Name and
Claim to Fame |
Image |
Type of Vessel
(Service Dates) |
Note |
Intrepid, USS
—
In World War II, served extensively in the Pacific; later recovered capsules
in space program |

|
American Essex-class aircraft carrier
—
(August 16, 1943 - Currently a museum ship docked at New York City) |
Upgraded several times; first American carrier to launch aircraft with steam
catapults. —One of more than a dozen English and American
ships and boats named Intrepid. |
Invincible, HMS
—
First battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. |

|
British battlecruiser
—
(April 13, 1907 - Sunk by the German battleship SMS Lützow
at the Battle of Jutland, May 31, 1916) |
One of seven ships named Invincible in the British
navy from 1747 to the present. |
Kalakala
—
The first streamlined ferry with art deco styling and luxurious amenities served
in Puget Sound from 1935 to 1967 |

|
American ferry
—
(1926 - moored at Tacoma, Washington) |
From 1926 to 1933, sailed as the ferry Peralta;
after a fire, the superstructure was rebuilt in modern style. |
Keying, Junk
—
The first ship from China to visit New York where it was visited by 4,000 tourists
a day paying 25 cents to board the ship and meet its crew |

|
Chinese three-masted trading junk
—
(unknown - Neglected and rotted in England in 1855) |
Manned by 30 Chinese and 12 Englishmen, and commanded by the British captain Kellett
during her travel. |
Kon Tiki
—
Used by Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl to cross the Pacific |

|
Norwegian built raft
—
(1947 - On display in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo) |
On display in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo. |
La Amistad (Friendship)
—
In 1839, Africans being transported as slaves revolted against their captors aboard |

|
Spanish two-masted schooner, built in U.S.
—
(Before 1838 - No record after 1844) |
Primary cargo was sugar-industry products. |
La Belle
—
Explorer Robert De La Salle’s ship |

|
French barque (2)
—
(Probably 1683 - wrecked in Matagorda Bay in 1686) |
The wreckage was discovered by a team of archaeologists in 1995. |
Lusitania, RMS
—
Torpedoed by the German submarine killing 1,198 people |

|
British luxury ocean liner
—
(June 7, 1906 - Sank on May 7, 1915) |
Sinking turned public opinion against Germany in WW I. |
Maine, USS
—
Sinking precipitated the Spanish-American War |

|
American battleship
—
(November 18, 1889 - Sank on February 15, 1898) |
Explosion on board in the Havana Harbor sank her. |
Mary Celeste
—
The “ghost ship” was discovered heading towards the Strait of Gibraltar
unmanned and under full sail in 1872; the fate of the crew and passengers remains a mystery |

|
American brigantine
(3) originally named
Amazon
—
(1860 - intentionally scuttled on January, 1885) |
The popular mystery of the Mary Celeste began when
Arthur Conan Doyle published a story in 1884 about a derelict ship which he called
Marie Celeste. |
Mary Rose
—
One of the earliest ships built for war sporting the innovation of gunports. |

|
English carrack-type warship
—
(1512 - sank in the straits north of the Isle of Wight, 1545) |
The wreck of the Mary Rose was rediscovered in 1971 and salvaged in 1982. |
Mayflower
—
Transported the English Pilgrims from England to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 |

|
British galleon
—
(About 1608 - About 1624) |
Ocean crossing took 66 days. |
Meredith Victory, SS
—
The "Ship of Miracles" saved the lives of more than 14,000 refugees in a single mission during the Korean War, the largest humanitarian rescue operation by a single ship, |

|
American cargo freighter
—
(June 23, 1945 - Broken up for scrap in China, 1993) |
The ship was built to transport supplies and equipment overseas during World War II. |
Monitor, USS
—
With CSS Virginia, first-ever naval battle between
two ironclad warships |

|
American ironclad warship
—
(January 30, 1862 - Sank on December 31, 1862) |
Had a rotating gun turret. |
Moshulu
—
Famous through the books of Eric Newby such as The Last Grain Race (1956) |

|
Scotish 4-masted barque
—
(April 18, 1904 - Currently a floating restaurant docked in Penn's Landing, Philadelphia.) |
Between 1904 and 1914, under German ownership, Kurt shipped coal, nitrate, coal, and coke around the world. |
Nautilus, USS (SSN-571)
—
World’s first nuclear-powered submarine |

|
American submarine
—
(January 21, 1954 - In use as a museum) |
Now an tourist attraction in Groton, CT. |
Nina (Santa Clara)
—
One of Columbus’ ships of discovery |

|
Spanish caravel with four masts
—
(1492 - 1501) |
Columbus’ flag ship after loss of Santa Maria. |
Normac, MS
—
Used as Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant,
a floating restaurant in Toronto Harbour, from 1969-1981 |
 |
American fire tug, later a passenger ferry
—
(1902 - Currently a floating restaurant in Ontario) |
Sank after being severely damaged when the ferry Trillium struck her in 1981. She was raised in 1986
and again refurbished as a restaurant, Tokyo Joe’s. |
Ning Po (originally
Kin Tai Foong)
—
Spent 159 years in the Yellow Seas engaging in crimes such as smuggling,
slave trading, mutiny, and piracy |

|
Chinese 3-masted, 291 ton junk
—
(1753 - Burned in Catalina Harbor in 1938) |
Towed to San Diego, CA, in 1915 and put on display. |
Pinta
—
One of Columbus’ ships of discovery |

|
Spanish caravel with three masts
—
(Unknown - Unknown) |
The fastest of the three ships. |
PT 109
—
Commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy |

|
American motor torpedo boat
—
(June 20, 1942 - Sunk August 2, 1943) |
Rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri. |
Queen Anne’s Revenge
—
Flagship of pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach) |

|
English sloop
—
(1710 - Run aground near Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina in May, 1718) |
Originally named La Concord, it was captured by the French
in 1711 and by pirates in 1717. |
Queen Elizabeth, RMS
—
With sister ship Queen Mary, dominated the transatlantic passenger service |

|
British luxury ocean liner
—
(September 27, 1938 - After a fire, capsized in Hong Kong harbor, January 9, 1972) |
Used in World War II as troop transport. |
Queen Mary, RMS
—
Berthed in Long Beach, CA as a museum ship and hotel |

|
British luxury ocean liner
—
(September 16, 1924 - Retired in 1967 and served as a hotel from 1974 to present) |
Used in World War II as troop transport. |
Robert E. Lee
—
Won a steamboat race against the Natchez VI, going from
St. Louis, Missouri to New Orleans, in 3 days, 18 hours and 14 minutes |

|
American river steamboat
—
(September 16, 1924 - Caught fire and lost September 30, 1882) |
The speed record still stands. |
Santa Maria (La Gallega)
—
One of Columbus’ ships of discovery |

|
Spanish carrack (hermaphrodite, cargo ship)
—
(Unknown origin - Ran aground and lost, December 25, 1492) |
Columbus’ flag ship westward. |
Savannah, SS
—
First steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean |

|
American steamship with sails
—
(March, 1819 - Ran aground off Long Island in 1823) |
After ocean crossing, her steam plant was removed and she continued sailing up and
down the east coast. |
Seeadler, SMS (Sea Eagle)
—
One of the last sailing ships used in war; as a German merchant raider, the disguised
Norwegian wood carrier captured 15 allied ships with no casualties either side |

|
Scottish built, American owned three-masted windjammer
—
(1888 - Wrecked on a reef at the island of Pacific, August 2, 1917) |
Originally named Pass of Balmaha; captured by
a German submarine. |
Sequoia, USS
—
Served as the U.S. presidential yacht from 1933 until it was sold in 1977 |

|
American 104-foot wooden yacht
—
(1926 - Refurbished many time; now privately owned) |
Purchased in 1931 by the U.S. Department of Commerce for Prohibition patrol and
decoy duties. |
Seraph, HMS
—
Known as "the ship with two captains," briefly became the "USS Seraph" |

|
British submarine
—
(June 27, 1942 - Scrapped in December, 1962) |
During WWII, released a corpse ("The
Man Who Never Was") onto the shores off Gilbraltar carrying decoy papers to fool the Nazis as
part of "Operation Mincemeat." |
Slo-mo-shun IV
—
Winner of the 1950, 1952, and 1953 Gold Cup Races; also set two straightaway speed records |

|
American hydroplane
—
(October, 1949 - Wrecked in a pre-race test run in 1956; rebuilt and on exhibit
at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry ) |
Its hull was designed to lift the top of the propellers out of water at high speed, a technique
called “prop riding,” which reduced drag. |
Stockholm, MS
—
Collided with the Andrea Doria in the Atlantic |

|
Swedish luxury ocean liner
—
(1948 - Still in use) |
Sailed under dozens of other names. |
Thresher, USS
—
Lost at sea during deep-diving tests in 1963 with 129 crew |

|
American nuclear submarine
—
(July 9, 1960 - Sunk April 10, 1963) |
The lead ship of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. |
Titanic, RMS
—
Sank after hitting iceberg in the Atlantic, claiming over 1500 lives |

|
British luxury ocean liner
—
(May 31, 1911 - Sank Apr 15, 1912) |
Believed by many to be unsinkable. |
United States, SS
—
The fastest liner ever built; virtually no wood used in her construction |

|
American ocean liner
—
(July 4, 1952 - docked and deteriorating, future uncertain) |
On her maiden voyage she captured the Blue Riband with the fastest transatlantic
crossing on record in 3 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes at an average speed of 35.59 knots. |
Vasa (or Wasa)
—
The ship was salvaged with a largely intact hull in 1961 and now is in the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. |

|
Swedish wooden warship
—
(1627 - sank on her maiden voyage, 1628) |
During the 1961 recovery, thousands of artifacts and the remains of at least 15 people were found in
and around the hull of the Vasa by marine archaeologists. |
Victoria (Nao Victoria)
—
First ship to sail around the world—August, 1519 to September of 1522;
a total of 42,000 miles |

|
Spanish carrack or nao (4)
—
(Around 1518 - 1522 or soon after) |
Captain Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Phillipines; other four ships
lost along the way. |
Virginia, CSS (formerly USS Merimac)
—
With USS Monitor, first-ever naval battle between
two ironclad warships |

|
Confederate ironclad warship
—
(February, 1862 - Destroyed by crew May 11, 1862) |
Converted to ironclad from a steam frigate. |
Walk-in-the-Water
—
First steamboat on Lake Erie and the eastern Great Lakes |

|
American steamboat with two masts
—
(August 23, 1818 - Grounded on the beach October 31, 1821) |
Two large paddle boxes amidship housed her paddle wheels. |
Wanderer
—
Last American whaling ship |

|
American whaling ship
—
(1878 - Lost in a storm near Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts, on August 26, 1924) |
The mast of the Wanderer stands as a flagpole in Shipyard Park , a few feet from where it was built. |
Warrior, HMS
—
First iron-hulled, armour-plated warship |

|
British warship
—
(December 29, 1860 - Currently berthed in Portsmouth as a museum) |
She was the largest, fastest, most heavily armed and armoured warship up to that time. |
Yamato
—
The largest, heaviest, and most powerful battleships ever constructed |

|
Japanese battleship
—
(August 16, 1940 - Sunk north of Okinawa April 7, 1945 ) |
The flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. |
|
NOTES:
(2)
(La Belle) A vessel that is powered by the wind; often having several masts.
(3)
(Mary Celeste) Originally a small ship with sails and oars; from the Italian word
brigantino, a brigand’s ship, because it was favored
by Mediterranean pirates. Later “brigantine” referred to a two-masted sailing
ship with a square-rigged fore-mast and fore-and-aft sails on its main mast.
(4)
(Victoria) Developed in the 15th century, a three- or four-masted sailing
ship with a high rounded stern with an aftcastle and a forecastle and bowsprit at the stem.
—
Go to Famous Ships and Boats — A - H
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