In this episode we're talking about what makes a ship aesthetically pleasing. To support the battleship's efforts to drydock, go to: 63691.blackbau... For the most recent updates to the project, go to: www.battleship...
It all starts with a curator that has the same passion and desire to see the old girl shine like the old, grizzled sailors that took pride in the fair lady all those many years ago. Cheers.
HMS Vanguard was, in my opinion, the most beautiful battleship that ever sailed, she was Britain's last battleship and she should have been saved for posterity. I heard a line in a movie once that made me smile, a chief was asked by a new recruit; "why do they call a ship she," the chief answered, "because they curve in all the right places, wear a coat of paint and can squawk real loud in an argument."
As a native Carolinian, I have to say the the "Show Boat" herself it a fantastic looking ship. BB 55 - USS North Carolina is my ship I like most. The Iowas are a close second.
I spent a lot of time as a kid building models of the Black Dragon, she gave me the dream to join the USN. The Iowa hull form is darned near the most graceful warship hull I've ever seen.
I really like the look of Texas actually. She's old school, but she's got it where it counts. Also the predreadnought style Olympia sports is really nice to me. I also adore Olympias colorscheme. Y'all should paint new jersey in that old color scheme just for this period. Between this drydocking and the next. As an omage to us steel navy roots.
What makes a ship look good is how it makes the lines of the ship give the impression you want it to Hood somehow managed to make the superstructure design she had along with her family of hull shape that the Renown Class and Kongo Class use and be seen as an elegant looking ship
As a footnote, as a kid i was into warships and history, and somewhere along the line, I recall reading about somthing called the "Dunn Curve"... It was a set of lines that defined a balanced and well shaped warship. The Iowas fit very neatly inside the lines...!!!
The Iowas and the Yamatos were elegantly balanced and looked good. They were my favorite battleship designs. I find the length to beam ratio of both to be very attractive.
I love the look of the Montana Class. Perfectly balanced with a nice super structure and the 4 triple gun turrets. I also like the look of some of the earlier blockier ships like the Dreadnought too
@@thurin84 I will use the excuse that I was trying hard not to sink below the belt! Another good line would be, "You have been at sea way, way too long Sailor!"
I saw Missouri in Puget Sound when I was young. Rounded the pier and there she was. Bow on, from the waterline, so close I could've skipped a sand dollar to her... I fell in love. I have great fondness for her older sisters, but it's only Missouri for me.
I am a sucker for those WWI era hyperboloid towers. I forgive a lot of other aesthetic issues for them. I also liked dazzle camouflage. I generally agree about bows, but i do like Olympia's.
Interesting to hear Ryan's thoughts , and certainly the Iowa class are very beautiful . The bow and superstructure are distinctive and just look right . The type 22 frigate and type 42 destroyer for the RN. we're built in batches with the final batches being " stretched" with a longer hull which gave them a different look . Aesthetically I always liked the original design , but opinion was divided . Certainly it takes a lot of planning and foresight to design a warship as there are going to be a lot of changes needed over its working life and I do think New Jerseys got it just about right . The thoughts about colour are remarkably true on reflection , the US. shade is slightly darker than ours and despite all the technology it's still a very easy way to identify a ship.
Around 2000, I bought an original Naval photo of the USS New York BB-34, in 1915 configuration. I have loved that design for a long time. I find her most beautiful after her 1933 major overhaul. But…there is nothing on the sea more beautiful than the Iowa-class; especially our BB-62
The Iowa's have a gorgeous back end! Very defining! Same goes for the bow and those lines. Des Moines class cruisers are another great looking design as well.
dulutlh could have had that very ship for a museum, but they wanted an aquarium instead. my mind cant fathom the logic of potential tourism draw there :/ petting fish versus tangible witness to a war they dont teach about, and that so many sacrificed so much for the cause in the last just war. i dunno, what do you think.
In the final generation of ships I find Scharnhorst, the entire Littorio class and the 1943-1945 round enclosed bridge NJ to be the most aesthetically pleasing. Dreadnought / WWI era, I find all of the German ships beautiful. Moltke, Derfflinger, etc.
Scharnhorst was the sunk battleship with the most stamina. Scharnhorst sunk after 14 ship-to-ship-torp-hits, not those funny playmobil-air-to-ship-torps hits, which sunk PoW, Repulse, Yamato & Musashi. This makes the British theory of sinking Bismarck with 4 torps ridiculous. The Brits could not sink Bismarck. They could have enter it.
@@hajoos.8360 lmfao are you dense? Scharnhorst was massively overkilled. Who knows how many wouldve sunk her. Probably 3. She took like 4K tonnes of water just from 1 hit in 1940. Bismark was a complete wreck in that battle and wouldve sunk no matter what
@@rohanthandi4903 You researched nothing. Bismarck reicieved more than 400 hits, the superstructure, was burning, but nobody could sink her. The citadel was intact. What You ment is the torphit in the bow of Scharnhorst sinking Glorious.. You could sail with a launch through the whole. But the last battle of Scharnhorst is well documented. But You did not read it.
@@hajoos.8360 lmfao what? How do you not realize almost all of those torpedos were overkill. And bismark had no propulsion, no guns, the majority of the crew dead from shrapnel and no rudder. While taking on water. How is that not a sinking condition 😂The myth of zero penetrations of the citadel is insane. Bismark was in a sinking condition and would’ve sunk by herself over time if there was no scuttling charges
@@rohanthandi4903 The citadell of Bismarck was not harmed, which means not to sink. The torpedo hits on Scharnhorst took more than 80 minutes to sink her. There was no overkill. Repulse & PoW listed immediatly after the 4 or 5 playmobil-torpedo hits & sank very fast.
BB 62 is absolutely beautiful, she has a lovely shear line and a beautiful stern end, I watched her coming up the river from the Ben Franklin bridge to where she is now so I got a really good look at her
I always loved the pre dreadnaughts that just crammed guns everywhere above the water line and the great white fleet color scheme looks cool, so i would have to go with Connecticut(B-18)
USS Iowa BB-4!!!!!!!! Absolutely love BB-4! She looks super interesting and super cool! Go take a look at her! She’s technically an Iowa class pre-dreadnoughts! Because she is the only one of her class. She’s not like the Indiana’s. But she is pretty beautiful!
For me, the Scharnhorst class was by far the most beautiful battleship design, especially with the atlantic bow. It was so sleek, it looked like a Bismarck class (a second favourite), crossed with a luxury yacht. The modernized Kongou class was also quite the looker imo.
I agree with everything you mention in the video but I've also always been fascinated by the complex "pagoda" super structure of the Fuso. Its so awkward and different, it makes me wonder why they designed it the way they did.
My first model ship was Bismark, and I think that it's the most attractive of the battleships. The Scharnhorsts and Prinz Eugen heavy cruisers are also attractive. My next favorites are the Iowa class for all of the reasons you gave. They are more attractive than the South Dakotas which have less area in front of the guns, so they look more stocky. I'm not a big fan of the way the Japanese or British battleships looked, although I have a fair amount of respect for the Yamato Class. The Richellieu was also an attractive design but a bit weird at the same time. I can certainly see the advantage of having all eight of the heavy guns in the front to be able to attack while closing on their opponent. In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
I'm surprised you did not discuss the shape of the sheer or the lovely hollow behind the bow. The forward sections look a lot like a yacht built for speed. The stern is a little lumpy and could have been cleaner but capital ships as you noted are built by committee and some times that takes away from what could have been. Still, Iowa class is my favorite battleship class partly because they are so well proportioned and have such an aesthetic hull with all the nice curves.
I happened to be on vacation with my parents during the 60's. Dad wanted to visit a friend that he had served with in the Navy in San Diego during WW II. He drove us up to Point Loma. While we were there, the New Jersey just happened to be sailing out into the Pacific. It so happened that the Sun reflected perfectly off the flat surfaces of the 5 inch gun turrets straight toward us, lighting them up. I remember thinking, 'what are the chances of seeing this?' Happening to have driven from New Orleans to San Diego, and be standing on Point Loma at the exact time that the battleship was leaving, when the Sun and ship were in the exact position to reflect into our eyes from the flat fronts of those turrets. Not much. Dad served in the Navy hospital, and avoided getting shipped to participate in the invasion of Okinawa because he was a good clarinet and saxophone player in the Navy band, and a high ranking officer at the base loved big band music. Even from that far away, the New Jersey was an impressive sight.
For me the Littorio class takes the cake, they look fast yet imposing with their tall range finders tower, they are like a sexy killer. Also they were very beautiful inside too
Hi Ryan, Two years ago I drove from Florida to NJ to deliver a museum quality model of the U.S.S. California BB-44 that I had made back in the early 2000's. It was in it's own plexiglass case. It was made of mahogany wood with all the brass fittings. Along with a nice large framed photo of the U.S.S. California BB-44 during how she looked in 1944. Were you ever able to do anything in the way of a display on the battleship U.S.S. New Jersey with this? PJ
To me its the Iowa's. they are just so balanced in appearance. they look sleek and fast the funnels are spaced perfectly all are just right with these 4.
I think Bismarck class is unrivaled. The bow and stern have that tea clipper look that just gives them that extra advantage. The parabolic curves of their superstructures, the little notches of their decks where their amour belt begins, the port holes and front and rear and the crisp forms of the tower and the admiral's bridge. That's it to me. But I have to also make a point here for the british ships as well. Some might not like them, but to me they have something special to them (KGV, Hood, Nelson). Iowas, SDs, NCs are great ships as well. I like them a lot.
Honestly I think the most "ideal” looking warship superstructures to be the British and German designs in the late dreadnought race and early WWI. Any of the British ships armed with 13.5" guns all just look ideal to me, where the superstructure is somewhat minimalistic but also imposing and not particularly bulky. Pre-Pagoda Japanese dreadnoughts also look nice, as well as the German Kaiser and Konig classes, and their 11" battlecruisers. I don't think being tall is a detriment to looks if it's just a mast (the tallness only hurts rebuilt Japanese dreadnoughts IMO), and having a nice partially "stepped" look with some negative space often benefits the superstructures. The King George V (1911) and the Konig are probably the best looking battleships of this group, although I think my favorite warships aesthetically are the Lion class and Moltke class battlecruisers. Pre-mansion QEs also look really good, as does Hood, and don't be dissin' the Richelieus. Those look solid, even if they're a bit unconventional. The Kongo class also looks nice in whatever era it's in. But the worst looking battleship... that's gotta be pagoda'd Fuso.
Beauty is certainly within the eyes of the beholder, and even attempts to be objective in answering a question like this will still likely result in personal preference coming through. For me, a ship is beautiful if there is visual balance to her height, width, and length. Can I define that? No. I can give examples of that, though. The Olympics, South Dakotas, and Iowas certainly have that, in my opinion. Ships that don’t have that, to me, are the New Yorks, Pennsylvanias, and virtually all modern cruise ships. Other architectural elements, such as sheer, also play a role in my assessment of “that’s a pretty ship.”
Then there's the number of guns per turret. Twins are powerful but brutal. Quads complicated and fussy. Triples are stylish and elegant. Beauty is in the eye of beholder. But form through function of treble gun battleships meets my aesthetic needs!
The Bismark class looks the best to me. The never-finished Lexington BC would have been something to behold, giving HMS Hood a run for the money. HMS Hood always looked dated to me but a striking ship.
I will say about the US Navy light grey: it's also a big statement of intent, beyond the camouflage aspects. To keep a vessel turned out in good condition, without rust streaks and marks on the paint work, sends a very clear message about the crew. We look after this ship, and if we can keep a ship at sea looking presentable then we can certainly do our combat job.
I have a slightly messy answer for this.. as a kid my dad brought me to see the Massachusetts in Fall River. So I can remember my sense of "Awe" driving into the complex seeing that battleship get bigger and bigger. Also the terror I felt walking up the gangway to board her. So USS Massachusetts has a spot in my heart. Also the USS North Carolina because before RU-vid was even an Idea I would sit and ask my step grandpa who served on her during WW2 about what he went thru. From steaming into Pearl Harbor after Japan attacked us. Through what it was like to be in battles in the middle of nowhere... So I have 2 favorites. The Massachusetts and North Carolina..
GREAT VIDEO RYAN,,, GREAT VIEW OF THE BATTLE SHIP ON THE SIDE...MY SON MAX AND I LOVE THE OLD VIDEOS...THE SS IOWA, WE GO TO IN L.A. C.A. ,, BUT MY SON AND I ARE LIKING ALSO BATTLE SHIP N.J.,, THANKS RYAN..
I like the Roma, the last Littorio. I think she looks amazing, incredibly elegant. Better looking than her sisters because of the modifications to her design.
Now this is a video worth a like! To answer the question. Im mostly a heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen type guy. The Prinz was a great looking ship with some fine lines and curves. In terms of battleships, I would agree that the Iowa class is a good example for what an attractive battleship can look like. besides that, I agree with most if not all of whats said in the video. Good video Ryan!
There's a racer's saying that form follows function. So whatever functions best is what matters not the shape of the ol' girl's behind. Thanks for sharing.
HMS Vanguard is the most beautfiful battleship ever built in my opinion. It's got the nice high atlantic bow, the transem stern, the curvy 15" Mk1 two-gun turrets, capped twin funnels and I've always liked the queen anne's mansion personally.
I absolutely despise the queens Anne mansion aesthetic. Especially on kgv which would look great with a slightly modified superstructure. But....I love it on vanguard. Absolutely a handsome ship. Maybe the best looking. I think the iowas look good. With the slightly vertical/protruding bridge they have a bit of a "stiff upper lip" aesthetic shared by other american ships of the era like the Baltimores I think looks great. But the iowas are a bit too long/slender. Yamato looks good in a uniquely Japanese way as well. But above all other ww2 battleships I think north carolina probably takes the cake. I do think that ww1 era dreadnoughts have a unique aesthetical all their own which makes them equally as beautiful in more of a utilitarian way. I love the ram bow. The early standards looked great and the later ones looked atrocious with the raked bow. The pre refit qe's just screamed utilitarian war machines
I have not been on a Iowa class battleship so I can’t tell you if I like one over there. I have seen the Iowa class battle on videos and pictures. What I have seen is that the Iowa class is more pleasing to the eyes. I hope I see a Iowa class battleship soon. Thank you for putting out the video on RU-vid!😊
Be careful Ryan, that almost sounded like a compliment for the Bismarck. Best looking BB has to go to the Littorios. However the QE’s are the best looking British BBs. The Nagatos also were a favorite of mine. They really had that good triangular shape you talked about. The ‘Showboat’ class aka NCs are the best American BBs though. Good video.
After almost 80 yrs, these four beasts... Iowa New Jersey Missouri Wisconsin are still Rock Stars. I was a 20 yr old boatswains mate on the USS Jack Williams FFG-24 in Mayport during normal morning quarters as the Iowa was slipping into our port, found out later when they hoisted their streamers that it was a Tiger Cruise from New Port r%h This animal was massive. Even our Senior-Chief was in WTF mode. So low...so wide..so incredibly heavy with fire power. Our total complement was 208. Iowa class had 500+ gunners mates. Watching the Iowa berth in, escorted by no less than 6 ocean rated tugs was majestic. I felt like I was stationed on a fishing boat.
Yeah, the Iowas and the other 16" ships just look mean. You can see the guns, you know what it's going to do. The older ships, even dreadnaught types, just aren't intimidating once you've seen an Iowa.
As much as I love a big aft, I really like two big, natural, turrets. The way those turrets bounce in the high seas, ohhhhh yeah. Can't say more, gotta keep it PG-13
Not a navy sailor but I used to have a lovely 25' timber sloop. She had a fine entry and a firm buttock line. No matter the size vessel these are the two important features!
1:09 "Richelieu does not qualify" Now thats hitting below the belt! XD MN Jean Bart is the most beautiful ship ever built in my opinion, especially once finally complete.
I love the Iowas, like you said about them being the sports cars of the navy. However I also love battleship Texas, she's like the classic muscle car or a truck that can hull. She looks like she can plow anything in her way with her inverted bow and her front tripod makes her look like she's ready for a fight like a boxer facing its opponent. She's got some nice curves too for her size. And lastly I like the color blue.
I'm definitely a huge fan of the Iowa class Battleship's ,but growing up in Western New York, near Buffalo, New York. We have an awesome naval park. As a young kid, my Uncle would take me there And I absolutely fell in love with USS Little Rock. Originally, a Cleveland class light cruiser later converted to a Galveston class missile cruiser. But I absolutely love Little Rock's original Cleveland class configeration even though she's been modified quite a bit. The original design of the Cleveland's is to me esthetically pleasing. Yes, this Little Rock is a unique ship. She's one of a kind. She's the last existing example of a Cleveland class like cruiser and as far as I know the last example of a Galveston class Guided Missile cruiser. That makes her number one in my book!
The Iowas have very elegant proportions and it is a fact that beauty comes from proportions. Plus, a comparison with architecture of old is not too far-fetched - particularly castles or other fortresses. Their form is highly utilitarian but at the same time elaborate and beautiful. The same goes for the Iowas. Their silhouette has the same complexity as a facade of a barocco church, yet every nook and cranny serves a purpose.
For me I find the Florida Class ships to be extremely appealing. Knife edge bows are just right for me and the double gun turrets being angular like a Colorado class takes the cake for me.
Believe it or not, I'm all for the Iowa's. It doesn't matter what angle or distance the ship is at; they look very attractive. The one thing that drew me in about the Iowa's is their bridge. There's just something about the enclosed bridge on the Iowa's that set them apart from the other classes of battleships in history. The long-curved bow right up to turret one, then it rises up to turret two, then you have the bridge after that. That subtle raise from turret one to the bridge and then up to the tower mast give the Iowa-class some very good proportions from any angle. I've seen some old RIMPAC video taken back in 1990 showing Missouri coming by the camera. Just watching the ship go through the water was just majestic.
While I love the Iowa's and Texas, as well as the Lexingtons, the class I think is the most appealing is the Tennessee class. Their original configuration was sleek and powerful with those gorgeous cage masts towering overhead, where the final rebuilds were wider and some may say dumpier, all those guns mounted all over then gave them the look of pure power, like they could simply make it rain hell oh someone. I love these ships.
For me the shape of Bismarck and Hood are the most pleasing with their long, shapely hull although I do love Warspite. Yes, she's a bit tubby but her outline appears in the waves at Prussia Cove at low slack water and it was that outline that got me into battleships in the 1st place.
Hood wasn’t technically classified as a battleship(but really was, almost), but man was she sexy. Definitely a long boat, but that length really projected speed and elegance. Iowa, Bismarck, and Yamato’s are the best looking “battleships”, but you can’t tell me Hood didn’t look as good. The biggest powers knew how to make a capital ship look good! That said, and totally different era, HMS Victory is probably my favourite, although USS Constitution is also a beautiful boat. I don’t think we’ll ever see again boats that looks as good as what were once built. We need to preserve these massive and elegant machine.
The ship I find most visually appealing I'd have to say is the Yamato's. I know typical reply. But for me it's about the around the conning tower/pagoda mast, funnel, and aft mast. Make the a twin funnel and I'd be drooling. Especially with a the A-B-Y turret set up.
I'm a sucker for tripod masts (with their matching superstructures). like the ones on ships like Royal Oak and Barham(though I think Barham looked better with 2 funnels, her superstructure looked better in her final configuration). On the Pennsylvania and Nevada class(in their 1941 configuration), their forward tripods seemed to fit snugly on top of the superstructure, almost like a hat. and they had the rear tripods for symmetry. SMS Bayern's tripod made the ship look quite tall, but still not bad. I like when ships have an even number of turrets fore and aft, so whatever way the ship is facing an enemy, she can still deliver a powerful punch(also like Bayern, Pennsylvania and Nevada) the German navy got pretty creative with the way their battlecruisers looked. mainly the asymmetry of their turrets. Seydlitz, for example, looked very strange from above, but she appeared humble, yet elegant, from the side.
Bismarck! A no brainer for a German. Yamato and Iowa come close second. Hood, Littorio and Richelieu take the ranks, Kongo not far behind. All gorgeous ships. Another nice ship is the QE2, she is the beauty among the passenger ships. Fast, sleek and not bulky at all like her more modern sisters.
Battleship Tirpitz is my Number 1 easy sleek design added features like aa batteries on the gun turrets and the paint scheme she has overall a very appealing ship nicer looking to the Bismarck, HMS Vanguard easy second rugged construction with the curved up bow and flat stern gives it a workhorse look with the blocked with curved smoke stacks makes it easy on the eye to look at imo.
I have always have had a soft spot for the Tennessee and Colorado classes, as reconstructed, post-Pearl Harbor- Squat, Muscular, Scarred and Truculent- somebody you don't want to try conclusions with in a Barfight..
I always liked the Iowa class ships and I had models of them when I was a kid. I do see new cars painted in both Haze Gray and darker grays and yes the darker grays look more evil.
Ryan, I really like the width of the Iowas. My ship was taking on fuel and one of the Iowa heaved to to line up on the other side of the oiler for fuel. The “Iowa” seemed impossibly wide and it blew me away. The Iowas are the absolute best.
I was born in, and live in IOWA... I have lived in New Jersey, and South Dakota. I like my battleships fast with big guns. I'm a fan of both the South Dakotas and the IOWAS. Too bad they couldn't have gotten those ships up the Mississippi...
