Ships are a principle means of transportation, recreation and also a primary means of conducting
warfare worldwide since ancient times.
While military aircraft are new in human history, the warship has actually had more time to
evolve.
In more modern times, warships of exceptional scale, ingenuity and design have arisen to
intimidate and threaten opposing forces.
We discover the most awe-inspiring warships in world history in this high seas account.
10 Yamato-class: Yamato & Musashi
The Imperial Japanese Navy is known for unleashing some rather unsettling creations in the midst
of World War II maritime conflict.
Yet while “Bigger is Better” is admittedly associated with American military might and
engineering achievements, it is less well known that shipbuilders in Japan went about
creating some of the most impossibly massive and terrifying battleships the world has ever
seen.
The Yamato-class ships consisted of the namesake Yamato herself and her sister ship the Musashi.
The Yamato-class represented an enormous investment of battle resources in terms of materials,
personnel, fuel and armament in just two ships.
These machines were the largest warships of all to be deployed during the Second World
War.
With an enormous hull length stretching 863 feet, the Yamato-class was greater in size
than all other battleships worldwide, with 20 percent more water displacement than any
American vessel.
The USS Iowa-class vessels were the only battleships longer than the Yamato-class ships, but this
vessel was still less massive than the Yamato.
Over 30 percent of the total weight of the ship was comprised by the steel armor assigned
to the vessel, while the weaponry included the most massive guns in the history of warships.
The main guns of the Yamato-class were the greatest in size placed on a warship, firing
18-inch diameter shells.
The shells could be lobbed at an incredible range of 25 miles.
Musashi was sunk on October 24, 1944 in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, while Yamato was sunk
when intercepted on a mission to be run aground and fight to the end in defence of Okinawa
on April 7, 1945.
9 USS Iowa-class
Named after an interior state with plenty of prairies, the USS Iowa-class might not
come to mind at first thought when one is asked to name the most fearsome and all-around
impressive battleship class in US Naval history.
The largest battleships ever built by the United States, the members of the USS Iowa-class
were not only the greatest in size among American warships but it was the only one with the
capability of firing nuclear shells.
It remains a mystery whether the ships actually went into service while carrying nuclear shells,
but the fact is, the ships had 16-inch guns capable of launching nuclear shells.
Furthermore, nuclear shells specifically built for the guns on the Iowa-class ships were
produced, leading to a very intimidating scenario indeed.
This class is clearly not a ship with which one could be advised to tangle!
The USS Iowa herself served not only in the Pacific Theatre of World War II but also become
involved in Korean War related action.
The ship was then decommissioned, recommissioned in 1984 to counter Soviet forces presenting
concerns, decommissioned in 1990, and then recommissioned from 1999 to 2006 before being
donated for museum exhibition.
The vessel had the distinction of carrying president Franklin D. Roosevelt to a meeting
in Tehran during World War II.
The USS Iowa also bears a darker side to her history, notorious for killing 47 sailors
as a result of a gun turret explosion in April 1989.
8 Caio Duilio-class ironclad
Italy might not be as well known as a country with a history as a leader in exceptional
naval innovation, but the 19th century Royal Italian Navy or Regia Marina boasted a pair
of warships that were the most powerful, speediest and greatest in size among all battleships
at the current time.
The Caio Duilio and the Enrico Dandolo, constructed in the 1870s and 1880s also carried the largest
guns possible at the time, none less than a set of the admittedly terrifying 17.72 inch
rifled muzzle-loading guns.
Known as ironclad battleships, the two machines were fortified with massive armor in the most
critical areas, namely the engine zones and ammunition holding areas of the ship.
The remainder of the hull was not armored, but instead was separated into a multitude
of watertight compartments.
Any separate portion could fill with water if breached or shot apart, without the entire
ship going down.
This brilliant design allowed the ship to be light and yet better protected than most
other ships on the seas.
Coupling exceptional firepower with extraordinary protection against being sunk and you had
a battleship to be respected.
Designer Benedetto Brin certainly went above and beyond in creating an unusually formidable
naval vessel.
7 USS Zumwalt
Destroyers are not always enormous, but one of the newest ships of war to enter service
in the United States is a truly gigantic example of a destroyer.
The USS Zumwalt is named after US Navy Admiral, Chief of Naval Operations, the youngest ever
when he served and decorated veteran Elmo Zumwalt, an American of combined Jewish American
and German American heritage who is known for his anti-racism reformation work to improve
personnel policies in the US Navy.
The ship bearing Zumwalt’s name is extraordinarily futuristic and is the largest US Navy destroyer
in history to be constructed.
With its angular lines and the appearance of an ocean-going stealth aircraft, the ship
will astonish first time viewers with its modernistic and angular looks.
The 610-foot vessel weighs 15,000 tons and was added to the US Naval Fleet in 2016.
While the new destroyer’s looks may be nothing short of bizarre among warships, the ship
has stealth capacity.
When seen on radar, the futuristic looking machine appears like little more than a fishing
boat in its cross-sectional appearance.
The smooth, flat surface of the sections making up the exterior of this huge guided missile
destroyer make for an unlikely UFO or spacecraft like appearance that defines the USS Zumwalt
as a most exotic ship.
6 HMS Vanguard
The largest battleship of the British Royal Navy, the HMS Vanguard was alone in her class.
She held several other important records among warships built worldwide.
She was also the fastest battleship in the Royal Navy’s fleet.
The HMS Vanguard represented the most spectacular sunset work of the battleship, being the final
battleship to be launched for service in Britain’s Royal Navy.
The fact that this vessel was not only the largest battleship in the Royal Navy’s fleet
at a gigantic 814.5 feet in length but also the fastest despite its huge size is a remarkable
accomplishment of naval engineering.
The battleship could deploy at speeds of 30 knots, or 35 miles per hour, bringing a heavy
armament to the fight with less notice than required by slower ships.
The ship did not see World War II action as she was commissioned after hostilities ended.
As the last Royal Navy battleship, the HMS Vanguard was certainly in the spotlight with
its status as the largest and fastest in its category, but in comparison to its great size
and speed, the ship’s armament was rather average.
The only battleships in Naval service worldwide that were larger were the American giant,
the USS Iowa and the huge Yamato-class battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The ship is known for having transported King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Elizabeth
to South Africa in 1947.
After its service, the ship was eventually scrapped in 1960.
5 Bismarck & Tirpitz
The largest German battleships ever unleashed, the infamous Bismarck and her sister vessel
Tirpitz were giant members of the Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Together, the sister ships formed the Bismarck class of battleships.
The Bismarck-class of battleships comprised of the Bismarck and Tirpitz represented enormous
maritime might, with the Bismarck being the largest warship of Germany, with the greatest
displacement of any warship deployed in the European theatre of World War II.
The Bismarck herself measured an incredible 823.5 feet in length, with a displacement
of 55, 440 tons fully loaded.
Wide mid ship, the Bismarck beam measurement was 118 feet 1 inch.
The warship was equipped with a total of eight 15 inch guns, set up to fire forwards and
backwards in a set of four twin turrets.
The devastating firepower of the Bismarck allowed it to sink the HMS Hood in partnership
with the Prinz Eugen, following the attack of the Prinz Eugen by the HMS Hood.
Following the loss of the HMS Hood, a massive force of British Naval vessels and aircraft
chased down the Bismarck.
On May 27, 1941, the Bismarck was scuttled by her crew and soon sunk after sustaining
an unenumerable plethora of devastating hits from British air power and naval forces.
Of the 2,200 man crew, 111 were rescued by British forces, while 800 remaining survivors
were left behind after a U-boat alarm prompted a retreat.
The next day, two crew members were saved.
4 USS Nimitz-class
Some ship category must hold the record among naval vessels of being the largest warships
in the world and the modern holder of that record are Nimitz-class aircraft carriers
of the US Navy.
An impressive 10 of these astonishingly huge vessels have been constructed, with the class
in commission since 1975.
Named after the famed and highly regarded US Navy Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Sr., born
into a German American family in Texas with a grandfather who served in the German Merchant
Marine and was a key mentor to the young Nimitz in his life as he pursued a US Naval career.
Nimitz became the last US Navy Fleet Admiral and held the role of Commander in Chief, U.S.
Pacific Fleet as well as Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas.
Nimitz was also known for being the US Navy’s top submarine expert.
The enormous Nimitz-class aircraft carriers named in the history making seaman’s honor
are all nuclear powered, with an enormous size of 1092 feet in overall length and a
beam width of 252 feet.
With their endurance, size, power and number, they represent an impressive and highly capable
component of the US Naval might.
These gargantuan warships displace 113,339.52 tons and can carry up to 130 fighter jets
or an alternative mix of aircraft.
Exceptional armoring coupled with defensive armament and the large number of aircraft
ensure the ships are well protected.
3 Kirov-class
The Kirov-class represents enormous size in naval fleet equipment from Russia.
Dating back to construction times between the 1970s and 1990s, the four vessels constructed
are nuclear-powered battle cruisers that pack a punch with massive size, range, endurance
and armament.
The huge vessels were originally to number five in their ranks, but with two being deactivated
and one in the refit process, only one vessel, Pyotr Velikiy is operation as of 2018.
The Kirov-class represents the world’s largest surface combatant warship, as distinguished
from ships serving as aircraft carriers or built for amphibious assault.
The appearance of the gigantic vessels on the world naval scene was enough impetus to
provoke the US Navy into recommissioning the USS Iowa in response to the countering force
presented to the US Navy in the form of the gigantic battlecruisers.
The nuclear-powered Kirov-class ships were originally built for the Soviet Navy, now
under the purview of the present-day Russian Navy.
They stand out not only as the largest surface combatant warships in the world but also the
heaviest, weighing in at a massive 28,000 tons when loaded.
The ships boast a massive armament, including guns, anti-submarine missiles, anti-ship missiles
and surface to air missile (SAM) launchers.
2 Richelieu-class
During World War II, the two Richelieu-class battleships the Richelieu and the Jean Bart
were prominent as the ships comprising the largest battleship project of the French Navy
and the final one.
The Richelieu operated until its scrapping in 1968, while the Jean Bart lasted two years
longer, being scrapped in 1970.
The ships were first operated by the Nazi puppet state Vichy France, a notorious fascist
regime operating in France.
Subsequently, the ships were employed in service on the Allied side of operations in World
War II.
The exceptionally large European vessels could reach speeds of 30 knots, or 35 miles per
hour, impressive for their size.
The gigantic and heavily armed ships measured an incredible 813.2 feet in length, with a
108-foot beam.
Weight standard for the Richelieu-class vessels was 35,000 tons.
The monster ships ran on pressure-fired boilers with geared turbines with a set of four propellers,
each having four blades.
Not only was the speed and sheer size of these warships terrifying to encounter, their firepower
was concentrated and deadly to face head-on.
The Richelieu-class battleships were fitted with a battery of no less than eight 15 inch
guns that were set up as two quad turrets that faced forward to shoot in the position
of superfiring, with the top gun firing over the gun below.
1 Le Fantasque-class destroyer
The fastest destroyer in naval history was not a modern vessel but one constructed in
France prior to World War II.
The Le Fantasque-class destroyers, with a name meaning “The Capricious One” constituted
a most formidable fleet of six vessels built for the French Navy and pressed into service
during World War II.
One would logically expect the fastest destroyer in the world to have been built by a cutting-edge
naval force of the present day, but Le Fantasque-class ships were actually launched in the years
1933 and 1934.
The new class of warships proved to be a double-edged sword in World War II hostilities, serving
on the side of fascist regime and Nazi puppet state Vichy France and also on the side of
the Free French Forces in support of the Allied War effort in the European theatre.
Le Fantasque-class vessels boasted a lightning fast speed of 52 miles per hour or 45 knots,
gaining a notable advantage in outpacing enemy shipping.
The size of the ships was impressive despite their need for speed given that they measured
434 feet, 5 inches in length with a beam of 39 feet four inches.
Four of the powerful vessels survived World War II, two were lost, with the remaining
four were retired in postwar years.