List of oldest surviving ships
This is a list of the oldest ships in the world which have survived to this day without significantly losing their original form. It includes warships, yachts, tall ships, and vessels recovered during archaeological excavations. It does not include reconstructions or replicas, partially complete wreckage, or ships which have been located but remain underwater. For example, the Mary Rose, whose remains consist only of a partial hull, is not included here. Vessels listed are sorted by date of launching as most accurately known.
Oldest ships
Names | Image | Year of construction | Type | Country/area of origin | Current location | LOA | Displacement (tons) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pesse canoe | 8040 BCE[1] | Canoe | Netherlands, Europe | Assen, Netherlands | 117 in (3.0 m) | Believed to be the oldest boat in existence | ||
Dufuna canoe | 8500 BP (6550 BCE)[2] | Canoe | Nigeria, Africa | Yobe State, Nigeria | 28 ft (8.5 m) | Oldest boat discovered in Africa, second oldest boat worldwide | ||
Khufu ship | 2500 BC | Ritual barge | Egypt | Giza, Egypt | 142 ft (43 m) | Oldest known intact ship[3] | ||
Dover Bronze Age boat | 1500 BC | Seagoing boat | United Kingdom | Dover, United Kingdom | 31 ft (9.4 m) | Oldest known seagoing vessel[4] | ||
Oseberg ship | 820[5] | Viking ship | Vestfold | Oslo, Norway | 71 ft (22 m) | |||
Gokstad ship | 900[6] | Viking ship | Vestfold | Oslo, Norway | 76 ft (23 m) | Uncovered by digging in 1880 | ||
Skuldelev 2 | 1042 | Viking ship | Dublin | Roskilde, Denmark | 98 ft (30 m) | Second largest Viking ship discovered. | ||
Bremen cog | 1380[7] | Trading cog | Germany | Bremerhaven, Germany | 79 ft (24 m) | 130 | ||
Vasa | 1627[8] | Sailing warship | Sweden | Stockholm, Sweden | 226 ft (69 m) | 1330 | Sank 1628; salvaged 1961 | |
HMS Victory | May 7, 1765[9] | 1st Rate ship-of-the-line | United Kingdom | Portsmouth, England | 228 ft (69 m) | 3500 | Oldest commissioned naval vessel | |
USS Philadelphia | 1776[10] | Sailing warship | United States | Washington, D.C. | 53 ft (16 m) | 32 | Sank 1776; salvaged 1935 | |
Peggy | 1789[11] | Private yacht | Isle of Man | Castletown, Isle of Man | 27 ft (8.2 m) | Oldest surviving Manx ship; also the oldest surviving schooner | ||
USS Constitution | 1797[12] | Sailing warship | United States | Boston, Massachusetts | 203.3 ft (62.0 m) | 2200 | Oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat | |
Tilikum | after 1800[13] | Dugout canoe | Canada | Victoria, British Columbia | 38 ft (12 m) | |||
HMS Trincomalee | 1817[14] | Sailing frigate | India | Hartlepool, England | 150.45 ft (45.86 m) | |||
HMS Unicorn | 1824[15] | Sailing frigate | United Kingdom | Dundee, Scotland | 151.9 ft (46.3 m) | |||
Charles W. Morgan | 1841[16] | Whaler | United States | Mystic, Connecticut | 113 ft (34 m) | Oldest surviving merchant ship; also the only surviving wooden whaling ship | ||
Dom Fernando II e Glória | 1843[17] | Frigate | Portuguese India | Almada, Portugal | 284 ft (87 m) | 1800 | Last sailing frigate of the Portuguese Navy | |
SS Great Britain | 1843[18] | Ocean liner | United Kingdom | Bristol, England | 322 ft (98 m) | 3700 | First iron-hulled steamship to cross the Atlantic | |
Brandtaucher | 1850[19] | Submarine | Germany | Dresden, Germany | 27 ft (8.2 m) | Location of first recorded submarine escape | ||
Edwin Fox | 1853[20] | Full-rigged ship | India | Picton, New Zealand | 157 ft (48 m) | 830 | Only remaining Australian convict ship | |
USS Constellation | 1854[21] | Sailing warship | United States | Baltimore, Maryland | 199 ft (61 m) | 1570 | Reconstructed in 1854 using materials from USS Constellation (1797) | |
Jylland | 1860[22] | Frigate | Denmark | Ebeltoft, Denmark | 233 ft (71 m) | |||
HMS Warrior | 1860[23] | Ironclad | United Kingdom | Portsmouth, England | 420 ft (130 m) | 10,100 | First armour-plated, iron-hulled warship | |
CSS H. L. Hunley | 1863[24] | Submarine | Confederate States of America | Charleston, South Carolina | 40 ft (12 m) | 8 | First submarine to sink an enemy warship | |
Star of India | 1863[25] | Windjammer | Isle of Man | San Diego, California | 278 ft (85 m) | Oldest ship in regular use | ||
City of Adelaide | 1864[26] | Clipper | United Kingdom | Adelaide, South Australia | 244 ft (74 m) | 800 | Oldest surviving clipper ship | |
Al Mahroussa | 1865[27] | Motor Yacht | United Kingdom | Alexandria, Egypt | 478 ft (146 m) | 3762 | Royal Yacht built for Isma'il Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt. Renamed El Horriya for some time, it was renamed back to Al Mahroussa in September 2000 by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak | |
Huascar | 1865[28] | Monitor | United Kingdom | Talcahuano, Chile | 219 ft (67 m) | 1300 | Oldest vessel of the Chilean Navy | |
HNLMS Buffel | 1868[29] | Ironclad | United Kingdom | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 196 ft (60 m) | 2600 | ||
HNLMS Schorpioen | 1868[30] | Ironclad | France | Den Helder, Netherlands | 196 ft (60 m) | 2400 | ||
Cutty Sark | 1869[31] | Clipper | United Kingdom | Greenwich, England | 280 ft (85 m) | 2100 | Extensively restored 2007–2012 | |
Lewis R French | 1871[32] | Schooner | United States | Camden, Maine | 101 ft
(31 m) |
Active freight carrier until 1971 at which time was refit for passenger use. Active member of Camden, Maine Schooner fleet. She is the last schooner remaining of thousands built in Maine during the 19th century. | ||
SMS Leitha | 1871[33] | River monitor | Austria-Hungary | Budapest, Hungary | 166 ft (51 m) | Only surviving ship of the Austro-Hungarian Navy | ||
HNoMS Rap | 1873[34] | Torpedo boat | United Kingdom | Horten, Norway | 60 ft (18 m) | 8 | ||
ARA Uruguay | 1874[35] | Corvette | United Kingdom | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 150 ft (46 m) | 600 | ||
HSwMS Sölve | 1875[36] | Monitor | Sweden | Gothenburg, Sweden | 131 ft (40 m) | 500 | ||
Elissa | 1877[37] | Barque | United Kingdom | Galveston, Texas | 141 ft (43 m) | 600 | ||
Falls of Clyde | 1878[38] | Windjammer | United Kingdom | Honolulu, Hawaii | 280 ft (85 m) | 1800 | Only surviving sail-driven oil tanker | |
HMS Gannet | 1878[39] | Sloop-of-war | United Kingdom | Chatham, England | 170 ft (52 m) | 1100 | ||
Lady Elizabeth | 1879[40] | Barque | United Kingdom | Stanley, Falkland Islands | 223 ft (68 m) | 1200 | Beached since 1936 | |
BAE Abdon Calderon | 1884[41] | Gunboat | United Kingdom | Guayaquil, Ecuador | 131 ft (40 m) | 300 | ||
Polly Woodside | 1885[42] | Barque | Belfast | Melbourne, Australia | 192 ft (59 m) | 1100 | Polly Woodside is typical of thousands of smaller iron barques built in the last days of sail, intended for deep water trade around the world and designed to be operated as economically as possible. | |
Balclutha | 1886[43] | Full-rigged ship | United Kingdom | San Francisco, California | 301 ft (92 m) | 4100 | ||
Sigyn | 1887 | Barque | Turku, Finland | 189 ft (57.5 m) | ||||
af Chapman | 1888[44] | Full-rigged ship | United Kingdom | Stockholm, Sweden | 290 ft (88 m) | |||
Arthur Foss | 1889[45] | Tugboat | United States | Seattle, Washington | 129 ft (39 m) | Likely oldest wooden tugboat afloat | ||
Fram | 1892[46] | Schooner | Norway | Oslo, Norway | 128 ft (39 m) | 402 | Sailed farther north and south than any other wooden vessel | |
USS Olympia | 1892[47] | Protected cruiser | United States | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 344 ft (105 m) | 6300 | Only surviving ship from the Spanish–American War | |
Turbinia | 1894[48] | Experimental steamship | United Kingdom | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | 102 ft (31 m) | 45 | First turbine-powered ship | |
Vridni | 1894[49] | Tugboat | Austria-Hungary | Split, Croatia | 42 ft (13 m) | 10 | ||
C.A. Thayer | 1895[50] | Schooner | United States | San Francisco, California | 219 ft (67 m) | 500 | ||
Belem | 1896[51] | Barque | France | Nantes, France | 190 ft (58 m) | 500 | ||
Glenlee | 1896[52] | Barque | United Kingdom | Glasgow, Scotland | 246 ft (75 m) | 3000 | ||
ARA Presidente Sarmiento | 1897[53] | Training ship | United Kingdom | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 267 ft (81 m) | 3000 | ||
Japanese battleship Mikasa | 1900 | Pre-dreadnought battleship | United Kingdom | Yokosuka, Japan | 432 ft (132 m) | 15140 | The last remaining example of a pre-dreadnought battleship. | |
MV Chauncy Maples | 1901 | Motor ship | United Kingdom | Malawi | 126 ft (38 m) | 250 | Africa's oldest motor ship[54] | |
Gazela | 1901 | Barquentine | Portugal | Philadelphia | 177 ft (54 m) | 652 | Museum ship | |
Aurora | 1903 | Protected Cruiser | Russia | Saint Petersburg | 416 ft (127 m) | 6731 | Museum Ship open for tours | |
Hercules | 1907 | Tugboat | United States | San Francisco | 151 ft (46 m) | 409 | Museum Ship | |
SS Nyanza | 1907 | cargo ship | United Kingdom | Kenya | 812 | Although delerict, she still retains her original engines and boilers | ||
Georgios Averof | 1910 | Armored Cruiser | Greece | Palaio Faliro, Athens, Greece | 459.7 ft (140.1 m) | 10200 | Museum Ship open for tours | |
SS Nomadic | 1911 | Tender | Belfast | Belfast | 220 ft (67 m) | 1273 | The last remaining White Star line ship. | |
Chacon | 1912 | Fishing Boat | United States | Chugiak, Alaska | 72 ft (22 m) | 100 | Memorial | |
CSS Acadia | 1913 | Hydrographic Surveying Ship | Canada | Halifax, Canada | 182 ft (55 m) | 1700 | Also a former Canadian Navy Patrol Vessel | |
SS Rusinga | 1913 | cargo ship | United Kingdom | Kenya | 220 ft (67 m) | 1300 | Still operational as of 2005 [55] | |
HMS Caroline | 1914 | Light Cruiser | United Kingdom | Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK | 420 ft (128.0 m) | 3750 | Only remaining ship from battle of Jutland. Was second oldest ship in British Navy when decommissioned in 2011. Currently undergoing major restoration | |
USS Texas | 1914 | Dreadnought Era World War I Battleship | United States | San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, Texas | 573 ft (175 m) | 27,000 | The last remaining World War I era dreadnought battleship. Also one of six remaining ships that served in World War I and World War II | |
Kommuna | 1915 | Submarine Salvage Ship | Russia | Sevastopol | 315 ft (96 m) | 3100 | World War I, World War II, Currently in active service | |
MV Liemba | 1915 | cargo ship | German Empire | Tanzania | 234.25 ft (71.40 m) | 1575 | Scuttled during the Battle for Lake Tanganyika during the First World War, she was later raised by the British and is still an active ferry to this day | |
HMS M33 | 1915 | Monitor | United Kingdom | Portsmouth, England | 177 ft (54 m) | 580 | Museum Ship | |
SS Klondike | 1921 | Sternwheeler | Canada | Whitehorse, Yukon | 210 ft (64 m) | 1226.25 | Museum Ship open for tours | |
STS Sedov | 1921 | Barque | Germany | Russia | 117.5 ft (35.8 m) | 7400 | Sail Training Vessel | |
PS Sudan | 1921[56] | paddle steamer | Scotland | River Nile | 228 ft (69 m) | 600 | Currently used for River cruises along the Nile River[57] |
See also
1907 S.S. Keewatin built in Govan Scotland for Canadian Pacific Railways as a passenger and freight ship traversing the Great Lakes until 1965. Sold to RJ Peterson of Peterson Marine in 1967 as a museum ship. Sold to Canadian interests in Port McNicoll Ontario in 2012. Operating as a museum ship currently.
1905 Steamboat Minnehaha, Lake Minnetonka Minnesota - 70 feet long launch style torpedo stern passenger ferry "streetcar boat" with triple expansion steam engine. Built by the Royal C. Moore boatworks (Wayzata, MN) for the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company for continuation of trolley line passenger service to multiple destinations on Lake Minnetonka. Scuttled in 1926, raised in 1980, restoration completed in 1995. Currently operates as a non-profit museum ship offering public excursions and special cruises.
References
- ↑ Wierenga, Jan (12 April 2001). "Kano Van Pesse Kon Echt Varen". Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ↑ Gumnior, Maren; Thiemeyer, Heinrich (2003). "Holocene fluvial dynamics in the NE Nigerian Savanna". Quaternary International. 111: 54. doi:10.1016/s1040-6182(03)00014-4.
- ↑ Jenkins, Nancy (January–February 1980). "The Smell of Time". Saudi Aramco World. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ "Bronze Age Boat". Dover Museum. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
- ↑ UiO Museum of Cultural History (December 10, 2012). "The Oseberg finds". University of Oslo. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ UiO Museum of Cultural History (December 10, 2012). "The Gokstad finds". University of Oslo. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Scholl, Lars (October 2, 2006). "The Bremen Cog of 1380" (PDF). German Maritime Museum. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ The Vasa Museum (December 26, 2013). "Important dates". Vasamuseet.se. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Royal Navy (2013). "HMS Victory". RoyalNavy.mod.uk. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Paine, Lincoln (2000). Warships of the World to 1900. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Nixon, W.M. (August 23, 2013). "Is This the Oldest Yacht in the World?". Afloat. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ City of Boston (2013). "USS Constitution and Charlestown Navy Yard". CityofBoston.gov. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Dill, J. Gregory (2006). Myth, Fact, and Navigators' Secrets: Incredible Tales of the Sea and Sailors. Globe Pequot. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ BBC News (September 22, 2010). "Crew diaries reunited with HMS Trincomalee on Teesside". BBC. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Urquhart, Frank (March 1, 2013). "HMS Unicorn drops to dock floor". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Wojtas, Joe (October 18, 2013). "Whaling ship Charles W. Morgan restores mast with silver half dollar under base for luck". TheDay.com. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Paine, Lincoln (2000). Warships of the World to 1900. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Cardiff School of History, Archaeology, and Religion (2012). "Conservation of Brunel's steamship SS Great Britain". Cardiff University. Retrieved 2013-12-26. External link in
|publisher=
(help) - ↑ Owen, David (2007). Anti-Submarine Warfare: An Illustrated History. Naval Institute Press. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Castell, Marcus (May 25, 2005). "Edwin Fox". New Zealand Maritime Record. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ Stiehm, Jamie (July 30, 1997). "USS Constellation's hull reveals its true ancestry and year of birth". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2013-12-26. External link in
|work=
(help) - ↑ Kure, Bernt (2013). "The frigate Jylland: building and restoration history". Traditional Shipbuilding Partnership. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
- ↑ "The launch on Saturday". Liverpool Daily Press. December 31, 1860. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Rokicki, Rich (August 20, 2000). "Civil War Sub: See how the Hunley submarine works". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Warth, Gary (November 9, 2013). "Star of India still spry at 150 years old". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ BBC News (October 18, 2013). "City of Adelaide clipper: Protest targets Greenwich ceremony". BBC. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ "S.S. Mahroussa - Who were Oliver Lang and son?". sites.google.com. 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
- ↑ Frankignoul, Daniel (April 9, 2007). "The Huascar, Schorpioen and Buffel, three surviving ram ships of the Civil War era" (PDF). Confederate Historical Association of Belgium. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Frankignoul, Daniel (April 9, 2007). "The Huascar, Schorpioen and Buffel, three surviving ram ships of the Civil War era" (PDF). Confederate Historical Association of Belgium. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Frankignoul, Daniel (April 9, 2007). "The Huascar, Schorpioen and Buffel, three surviving ram ships of the Civil War era" (PDF). Confederate Historical Association of Belgium. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Mackie, Vivienne (December 22, 2013). "Greenwich: What time is it, and where are you?". Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ "Sail the Maine Coast on a Historic Maine Windjammer". schoonerfrench.com. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
- ↑ Lloyd's Register Book (1892). Particulars of the War Ships of the World: Extracted from Lloyd's Register Book, 1892–93. Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Worth, Richard (2001). Fleets of World War II. Da Capo Press. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Lloyd's Register Book (1892). Particulars of the War Ships of the World: Extracted from Lloyd's Register Book, 1892–93. Lloyd's Register of Shipping. p. 15. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Lloyd's Register Book (1892). Particulars of the War Ships of the World: Extracted from Lloyd's Register Book, 1892–93. Lloyd's Register of Shipping. p. 51. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Voss, Kurt (2009). Galveston's the Elissa: The Tall Ship of Texas. Arcadia Publishing. p. 12. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Delgado, James (1988). "Falls of Clyde National Historic Landmark Study". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Preston, Anthony (2007). Send a Gunboat: The Victorian Navy and Supremacy at Sea, 1854–1904. Naval Institute Press. p. 197. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Brodie Collection (1946). "Lady Elizabeth". State Library of Victoria. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Sidoli, Osvaldo (2012). "Museum ship BAE Abdon Calderon". Maritime History and Archaeology Foundation. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ http://www.pollywoodside.com.au/. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ↑ Nolte, Carl (February 10, 2009). "Working on a classic – sailing ship Balclutha". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Ohlsen, Becky (2004). Lonely Planet Stockholm. Lonely Planet. p. 160. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Broom, Jack (December 28, 2012). "Vintage Vessels Share MOHAI Spotlight". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ↑ "The Polar Ship Fram". The Fram Museum. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ↑ Moody, Erin (November 28, 2012). "Local group makes finals to bring USS Olympia to Port Royal". Beaufort Gazette. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Van Dulken, Stephen (2001). Inventing the 19th Century: 100 Inventions that Shaped the Victorian Age from Aspirin to the Zeppelin. NYU Press. p. 184. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Stjepan Lozo, Gordana Tudor: Počeci splitskog brodostrojarstva/Rossi—prvi hrvatski motori, Hrvatski pomorski muzej, Split, 2006, ISBN 953-97658-5-4 (Croatian)
- ↑ National Park Service (December 12, 2013). "CA Thayer History". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Braynard, Frank (1993). The Tall Ships of Today in Photographs. Courier Dover Publications. p. 4. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Schauffelen, Otmar (2005). Chapman Great Sailing Ships of the World. Hearst Books. p. 141. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ Histarmar (2012). "Museum ship frigate Presidente Sarmiento". Maritime History and Archaeology Foundation. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ↑ http://www.anglicannews.org/features/2014/10/what%E2%80%99s-the-future-for-africa%E2%80%99s-oldest-motor-ship.aspx
- ↑ http://kersi.50webs.com/pages/Chap.17.htm
- ↑ http://www.steam-ship-sudan.com/en/le-bateau/histoire/
- ↑ http://www.steam-ship-sudan.com/en/cruises-on-the-nile/cruise-luxor-assouan/