Inspired by the complimentary thread here elsewhere, entitled “Biggest Loser” (should probably be “biggest LoserS”) I’d like to encourage submissions here for the winners circle; warships of any era.
One of my favorites is the "Mercury’, an early 19th century Russian naval brig. She was less than 100’ LOA, and carried 18 guns (20 if you want to count a couple of 8 pounders. In the Strait of Bosphorus she engaged two Turkish ships of the line carrying between them 184 guns, damaged the rigging on both to a degree enabling her escape.
The navigator of the Turkish 110 gun ship stated after the encounter, “If in the great deeds of ancient or our times there are the feats of bravery, so this act put the others in the shade and the name of a hero should be wrote by the gold letter in the shrine of glory: the captain was Kazarsky, and the name of this ship was ‘Mercury’”
I believe Amati still sells a kit of this gallant vessel.
But only Enterprise of any ship in modern history can put in a legitimate claim to altering the course of a war in a single battle herself. Her air group alone sank two of the four Japanese carriers at Midway and shared the destruction of a third. Had they taken the choice of Hornet’s air group and gone searching in a different direction, the battle likely would have turned out far differently. Add to that Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz, Philiipine Sea, and finally Leyte Gulf plus the multiple carrier raids before and and after all those battles…
A similar tip of the hat must go to HMS Illustrious in the Mediterranean. In a single strike her air group took the Italian battlefleet out of action for several months.
I would think that the USS Constitution would definately qualify as one of, if not THE biggest winner, IMHO.
214 years old, still on “active” duty, still in the water, numerous wars,never defeated in battle, defeated five British warships in battle in the War of 1812and even sailed under her own power on her 200th birthday.
I know that HMS Victory is older but I’m a bit biased, my vote goes to Constitution.
My vote would be for the US Coast Guard’s “Secretary” Class cutter. Built in the 1930’s, these ships were referred to as “pocket cruisers” owing to their wooden decks, steam turbines and heavy armament. The CGC TANEY was in nearby Pearl City on December 7 1941 and fired at the attacking Japanese aircraft. Later that same day the cutter spent the next 48 hours cruising the waters off Pearl Harbor on anti submarine patrol . Today the TANEY is a war memorial in Baltimore Maryland, one of two exising vessels that were present during the December 7th attack. The Secretary cutters were deployed in WWII as Atlantic convoy escorts, in the critical U boat battles of 1942-43. The USCGC HAMILTON was torpedoed by a German sub off of Iceland during escort duty. Another of the cutters, the USCGC CAMPBELL, blasted a U boat to the surface and in the ensuing gun battle, rammed the sub and sank it. Later in the war this class were converted to Amphibious landing Flagships carring the command flags of Admirals and Generals during the Pacific Campaign.
After the War, the cutters served as mid ocean weather stations, supplying weather updates to the US mainland and serving as a plane guard for the fledgling overseas airline routes. One of the ships, the cutter BIBB, performed an incredible rescue saving the entire group of crew and passengers aboard the airliner “Burmuda Sky Queen” when it ditched in the Atlantic near the cutters patrol area.
All cutters of this class saw service in Vietnam in Operation “Market Time” and served as coastal gun fire support ships. These proud vesselss were active in the war on drugs often underway 8 months out of the year. Finally in 1985, the last ship of the class was decommissioned, serving the US continuously for over 50 years. The Revell model of the CAMPBELL (later TANEY) has been in production since 1957, it’s an accurate representation as the ship appeared in the early 1950’s.
At the time of Campbell’s encounter with the U-boat she rammed I was 14, living on the south cost of Long Island, in view of the occasional convoy vs u-boat encounter, via flashes of gunfire at night. I remember her atory well.
This from wikipedia:
USCGC Campbell was sunk on 29 November 1984 as a target in the mid-Pacific ocean by the United States Navy, and rests at 2,800 fathoms. A final message was trasmitted as the ship, which remained largely intact after a harpoon missile strike, went down. It said:
"UNCLAS //N05752// SUBJ: FINAL FAREWELL
1. I SERVED WITH HONOR FOR ALMOST FORTY-SIX YEARS, IN WAR AND PEACE, IN THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC. WITH DUTY AS DIVERSE AS SAVING LIVES TO SINKING U-BOATS, OCEAN STATIONS TO FISHERIES ENFORCEMENT, AND FROM TRAINING CADETS TO BEING YOUR FLAGSHIP. I HAVE BEEN ALWAYS READ TO SERVE.
2. TODAY WAS MY FINAL DUTY. I WAS A TARGET FOR A MISSILE TEST. ITS SUCCESS WAS YOUR LOSS AND MY DEMISE. NOW KING NEPTUNE HAS CALLED ME TO MY FINAL REST IN 2,600 FATHOMS AT 22-48N 160-06W.
3. MOURN NOT, ALL WHO HAVE SAILED WITH ME. A NEW CUTTER CAMPBELL BEARING MY NAME, WMEC-909 WILL SOON CONTINUE THE HERITAGE. I BID ADIEU. THE QUEEN IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE QUEEN."
Poignant! The coast Guard story in WW2 is largely ubtold. My brother commanded a CG picket boat patrolling NY Harbor at the time. On one occasion he took 20mm fire just outside of sandy Hook. Few know how close wew were to the war in those years.
Another cutter deserving mention would be the Bear. Built as a sail/ steam sealer in 1874 she was bought by the U.S. government in 1884 and took part in the search and rescue of the Greely party in arctic Greenland. From 1885 to 1926 she served with distinction as a Revenue Cutter stationed in Alaska. During one of its yearly trips to San Francisco she assisted in rescue opewrations after the 1906 earthquake. She was used in Admiral Richard Byrds second antarctic expedition. At the start of WWII she was involved in the American evacuation of antarctica. From 1941 to 1944 she was part of the Greenland patrol and made the first capture of a vessel by the U.S. when she found the German ship Busko setting up a U-boat radio station.
Sold by the government in 1948, she eventually was sunk in 1963 while being towed to Philadelphia to become a floating restaurant. It’s a shame no kit of her was ever made especially since the Airfix Discovery and Heller/Zvezda Pourquoi Pas? had much less distinguished careers.
I forgot the Bears Hollywood moment. While a museum ship in Oakland she served as the Macedonia in the 1930 film version of Jack London’s The Sea-Wolf.
