Greatest RN ship From 1900-1945

[JH]

Hi all

My personal choice would be HMS Dreadnoght the mother of the modern all gun battleship term which was eventually taken over by the carrier.
She made all the current ships of the era obsolite.


JH

[Filipe Ramires]

HMS Hood for me.
- The greatest in lenght of all mentioned for starters!!!
- The very symbol of the Royal Navy between the wars...proud of a Navy and of an entire Nation and Empire.
- Ambassador of Britain and its Commonwealth (Empire Cruise, etc, etc).
- Biggest warship for many time (between wars).
- Extreme beautiful lines.
- Etc etc etc!!!

Well, the others have also their own glorious features that shouldn't be taken out at all.

[Laurence Batchelor]

I voted for Warspite, as she acheived more in actual combat than any other Royal Navy capital ship and thats where it counts, these ships were built to fight not to look pretty!!!

I still argue to this day in terms of the outlay spent on Hood in her 21years of service when it came to the crunch she gave the Royal Navy very little in return. She was a beautiful ship and she gave some good PR for the Royal Navy. But as I said above she is a warship meant to fight and this she was not upto. Her only acheivement was Oran 1940. Any of the unmodernised R-class battleships could have shot up the French at Dakar, they were sitting ducks, in a very confined area and caught totally by surprise and thus this puts into perspective her acheivement. From 1939-1941 she was useful as a fast escort, but if she had to fight a modern opponent then well you have problems!

I wish some other ships had been included in this vote, but I know the MW boards only allow a few options.

[MartinJQuinn]

I voted for Warspite. While the Hood got the glory, Warspite was busy getting her hands dirty: Jutland, Narvik, Matapan and Normandy among other engagements.

Pity she was so badly damaged by the end of the war, perhaps they would have saved her as a memorial if she had been in better shape.

[bengtsson]

I voted Warspite although I am a great Ark Royal fan. I went for Warspite because of her incredible combat record. Ark Royal was a great ship, but no ship in the Royal Navy can approach Warspite for battle honors in two World Wars. Also, I believe this class of BB was the edge that gave Britain superiority over the German High Seas Fleet in WWI.
Bob B.

[JWintjes]

HMS Victory.

Was around when all the others were still far away and is still around when all the others are turned into razor blades.

On top of that, to the best of my knowledge no sailor died on HMS Victory during both wars, and that's the best achievement a warship can possibly make.

Jorit

[klein loewietje]

I voted HMS Warspite, for her Battle Honours and her whole career.
And ofcourse for her unbroken long range hit record!!

Greetz, Johan

(the ship that IMO had the most influence was any Flower, for guarding Britains lifeline in her darkest hour)

[RNfanDan]

Call me nit-picky, but if you read the poll question carefully, it asks for the greatest ship of the two World Wars; of the ships listed, only one actively served in two World Wars (Warspite).

- Hood wasn't commissioned until after WW1.

- Dreadnought was obsolete by WW1, remaining on the sidelines, scrapped by the mid-1920's.

- Tiger was also scrapped before WW2.

- Ark Royal and KGV were of course, new ships at WW2.

By default alone, that leaves only Warspite although in my opinion, that ship IS the list, anyway.

[Werner]

Does anyone know of pictures on the web of her in final fit, with "X" turret disabled and several boiler rooms filled with cement? I only have a picture of her from off the port quarter, firing on D-Day.

[Laurence Batchelor]

Werner I think a google image search brings up 2 photos I remember of her laid up at Devonport after the war taken from the stern.

[Mark Petersen]

Warspite for her record. Ark Royal IMO a distant second. At least in terms of this poll. The absolutely important ships in the RN in both wars IMO were the little ships. The destroyers and other ASW vessels that guarded the convoys that without which Britian would of have been strangled.

[bengtsson]

Warspite for her record. Ark Royal IMO a distant second. At least in terms of this poll. The absolutely important ships in the RN in both wars IMO were the little ships. The destroyers and other ASW vessels that guarded the convoys that without which Britian would of have been strangled.

Although they were not a choice in the poll, I agree about the Royal Navy's ASW ships being the most important, at least in WWII. The war against the U-Boats was the central front in the Naval war against Germany. In WWI, this might not have been quite so true, as the High Seas Fleet was capable ,at least early on, of turning the whole naval war on it's head in an afternoon. So the Grand Fleet BBs and BCs were absolutely necessary for Britain's survival as a nation. The U-Boat battle was a close second. I've always thought that the contribution of the USN at the critical time of 1917 was an underlooked factor in the anti U-boat campaign. The Royal Navy was building alot of ASW ships by then, but most of it's destroyers were tied up with the German High Seas Fleet threat. The arrival of the USN destroyers was a big help in getting DDs into major convoy escort forces. A small contribution at first, but their arrival at Queenstown was a major event for the R.N. forces fighting the U-boats.

Bob B.

[MartinJQuinn]

The arrival of the USN destroyers was a big help in getting DDs into major convoy escort forces. A small contribution at first, but their arrival at Queenstown was a major event for the R.N. forces fighting the U-boats.

Bob B.

I have a great print hanging in my hobby room which depicts the scene of the USN destroyers sailing into Cobh. It's called "Return of the Mayflower".

[ARH]

From that poll some one left out HMS IRON DUKE, she was in both wars, flag ship to the fleet in WW1,

[Tim Jacobs]

Warspite without doubt. Unmatched combat record.

[Laurence Batchelor]

From that poll some one left out HMS IRON DUKE, she was in both wars, flag ship to the fleet in WW1,

And a partially bombed floating hulk in WW2

I have some brief colour clips of her in ww2 and she looked in a sorry state with all her disarmament and her being beached in Scapa.

[ARH]

From that poll some one left out HMS IRON DUKE, she was in both wars, flag ship to the fleet in WW1,

And a partially bombed floating hulk in WW2

I have some brief colour clips of her in ww2 and she looked in a sorry state with all her disarmament and her being beached in Scapa.

YER MAY BE, But not until she had trained loads of crews how to fire all there guns, gunnery training ship.

[Laurence Batchelor]

And a partially bombed floating hulk in WW2

I have some brief colour clips of her in ww2 and she looked in a sorry state with all her disarmament and her being beached in Scapa.

YER MAY BE, But not until she had trained loads of crews how to fire all there guns, gunnery training ship.

Maybe we can attribute Warspite's record hit down to ID then

[JoeA]

Warspite, great ship, fighting ship what more to say?

[Dave Wooley]

HMS Hood for me was the largest battleship in the world for quite some time and out of all those listed could be considered the most attractive. Not forgetting the world cruise of 1923-24.
Dave Wooley