Greatest warship of all time

[Bgile]

I understand where you are coming from, and I think everyone has the right to a Court Martial if he so chooses. It isn't usually exercised unless there are special circumstances, because Court Martials can deal out more severe punishment.

[yellowtail3]

Greatest warship of all time

I nominate Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), the escort destroyer that put a beating on heavy cruisers Chokai & Chikuma in a gunfight.

[chcrawfish]

If LUCK is a factor...IJN SHIGURE

[chcrawfish]

After the implosion in one of the barrels aboard the Iowa in 1989 (I think it was that year) she would perhaps not be a "favourable" candidate for the gun sequence in a movie from 1992. The Missouri and Wisconsin were both busy in the Gulf war around this time. Is the New Jersey a likely candidate? Wasn't she a fleet reserve around that time?

At that time, all 4 IOWA class BBs were still kept in either active or reserve status, so the armament was fully functional.

Of course, the real reason to watch that movie was a topless Erika Eleniak..........

[chcrawfish]

...Now would that loss call for a court martial hearing? ...

Not sure if it was true in WWII or in the British navy but I'm pretty sure at one point it was SOP to hold a court martial whenever a ship was lost at least in the USN.

A court martial, or a Court of Inquiry? I suspect the latter was even done in WWII, but never the former unless the CoI reported willful negligence.

The only USN Court Martial regarding loss of ship in combat that I recall was Captain MacVeigh of the USS INDIANAPOLIS, and his conviction was overturned by Congress a few years ago.

[neil hilton]

The Greatest Warship of all time. Obviously HMS Victory, shes still on the rolls!

[lwd]

The Greatest Warship of all time. Obviously HMS Victory, shes still on the rolls!

I see nothing obvious about it at all. If she handn't been Nelson's flagship would she have merited any more attention thana dozen or so other British ships of the line?

[Bgile]

I believe she was the most powerful British ship of the line. Obviously being Nelson's flagship is also significant, just as USS Missouri is remembered as the place where Japan signed the treaty to end WWII.

[lwd]

Victory was one of 3 first rates in the British fleet at the time and Royal Sovereign one of the others took almost as many crew losses and was the first to engage.

[Bgile]

Victory was one of 3 first rates in the British fleet at the time and Royal Sovereign one of the others took almost as many crew losses and was the first to engage.

So you think that justifies preserving Royal Sovereign instead of Nelson's flagship?

[lwd]

No, why would you think so? and how is it relevant? Simply put Victory was one of a number of equally powerful ships of the line of that period and I have yet to see a strong case put forward for her being the "Greatest warhisp of all time". The fact that she is still in "commision" as an unsailable museum ship certainly isn't it, at least the Constitition has put to see in the last hundred years but I'm not suggesting she should be on the list either. As for justification for preservation that's not the question we are addressing here but given her connection with Nelson if only one could be preserved I'd probably go for Victory.

[Bgile]

No, why would you think so? and how is it relevant? Simply put Victory was one of a number of equally powerful ships of the line of that period and I have yet to see a strong case put forward for her being the "Greatest warhisp of all time". The fact that she is still in "commision" as an unsailable museum ship certainly isn't it, at least the Constitition has put to see in the last hundred years but I'm not suggesting she should be on the list either. As for justification for preservation that's not the question we are addressing here but given her connection with Nelson if only one could be preserved I'd probably go for Victory.

Ah, the truth is I lost sight of the point of contention. I guess that makes it hard to pick a "greatest warship" at all, since they were pretty much all members of a class.

[lwd]

Indeed we don't even have a consensus on what "greatest" means.
If it's the largest or most powerful then the latest US CVN owns the title. I (and I suspect a fair number of others here) will find that less than satisfying. Possilbly the larges boomer might qualify as to the most powerful.
If it's the ship with the most impressive carreer Warspite has got to be a contender but some of the ships during the age of sail had very long carreers. Another defintion might be which had the greatest impact on history for that defintion Potemkin comes to mind but I'm sure good cases can be made for others.

[neil hilton]

If a single generic term for 'greatest' is not suitable then lets set up some categories.
In no particular order;

1. Most spectacular career of all time.
2. Most powerful warship of all time.
3. Greatest impact on the course of history.
4. Greatest physical size.

How about that? Would everybody kindly put forward their contenders please for each category. No kicking, no biting, no hitting below the belt.

[lwd]

As I said for 2 and 4 best candidates is the latest US CVN although one could make a case for a "boomer" being the most powerful as well. But given the trend of ships to become bigger and more powerful with time does it really mean much? I do find 1 and 3 much more interesting but I'm going to have to think for a while before I put forth any candidates.