World's Oldest Serving Warship
 

http://michaelthompson.org/ironsides/

The link takes you to an article about the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides). She is still commissioned, crewed, and sails. Prospective Chief Petty Officers embark on training courses designed to instill Old Navy traditions and historical perspectives.

Corrective training conducted! Ten lashes of the Cat.


http://michaelthompson.org/ironsides...s/s200-sal.jpg

Not IT, SHE..........please report onboard for corrective training.;)

I reckon this one's older. http://www.hms-victory.com/

Bing, unfortunately Victory does not sail and is not fully manned.

I suspect she would probably sink if allowed to. :ouch:

But the tread was titled "World's Oldest Serving Warship".

HMS Victory may not be afloat or have a full crew compliment (same as many modern naval vessels when alongside) but she is still a serving line ship of Her Majesties Royal Navy. In fact I believe HMS Victory is the personal ship of the Commandant of Portsmouth Naval Base.

Ah, a pi$$ing contest.

The fact is the USS Constitution sails round Boston harbour every 4 July and is the world's oldest surviving sailing ship...HMS Victory does not sail.

Thank you.
NC43

USS Constitution - World's oldest commissioned sailing warship.

HMS Victory - World's oldest commissioned warship.

It's not a tough distinction, is it?

We call them ferries..... :hmm:

putting these museum pieces aside I wonder what is the worlds oldest ACTIVE service warship? Untill recently there were still a few WW2 carriers around the third world. Anything more definite?

HMS Victory stands today as the world's oldest commissioned warship. Still manned by Officers and Ratings of the Royal Navy, the Victory has seen over 200 years of almost continuous service.

Best known for her role in the Battle of Trafalgar, the Victory currently has a dual role as the flagship of the Second Sea Lord and as a living museum to the Georgian navy.

Launched in 1765 at Chatham Dockyard, the Victory was commissioned in 1778 and continued in active service for the next 32 years. In 1812 the Victory was retired from frontline duty and anchored in Portsmouth Harbour, on the south coast of England. For the next 110 years the Victory remained at her moorings in Portsmouth Harbour fulfilling a combination of practical and ceremonial roles.

In 1922, amid fears for her continued survival, the Victory was moved into Portsmouth's Royal Naval Dockyard and placed in No2 Dry Dock. Work then began on restoring the Victory to her 'fighting' 1805 condition.
Open to the public all year round, HMS Victory allows the visitor to explore the world of the Georgian navy, experiencing both the ship herself and the lives of the men who lived within her 'wooden world'.

Perhaps we should ask what is the oldest "warship" currently on active service.

I believe each ship is rather like the axe that cut off Anne Boleyn's head.

"It's 'ad a new 'andle, an' a new 'ead, but it's still the same old axe."

Not much of the originals left - less than 1%, I believe, but wait to be corrected. Both are amazing ships, each with a very proud history.

I don't know about Constitution, but that stat is distinctly inaccurate in respect of Victory. Naturally a 250 year old wooden vessel that took a central part in one of history's fiercest naval close actions, was then left rotting in Pompey's harbour for another century and was damaged by a Luftwaffe bomb in the 1940s is not going to be 100% original.

However I understand that about 20% of the 1759 structure remains and the proportion of originality increases the further down the ship structure you go, as you might expect as the masts and upper works were heavily damaged at Trafalgar. Around 90% of the lower gun deck is thought to be original and much of the keel and stern.

Hope you are right, WebPilot. Does anyone have the details?

I recently visited the USS Constitution whilst i was in Boston and the tour was excellent and lead by a serving Petty Officer in the USN who was fiercely proud to be a memeber of her ships' company. An excellent tour as good as the one on HMS Victory and full of great stories.
They do 'doff their caps' to Victory during the tour and acknowledge her as being the older of the two and her status in history. Both are excellent visits if you get the chance. Regards Junglie

That's good to hear. Clearly to get Victory back in sea-going trim would be like returning a Spitfire or other historic to the air - much of the historic content would have to be lost in favour of operational constraints. I gather that when Victory was dry-docked in 1922 the integrity of the structure was very compromised and there was something like an 18" droop at the bow - the vessel is supported from beneath to order to keep it true.

Interestingly, in addition to all the other damage, she was rammed at hewr mooring by HMS Neptune in 1903 and came close to sinking.

Did not the Chinese say something about a photograph being worth a thousand words.

If she is sailing under canvas and putting out smoke from the gundeck...Lads....she is a warship.

The only thing missing is the chainshot and ball in the air.:E

Of course she's a warship. Just not an active one, in the sense of being used for that particular purpose. Of course, you could use the same logic to determine that a Harvard fitted with "cannon" and emitting gun smoke is a ground attack fighter....

Brings it all back - my dad was in the Royal Navy, and I remember going to at least one kid's birthday party (I was about 5 or 6) on HMS Victory. I guess it was what you'd call a perk of the job! Marmite sandwiches, Twiglets and jelly, on the world's most famous warship :ok: