# Attention all naval interested Dopers: What's the most attractive naval vessel, ever **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148 "2007-02-14T04:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/21 "2007-02-15T15:46:22Z")
[QUOTE=Philster] I once drank vodka out of a girls belly button (she looked like Rebecca Romjin). [/QUOTE] 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/22 "2007-02-15T15:49:57Z")
Another vote for [Old Ironsides](http://www.wreckhunter.net/images/constitution-poster-lg.jpg). I also love the remarkably clean and mean lines of the [Skjold Class](http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/skjold/skjold1.html) ships! ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/23 "2007-02-15T16:17:00Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] 😕 [/QUOTE] bellybutton = navel = naval vessel = cup = something to hold vodka in or maybe vessel = vassal and he has Rebbeca Romjin as a slave? RR = well she is attractive ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/24 "2007-02-15T16:53:06Z")
I for one, would love to jump off to the beach from [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseberg) . Chasing women, burning villages, robbing monasteries. Those were the days… ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/25 "2007-02-15T16:59:43Z")
I for one, would love to jump off to the beach from [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseberg) . Chasing women, burning villages, robbing monasteries. Those were the days… (suddenly hamsters barge in and double posts my post. Bad hamsters! Shooo!) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/26 "2007-02-15T19:03:52Z")
HMS [_Tiger_](http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/tiger/hms_tiger.htm) is often spoken of as a beautiful ship from her era. (WWI) Interestingly, Wikipedia says she was redesigned while under construction to match the new _Kongo_ esign, a ship cited in the OP. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/27 "2007-02-16T08:22:56Z")
I would have expected submarines to be obvious winners in this one. A few of the prettier ones: [Thresher](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USS_Thresher%3B0859306.jpg) (USN) [Akula](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Akula_class_submarine.JPG) (Russian) [Los Angeles class](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USS_Greeneville_%28SSN_772%29_in_Dry_Dock.jpg) (USN) My personal favorite when they’re not catching on fire, [Victoria Class](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:HMCS_Windsor_SSK_877.jpg) (RCN) Now I’ll grant you, they’re all unabashed phallic symbols, but they’re _really pretty_ underwater penises nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Jaochai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2acd7d/32.png) [@Jaochai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaochai)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/28 "2007-02-16T09:57:52Z")
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned the [Typhoon.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Typhoon3.jpg) The thing is a beast - it’s huge, it’s fast, it’s bizarrely quiet, it can carry 20 SLBMs, and almost 30 years after it’s been deployed it’s _still_ probably the best submarine ever made. However, I will give props to the newest submarines in America - the aggressive and dominant-looking [Seawolf](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USNavySeawolfSubmarine.jpg) and even moreso the [Virginia.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USS_Virginia.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/29 "2007-02-16T11:49:42Z")
[QUOTE=casdave] HMS Warrior, [http://y2u.co.uk/&002\_Images/HMS%20Warrior/HMSWarrior\_24.jpg](http://y2u.co.uk/&002_Images/HMS%20Warrior/HMSWarrior_24.jpg) [/QUOTE] I once did the Portsmouth Historic Ships tour and it’s amazing going from Victory to Warrior - only a generation or so between them and all of a sudden you’ve got light and air and headroom and a ship’s laundry, not to mention that broadside of 68-pounder smoothbores that would have made kindling out of anything on either side at Trafalgar (and they’re not the ship’s main armament). Compared to Nelson’s navy it’s like the star ship Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/30 "2007-02-16T12:54:05Z")
I’m partial to the [Yamato.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_battleship_Yamato) Or, if you don’t like the real ship, there’s the one from [Star Blazers.](http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2006/03/31/the-miyagawa-legacy/) For stupidest design, there’s the 1870s era Russian ship [Novgorod.](http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aj.cashmore/russia/battleships/novgorod/novgorod1.html) It was meant to be a mobile gun platform for defensive operations, but it was more like a armed bathtub. Firing the guns made the whole ship spin. ---
**Author:** ![grey\_ideas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@grey\_ideas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grey_ideas)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/31 "2007-02-16T13:31:19Z")
[QUOTE=sturmhauke] For stupidest design, there’s the 1870s era Russian ship [Novgorod.](http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aj.cashmore/russia/battleships/novgorod/novgorod1.html) It was meant to be a mobile gun platform for defensive operations, but it was more like a armed bathtub. Firing the guns made the whole ship spin. [/QUOTE] Sweet zombie jesus, that’s an odd looking ship! But you just know you would have liked to have been an observer when they were doing the initial testing of the guns, albeit at a safe distance. Given her apparent tendancy to instability at sea combined with the spin effect of those guns I would imagine you’d have some mightily confused and somewhat green looking sailors staggering off. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/32 "2007-02-16T14:28:02Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] I once did the Portsmouth Historic Ships tour and it’s amazing going from Victory to Warrior - only a generation or so between them and all of a sudden you’ve got light and air and headroom and a ship’s laundry, not to mention that broadside of 68-pounder smoothbores that would have made kindling out of anything on either side at Trafalgar (and they’re not the ship’s main armament). Compared to Nelson’s navy it’s like the star ship Enterprise. [/QUOTE] I agree. The open space on the top deck of the _Warrior_ is like a park compared to the crowded quarter deck of _Victory_. As to the OP, I’ve always favored the _Iowa_ class as well as the _Yamato_. It’s the turrets that push my buttons. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/33 "2007-02-16T22:44:06Z")
[QUOTE=Jaochai] I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned the [Typhoon.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Typhoon3.jpg) The thing is a beast - it’s huge, it’s fast, it’s bizarrely quiet, it can carry 20 SLBMs, and almost 30 years after it’s been deployed it’s _still_ probably the best submarine ever made. However, I will give props to the newest submarines in America - the aggressive and dominant-looking [Seawolf](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USNavySeawolfSubmarine.jpg) and even moreso the [Virginia.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USS_Virginia.jpg) [/QUOTE] I’d really have to disagree with you that the typhoon was the best submarine ever built. They were the quietest Russian built sub but our Los Angeles class attack subs were quieter and had sonar suites 3-4 times as sensitive as theirs. From what I’ve read, we pretty much had every Akula permanently tailed for most of the cold war. I would have say the best sub ever made was the other you mentioned, Seawolf is a monster.. just too expensive with no other superpowers around to justify. Still… in deference to the to Typhoon/Akula, you have to say something about a submarine with it’s own indoor swimming pool. 😜 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/34 "2007-02-17T00:06:21Z")
[QUOTE=Jaochai] However, I will give props to the newest submarines in America - the aggressive and dominant-looking [Seawolf](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USNavySeawolfSubmarine.jpg) [/QUOTE] Meh, you can keep Building 21. I’ll take Old Ironsides, or a viking Drakkar any day. Although a classic [Grecian Bireme](http://www.artsales.com/ARTistory/Ancient_Ships/images/Greek_21.gif) has beautiful lines. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/35 "2007-02-17T01:27:15Z")
[QUOTE=aruvqan] Meh, you can keep Building 21. I’ll take Old Ironsides, or a viking Drakkar any day. Although a classic [Grecian Bireme](http://www.artsales.com/ARTistory/Ancient_Ships/images/Greek_21.gif) has beautiful lines. [/QUOTE] **aruvqan** , that’s a base canard. Seawolf may not have props for looks, but she gets underway, with regularity. Unlike [Building 20](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/images/lcc-20-lccjcc20bw.jpg). (Am I bitter that we got tasked to take over one of her cruises on 72 hours notice, because they **couldn’t** get underway? Not at all, why do you ask?) There’s something telling that the motto on the ship’s own website is: [“The Most Sophisticated Communications Ship on the Waterfront.”](http://www.mtwhitney.navy.mil/) So there you have it, fugly and immobile. That’s a real naval building. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/36 "2007-02-17T02:16:18Z")
I think everyone thinks the ship _they_ were on is the most beautiful. My dad and my brother were both Marines and they both think so. My dad was on the [USS Midway](http://www.midwaysaircraft.org/images/USS%20Midway%20(3).JPG) which is too low and wide IMO. You can’t really tell from that picture but it is really oddly wide-looking in person. My brother was on the [USS Peleliu](http://www.c3f.navy.mil/web_images/Peleliu/051205-N-9866B-126.jpg) and I’ve got to agree with him on its attractiveness, if only because I was on it myself for 10 days. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/37 "2007-02-17T03:33:52Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] I think everyone thinks the ship _they_ were on is the most beautiful. [/QUOTE] Oh, well I was on the USS Pampanito. [Here it is.](http://www.maritime.org/pamphome.htm) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/38 "2007-02-17T03:43:14Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] I think everyone thinks the ship _they_ were on is the most beautiful. My dad and my brother were both Marines and they both think so. [/QUOTE] I served on the USS Ranger CV-61, I know she was not that beautiful. The BBs and some Destroyer just have the look of menace and grace that no carrier can ever match. The classic Sailing Frigates like the Constitution are works of art. She is the most perfect wooded vessel. Strong enough to stop the weapons of her day and swift enough with a good crew to sail circles around the big Brit Man-O-Wars. She and her long departed sisters were the apex of Function and Form. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/39 "2007-02-17T03:58:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Cisco > I think everyone thinks the ship they were on is the most beautiful. My dad and my brother were both Marines and they both think so. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148/40 "2007-02-17T03:59:29Z")
I’ve got it bad for tall ships and love both _Star of India_ and _Rose_ , at the Maritime Museum in San Diego. Farther down, there is the USS _Midway_, which I also loved, though it looks quite different of course. I hope to see many more ships. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-all-naval-interested-dopers-whats-the-most-attractive-naval-vessel-ever/392148.md?page=3)