List of world's largest wooden ships

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This article lists the world's largest wooden ship. Criterion is the length of the ship including bowsprit, if known.

Contents 1 Methodology 2 Largest known wooden ships 3 Less well documented large wooden ships 4 Unconfirmed large wooden ships 5 References

[edit] Methodology

Finding the world's largest wooden ship is not straightforward since there are several contenders, depending on which definitions are used. For example, some of these ships benefitted from substantial iron or even steel components since the flexing of wood members can lead to significant leaking as the wood members become longer. Some of these ships were not very seaworthy, and a few sank either immediately after launch or soon thereafter. Some of the more recent large ships were never able or intended to leave their berths, and function as floating museums. Finally, not all of the claims to the title of the world's largest wooden ship are credible or verifiable.

[edit] Largest known wooden ships

Length	Beam	Name	Service	Current Status	Comment
51 m (167.3 ft)	12 m	Peter von Danzig	Before 1462- late 1470s	wrecked	A Hanseatic League caravel, built in the French Atlantic port town Rochelle, and the first large vessel in the Baltic Sea with carvel planking.[1]
58.5 m (200.1 ft)	11m	Göteborg	2003-	operational	This Swedish ship is 40.9 m (134.2 ft) long without the bowsprit, and a replica of the original that sank off Göteborg in 1745.
69 m (226.3 ft)	11.7 m	Regalskeppet Vasa or Vasa	1628-1628	museum ship	This Swedish ship sunk on its maiden voyage when a gale forced water onto the ship, it fell over on its port side and sank.[2]
65 m (213.2 ft)	10.6 m	SV Tenacious	2000-	operational	A recently made British ship designed for the disabled.
66.4 m (218 ft)	15.2 m	Grace Dieu	1420-1439	sunken wreck	A British ship used as King Henry V's flagship. It burned after being hit by lightning.
70 m (229 feet)	18 m	Caligula Nemi ships	Ca. 37	destroyed	These two Roman ships were found in Lake Nemi, a volcanic lake about 30 km south of Rome when the lake was drained between 1929 and 1932.
71 m (233 ft)	13.5m	Fregatten Jylland	1860-1908	museum ship	A restored Danish ship on display in the coastal town of Ebeltoft, Denmark.
71.1 m (233.3 ft)	14.1 m	Zheng He Treasure ship replica	2008 (planned)-	under construction	This ship will exceed "the Göteborg, the world's largest wooden ship, by 10 m. in length" (sic), according to China Daily.[3]
71.9 m (236 ft)	35 feet 1 inch	SS Great Western	1837-1856	disassembled in salvage yard	A British ship designed by the renowned English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel for regular transatlantic steam "packet boat" service. It featured 4 masts to capitalize on the economies of sail power.
83.7 m (274.6 ft)	18.5 m	Al-Hashemi-II	2001-	museum and restaurant	Planning for this nonseagoing model of a Kuwaiti dhow began in 1985, and construction started in 1997.[4]
92.7 m (304 ft)	18.6 m (61 ft)	Baron of Renfrew	1825-1825	disassembled to sell components	This unseaworthy[5] British ship was a disposable ship.[6] Created to avoid taxes on timber, components were sold after being towed from Quebec to Europe.
97.2 m (319 ft)		Appomattox	1896-1905	Great Lakes shipwreck in a fog	An American ship built with metallic cross bracing , keelson, plates , and multiple arches because of its extreme length. Several syphons and steam-driven pumps were required to keep it afloat.[7]
98.8 m (324 ft)		Santiago	?-1905?		An American ship schooner-barge on the Great Lakes, usually towed by the Appomattox.
100.4 m (329.5 ft)	15.3 m (51.1 ft)	Wyoming	1909-1924	sunk[8]	This American ship had a tendency to flex in heavy seas, causing the long planks to twist and buckle.[9] This allowed sea water into the hold, which had to be pumped out.[10]
101.8 m (334 ft)		Great Republic	1853-1872	abandoned leaking[11]	This American ship used iron bolts, and reinforced with steel, including 90 36 foot 4x1 inch cross braces, and metal keelsons.[12] The MIT Museum noted that: "With this behemoth, McKay had pushed wooden ship construction to its practical limits."[13]
102.1 m (335 ft)	60 ft	HMS Orlando and HMS Mersey	1858-1871, 1875 resp.	sold as scrap	These British warships were pushing the limits of what was possible in wooden ship construction and suffered structural problems.[14][15]
103 m (338 ft)	13.4 m (44 ft)	Pretoria	1900-1905	sunk	An American barge built for use on the Great Lakes. To strengthen its wooden frame and hull, it included steel keelson plates, chords, arches, and also was diagonally strapped with steel. A donkey engine powered a pump to keep its interior dry.[16]
104 m (341 ft)	20.3 m (66 ft)	Caligula's Giant Ship	ca. 37	foundation of lighthouse	Traces of this Roman barge were found during the construction of Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino, Italy. Some speculate that this ship, or a similar ship, was used to transport the obelisk in St. Peter's Square from Egypt on the orders of Roman emperor Caligula.[17]
115.0 m (377.3 ft)	72.8 ft	Rochambeau	1865-1874	scrapped	This French ship was an iron-clad ship built in New York. About 50 feet of her length was a ram. She was not particularly stable or seaworthy, even with her substantial metal components, and only made one voyage in the open ocean to reach her new owners.

[edit] Less well documented large wooden ships

Length	Name	Completed	Comment
73.2 m (240 ft)	Great Michael	1511	Some claimed that the Scottish ship Great Michael was over twice the size of its competition of the same era, and had oak sides over 3 meters (10 feet) thick. It was allegedly armed with the largest ship's cannon ever.[18]
128.0 m (420 ft)	Tessarakonteres	Ca. 200 BCE	The Greek trireme Tessarakonteres reportedly carried a crew of 400, was powered by 4000 oarsmen and transported 2850 soldiers, according to Athenaeus and Plutarch (Life of Demetrios). There is no solid evidence of this ship actually existing save for two ancient references.[19][20][21]

[edit] Unconfirmed large wooden ships

Length	Name	Completed	Comment
54.86 m (180 ft)	Isis	Ca. 150	The Roman ship Isis was described by the sophist Lucian when he saw it in Athen's seaport Piraeus.
55.0 m (180.4 ft)	Syracusia	Ca. 240 BC	The Greek ship Syracusia is claimed to be the largest transport ship of antiquity. It was designed by Archimedes and built around 240 BC by Archias of Corinth on the orders of Hieron II of Syracuse.
400+ ft	Treasure ship	15th c.	Ancient writings claim that the largest Chinese Zheng He Treasure Ships were more than 400 feet long.[citation needed] Stern rudder posts have been found that are over 15+ ft, and calculations show that the ships would have been around 400 ft long.[citation needed] However, the size of treasure ships is still disputed.[22][23][24][25]
? m (?ft)	Noah's Ark	?	Noah's Ark is described in accounts in Torah/Genesis and the Qur'an. The Biblical flood is originally based off of the flood in the Sumerian legend of Gilgamesh. Furthermore, the geological and historical evidence for its existence is in dispute.

[edit] References