It is not for nothing that Great Britain is called a maritime power, for over all the years of the kingdom's existence, a huge number of record-breaking ships were built. One of the largest sailing ships of its time, the SS Great Western, was created precisely by the British, and until the end of the 19th century, the British steamer Great Eastern was considered the largest in the world. With the development of technology and the advent of the steam engine, Britain continued to build sea giants and gave the world ships with the big names "Titanic", "Olympic", Queen Mary 2. But in the 20th century, Great Britain lost the status of the power that produced the largest ships. In 1976, the largest ship in the world, the tanker Knock Nevis, went on the water.
This Norwegian-owned oil tanker was designed and built in Japan. The Knock Nevis oil tanker was 458.45 meters long and 68.86 meters wide. The Norwegian giant was driven by turbines with a total capacity of 50,000 horsepower. The tanker's crew consisted of 40 people, and the maximum speed that the "Norwegian" managed to develop was 21 kilometers per hour.
True, it is worth clarifying that at the moment the largest ship is another ship, since in 2010 this supertanker was scrapped in the Indian city of Alang. In 2009, the tanker changed its registration and name. It was given the new name Mont and the flag of Sierra Leone was raised. It was under this flag that he made his last journey to the shores of India.
Thus, the title of "the world's largest ship" for 2014 belongs to the container ship "Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller". This 400 meter long vessel belongs to Denmark. The construction cost was $ 190 million, and the container ship was launched in 2013.
But not only transport ships are huge in size. And among the passenger there are record holders. At one time, the Titanic was considered the largest passenger ship, but the Oasis of the Seas cruise ship launched at the end of 2008 broke all records. The vessel is 360 meters long and can take on board up to 5400 passengers.
The Oasis of the Seas was built in a Finnish shipyard, operated by Royal Caribbean International and sails under the flag of the Bahamas. It is worth mentioning that this cruise ship has a twin brother - Allure of the Seas, which is only 5 centimeters shorter. But the smaller size was only beneficial, as the passenger capacity of the ship, built at the end of 2010, increased by 1000 berths in the cabins.
The 72 meter high cruise ship is powered by 6 diesel engines with a total capacity of 131,947 horsepower. The maximum speed of the Oasis of the Seas is 22.6 knots (42 km / h).
With regard to military vessels, the palm belongs to the Americans. Launched in 1960, the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) is considered the world's largest warship. The aircraft carrier "Enterprise" with a length of 342.3 meters was withdrawn from the US fleet in 2012. But until it was scrapped, it is considered the largest naval vessel.
Due to the high cost of Enterprise ($ 451 million), the US government abandoned plans to build four more such aircraft carriers. In addition to its record size, the CVN-65 is the world's first nuclear powered aircraft carrier. The Enterprise carries 8 A2W reactors and 4 turbines, and the aircraft carrier is operated by 3,000 crew members. The warship can take on board about 90 aircraft and 1,800 air wing people.
A comparative photo of the ships mentioned in the article is presented below.
It is likely that in the coming years the records will be rewritten by new sea giants, since shipbuilding has been developing at a rapid pace since the beginning of the XXI century. So, in just 10 years, 7 cruise liners with a length of over 300 meters were launched, six of which fly the flag of the Bahamas.
.
