
2.2 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
2.3 USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)
2.4 USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
2.5 USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
2.6 USS George Washington (CVN 73)
2.7 USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)
2.8 USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)
2.9 USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)
2.10 USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77)

So many tons of armor steel to be render useless simply by a good power crash...lol!

When has a Nimitz Class ever failed to deploy as needed, or bomb a nation into submission?

But to round out the top ten surface ships in the Twentieth Century list.

British Flower Class corvettes.
British Dido Class antiaircraft ships.
US Cleveland Class cruisers and the British Town Class cruisers[tied for noteworthy combat proven performance].
British Leander Class cruisers.
US

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eldnah 3/21/2007 8:18:19 PM

I am sure there were some great canoe fights I am unaware of so I'll struggle along with the argument under my silly criterion. I will try to pick the ten greatest naval battles in our history and the dominate ship/s or class/es of each: in no particular order:

Salamis .......................................The Greek Galleys

Lepanto....................................... The Venetian/Spanish Galleys

Trafalger..................................... HMS Victory

War of 1812............................... USS Constitution

Battle off the Carolina Capes....... USS Monitor & CSS Virginia (Merrimac)

Tsushima..................................... IJNS Mikasa

Jutland........................................ SMS Derfliger & the German Battlecruisers

Atlantic....................................... KMS VII Class Uboats & HMS Flower Class Corvettes

Taranto/Pearl Harbor................... British and Japanese CVs of various classes.

Midway....................................... USS Yorktown Class Carriers

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the_boat_guy 3/23/2007 7:38:59 AM

As the ship with the most battle honours of any in the history of the royal navy, I have to say that the RN battleship from ww1 or ww2 that should be included on the list is HMS Warspite. I have also included Turbinia on the list, even though she is not a warship, her proof the steam turbines could be used on ships paved the way for massive improvements in warship design. There is a RN slant to my list as i know the RN ships much better.

1. HMS Warrior (for proving iron warships were viable)

2. HMS Victory (Trafalgar and all that)

3. HMS Warspite (most decorated vessel ever in the RN)

4. USS Enterprise (First Nuclear powered Carrier)

5. The Longboat (First longrange warship/raiding craft)

6. Trireme (battleship of the ancient world)

7. Leda class frigate (mass production, most numerous class ever in RN)

8. Le naploéon (first steam powered warship)

9. HMS Dreadnaught (first modern battleship)

10. Turbinia (proof of steam turbines for marine vessels)

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RockyMTNClimber Okay I will bite 3/23/2007 8:54:42 PM

That list is crap. However it does rather depends on how you define the question of "Top Ten Warships of All Time".

Obviously their list only accounts for the 20th Century, which is a bit odd in the first place given their title.

Also, I think they have somewhat cheated by giving classes of ships rather than individual examples. But I am not surprised at the lack of submarines, their being boats and not ships.

Personally, I would answer the "Top ten warships of all time", with individual examples, based on fame and historical noteriety.

I would certainly keep HMS Hood on the list, her success mostly being in Diplomacy and as a figure head who met an unfortunate end, while I would certainly remove the Nimitz class (perhaps adding USS Enterprise), Aegis Cruisers (historical my arse, and what have they actually done that is historically notable?)... In fact I would rewrite the entire list.

For the 20th Century

1. HMS Hood
2. USS Phoenix
3. IJN Yamoto
4. Bismark
5. Peter the Great (Kirov Class)
6. HMS Queen Elizabeth or HMS Royal Oak
7. HMS Ark Royal (the WWII one)
8. HMS Vanguard
9. USS Missouri or USS Iowa (which one was the Jap surrender signed on?)
10. USS Enterprise or USS Longbeach

Off the top of my head.

Why the Phoenix (because it became Blegrano?) and why the Longbeach (first nuke cruiser?)

Check Six

Rocky

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