List of world's largest wooden ships

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A list of the world's largest wooden ships is compiled below. The vessels are sorted by ship length 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. A further problem is that especially wooden ships have more than one "length". The most used measure in length for registering a ship is the "length of the topmost deck" - the "length on deck" (LOD) - 'measured from leading edge of stem post to trailing edge of stern post on deck level' or the "length between perpendiculars" (LPP, LBP) - 'measured from leading edge of stem post to trailing edge of stern post in the construction waterline (CWL)'. In this method of measuring bowsprit including jibboom and out-board part of spanker boom if any have both no effect on the ship's length. But for comparing ship records the total or "over all" length (LOA) should be given. The longest wooden ship ever built, the six-masted New England gaff schooner Wyoming, had a "total length" of 450 ft (measured from tip of jib boom (98 ft) to tip of spanker boom (89 ft)) and a "length on deck" of 350 ft. The 100-ft-difference is due to her extremely long jib boom of 98 ft its out-board length being 84 ft.

[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	Götheborg	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.
65 m (213.2 ft)	10.6 m	SV Tenacious	2000-	operational	A recently made British ship designed for the disabled.
65.18 m (213.8 ft)	16.24 m	L'Orient	1791-1798	blew up	A French 118 gun first rate ship of the line, and flagship of the French Nile fleet. She was destroyed when fire reached her magazine during the Battle of the Nile.
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.
69 m (226 ft)	15.7 m	HMS Victory	1759 - 1865	museum ship	HMS Victory is a 104-gun ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She is the oldest naval ship still in commission and the only remaining ship of the line except for the Regalskeppet Vasa. She sits in dry dock in Portsmouth as a museum ship.
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]
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)	10.7 m (35.1 ft)	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.
76 m	11 m	HMS Sovereign of the Seas	1637-1696	accidentally burned	Being one of the first three deckers, the ship was built as deliberate attempt to bolster the reputation of the English crown. The ship took part in many battles after the upper deck had been removed for reasons of balance.
78.30 m	14.50 m	Adler von Lübeck	1567-88	disassembled	The Adler von Lübeck was built by Lübeck in two year's time to serve as the main fighting ship of the Hanseatic League. The galeon featured 138 guns, and space for 650 marines and a 350 men strong crew. It was the largest ship of its time.[4]
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.[5]
91.1 m (299 ft)	23.7 m (78 ft)[6]	Eureka	1890 - 1957	museum ship	Eureka is steamboat with twin, 27-foot paddlewheels. She carried railcars, cars and passengers across San Francisco Bay. This National Historic Landmark is at the Maritime National Historical Park.
91.7 m (301 ft)	13.0 m (42.5 ft)	Frank O'Connor[7]	1892-1919	burned	A steam screw operating on the Great Lakes, it required an innovative iron and steel-reinforced hull to be a viable vessel.[8][9]
91.74 m (301 ft)	15.4 m (50 ft)	Columbus	1824-1825	broke apart and sunk	It was the first timber ship or disposable ship [10] with a kind of four-masted barque rigging - just three square sails (course, top, and topgallant sails) per mast, two fore and aft sails on the spanker mast, and two foresails. Built to avoid taxes on timber (the timber used for the ship was tax-free), its cargo and components were intended to be sold after the ship's arrival from Quebec (Anse-du-Fort) to London. Changing its plans Charles Woods, her builder and owner, had only the cargo discharged and sold and ordered the ship back for another voyage with a timber cargo before being disassembled. But the ship broke apart and sunk in the Channel on her return voyage to St. John, New Brunswick. The ship had a 356 ft / 108 metres over all length.
92.7 m (304 ft)	18.6 m (61 ft)	Baron of Renfrew	1825-1825	stranded and broke apart; planned to be disassembled to sell components	This unseaworthy[11] British ship was a disposable ship.[12] Created to avoid taxes on timber, its components were intended to be sold after the ship's arrival from Quebec to London. The ship stranded on the Goodwin Sands and broke apart while being towed with a pilot abord. Parts of her timber were found on the French coast. The ship had 5,294 GRT and an over all length of 362 ft / 110 metres.
97.2 m (319 ft)	12.8 m (42 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.[13]
98.8 m (324 ft)	14.0 m (46 ft)	Santiago	1899-1918	swamped in gale and sunk	An American schooner-barge on the Great Lakes, towed by the Appomattox until 1905 and then the steamer John F. Morrow until 1918.[14]
97.84 m (311 ft)	14.98 m (49 ft)	Roanoke	1892-1905	sunk after having burnt down to the waterline	A huge four-masted barque with skysails of a total length of 360 ft and 3,539 GRT. In 1905 she was in command of Capt. Jabez A. Amesbury when it caught fire while loading at the anchorage of Noumea. The crew, sustained by those of the four-masted barque Susquehanna of the same owner and the three-masted ship Arabia, all in all 60 men, tried to fight the fire. This American ship used iron bolts and steel reinforcements. It belonged to the fleet of Arthur Sewell & Co. of Bath, Maine. It was the largest wooden ship (115 m / 377 ft LOA) after the Great Republic.[15]
102.1 m (335 ft).[16]	16.2 m (53 ft)	Great Republic	1853-1872	abandoned leaking[17]	This American ship used iron bolts, and reinforced with steel, including 90 36 foot 4x1 inch cross braces, and metal keelsons.[18] The MIT Museum noted that: "With this behemoth, McKay had pushed wooden ship construction to its practical limits."[19]. The over-all-length including jibboom was 400 ft.
102.1 m (335 ft)	18.3 m (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.[20][21]
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.[22]
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.[23]
115.0 m (377.3 ft)	22.2 m (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.
137.16 m (450 ft)	15.3 m (51.1 ft)	Wyoming	1909-1924	sunk[24]	This American ship had a tendency to flex in heavy seas, causing the long planks to twist and buckle.[25] This allowed sea water into the hold, which had to be pumped out.[26]

[edit] Less well-documented 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.
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.[27]
Modern estimates range from 63-95 m by 27-32 m	Hatshepsut's barge	ca. 1500 BCE	Used to transport obelisks.[28][29][30][31]

[edit] Unconfirmed large wooden ships

Purported Size	Name	Completed	Comment
126.73m by 51.84m (415.780ft by 170.078ft)[32][33]	Treasure ship	15th c.	Historical records from the document "History of the Ming dynasty" claim that the largest Chinese Treasure Ships were more than 400 feet long.[34] However, the size of treasure ships is still disputed[35][36][37][38] and some scholars argues that they were probably closer to 200-250 feet in length,[39] while others argue that they were actually 309-408 feet in length and 160-166 feet in width. [40]
115.0 m (377.3 ft) by 14 m (46 ft)[41][42]	Thalamegos	ca. 200 BCE	Thalamegos (Ancient Greek θαλαμηγός = "leader of the rooms" from θάλαμος, -οι (thálamos, pl. -oi) = room(s) and ἡγεῖσθαι (hegeísthai) - to lead, guide) was a river going pomp boat of Ptolemy IV Philopator.[43] It was divided in two storeys with different preciously designed rooms and halls, the upper one for the queen, the lower one for the pharao with a taller height. The ship had a twin hull like a catamaran, one single mast with a yard and sail on the forecastle and is said to be towed from the banks of the Nile. Columns surrounded the storeys like a temple. Athenaios' report doesn't tells us where the servants rooms have been installed, probably on both, the upper and the lower storeys. Some sources report of a second large ship, the Tessarakonteres (forty), of the same king.
128.0 m by 17.7 m (420 ft by 58 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). Historical evidence for this ship is limited to ancient references.[44][45][46]
137.0 m by 22.9 m (450 ft by 75 ft)	Noah's Ark	unknown[47]	Noah's Ark is described in accounts in Genesis and the Qur'an. The historical evidence for its existence is disputed, and most historians and scientists do not believe it ever existed.

[edit] References