This is a list of historical ship types, which includes any classification of ship that has ever been used, excluding smaller vessels considered to be boats. The classifications are not all mutually exclusive; a vessel may be both a full-rigged ship by description, and a collier or frigate by function. ;

Aircraft Carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

: Naval vessel able to launch and retrieve airplanes ; Amphibious warfare ship: vessels of various sizes for landing personnel and vehicles ; Aviso: (Spanish or French) Originally a dispatch boat, later applied to ships equivalent to the Royal Navy

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

; Barque: A sailing vessel with three or more masts, fore-and-aft rigged on only the aftermost ; Barquentine: A sailing vessel with three or more masts, square-rigged only on the foremast ;

Battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

: A heavily-armed cruiser similar to a battleship but possessing less armor ;

Battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

: A large, heavily armored and heavily gunned powered warship ;

Bilander A bilander, also spelled billander or bélandre, was a small European merchant ship with two masts - used in the Netherlands for coast and canal traffic and occasionally seen in the North Sea but more frequently to be seen in the Mediterranean Se ...

: A ship or brig with a lug-rigged mizzen sail ; Bireme: An ancient vessel, propelled by two banks of oars ; Birlinn: (Scots) Clinker-built vessel, single-masted with a square sail also capable of being rowed ;

Blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usuall ...

: A ship whose current business is to slip past a blockade ; Boita: A cargo vessel used for trade between Eastern India and Indochina ;

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

: A two-masted, square-rigged vessel ;

Brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...

: A two-masted vessel, square-rigged on the foremast and fore-and-aft rigged on the main ; Caravel: (Portuguese) A much smaller, two, sometimes three-masted ship ;

Carrack A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade fr ...

: Three or four masted ship, square-rigged forward, lateen-rigged aft; 14th to 16th century successor to the cog ; Cartel: A small boat used to negotiate between enemies ; Catboat: A sailing vessel characterized by a single mast carried well forward (i.e., near the bow of the boat) ;

Clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

: A fast multiple-masted sailing ship, generally used by merchants because of their speed capabilities ;

Coastal defense ship Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of Littoral (military), coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized ...

: A vessel built for coastal defense ; Cog: Plank built, one mast, square rigged, 12th to 14th century, superseded the longship ; Collier: A vessel designed for the coal trade ;

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

: A small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, generally smaller than a frigate ; Cruise ship: A ship used for carrying passengers on pleasure cruises ;

Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

: A warship that is generally larger than a destroyer, but smaller than a battleship ;

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

: A warship mainly used for anti-submarine warfare ; Destroyer escort: A lighter destroyer intended primarily for escort duties ; Dhow: traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region ; Dreadnought: An early twentieth century type of battleship characterized by an "all big gun" armament :; Pre-dreadnought: Battleships predating the dreadnought, characterized by having an offensive battery of mixed calibers ;

Drekar Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by the Nors ...

: A Viking longship with sails and oars ; Dromons: Ancient precursors to galleys ;

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

: An armed merchantman belonging to one of the East India companies ;

Felucca A felucca ( ar, فلوكة, falawaka, possibly originally from Greek , ) is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in the eastern Mediterranean—including around Malta and Tunisia—in Egypt and Sudan (particularly along the Nile and in protect ...

: A traditional Arab type of sailing vessel ; Fire ship: A vessel of any sort, set on fire and sent forth to cause consternation and destruction, rendering an enemy vulnerable ; Fluyt: A Dutch-made vessel from the Golden Age of Sail, with multiple decks and two or three square-rigged masts, usually used for merchant purposes :; Flüte (French: , "as a fluyt"): A sailing warship used as a transport, with a reduced armament ;

Frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

: A term used for warships of many sizes and roles over the past few centuries ;

Galleass Galleasses were military ships developed from large merchant galleys, and intended to combine galley speed with the sea-worthiness and artillery of a galleon. While perhaps never quite matching up to their full expectations, galleasses neverthel ...

: A sailing and rowing warship, equally well suited to sailing and rowing ; Galleon: A sixteenth century sailing warship ;

Galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

: A warship propelled by oars with a sail for use in a favourable wind ; Galliot: Name refers to several types of sailing vessel, usually two-masted ; Gunboat: Various small armed vessels, originally sail and later powered ;

Hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

: A ship whose hull is fitted underneath with shaped vanes (foils) which lift the hull out of the water at speed. ;

Ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...

: A wooden warship with external iron plating ; Junk: A Chinese sailing ship that widely used in ancient far east and South China sea which includes many variants such as Fu Ship, Kwong Ship. ; Karve: A small type of Viking longship ; Ketch: A two-masted, fore-and-aft rigged sailing boat with a mizzenmast stepped forward of the rudder and smaller than its foremast. ; Knarr: A large type of Viking cargo ship, fit for Atlantic crossings ; Lorcha: A sailing ship with mixed Chinese (rig) and western design (hull) that used since 16th century in far east. ; Landing Ship, Tank: Military ship for landing troops and vehicles ; Liberty ship: A type of welded American merchant ship of the late Second World War period, designed for rapid construction in large quantity ;Liner or

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

: A large passenger ship, usually running on a regular schedule. The same vessel may be used as a cruise ship ; Littoral combat ship (LCS): US warship intermediate in size between a corvette and a frigate, similar to a sloop ; Longship: A Viking raiding ship ;

Man-of-war The man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually reserved for a ship armed wi ...

: A heavily-armed sailing warship ;

Merchantman A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are u ...

: A trading vessel :; Armed merchantman: A trading vessel possessing weapons for self-defense :;

Merchant aircraft carrier A merchant aircraft carrier (also known as a MAC ship, the Admiralty's official 'short name') was a limited-purpose aircraft carrier operated under British and Dutch civilian registry during World War II. MAC ships were adapted by adding a flig ...

: A merchant vessel capable of launching aircraft :; Merchant raider: An armed vessel used for

raiding Raiding may refer to: * The present participle of the verb Raid (disambiguation), which itself has several meanings * Raid (military) * Raid (video games), a group of video game players who join forces * Raiding, Austria, a town in Austria * Par ...

disguised as a merchant vessel ; Mistico: Small, fast two or three-masted Mediterranean sailing vessel ; Monitor: A small, very heavily gunned warship with shallow draft, designed for coastal operations ; Motor ship or motor vessel: A vessel powered by a non-steam engine, typically diesel. Ship prefix MS or MV ;Nef: A large medieval sailing ship ; Oil Tanker:A large ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. ; Packet: A sailing ship that carried mail, passengers and freight ; Paddle steamer: A steam-propelled, paddle-driven vessel ;'' Panterschepen'' (Dutch) or '' Pansarskepp'' (Swedish): Types of ironclad, heavy gunboats designed for coastal or colonial service ; Penteconter: An ancient warship propelled by 50 oars, 25 on each side ; Pinisi (or Phinisi): A fast, two-masted ship traditionally used by the Bugis of Eastern Indonesia ; Pinnace: Although usually defined as a type of tender carried by another ship, it was also a term in the 16th century for a ship up to 50 or more tons capable of trans-oceanic voyages. Referenced in the 16th century tome "The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell..." who sailed from England to explore Africa. ;

Polyreme From the 4th century BC on, new types of oared warships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, superseding the trireme and transforming naval warfare. Ships became increasingly large and heavy, including some of the largest wooden ships hitherto co ...

: A generic modern term for ancient warships propelled by two or three banks of oarsmen, with three or more files of men per side, sometimes with more than one man per oar, and named after the number of files. Polyremes comprise the trireme (3 files), quadrireme, quinquereme, hexareme or sexireme (probably a trireme with two rowers per oar), septireme, octeres, enneres, deceres, and larger polyremes up to a "forty", with 40 files of oarsmen, 130m long, carrying 7,250 rowers, other crew, and marines ; Pram (ship): A pram or pramm is a type of shallow-draught flat-bottomed ship. There is also a type of boat called

Pram Pram or PRAM may refer to: a bulbous growth on senior canines, varying in size, usually benign and painless. If it bursts, it will ooze pus and blood. Places * Pram, Austria, a municipality in the district of Grieskirchen in the Austrian state of ...

; Q-ship: A heavily-armed vessel disguised as a merchantman to lure submarines into attacking ;

Quinquereme From the 4th century BC on, new types of oared warships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, superseding the trireme and transforming naval warfare. Ships became increasingly large and heavy, including some of the largest wooden ships hitherto con ...

: An ancient warship propelled by three banks of oars; respectively the top, middle, and lower banks had two, two, and one (i.e., 5 total) men per oar ; Royal Mail Ship: Any ship carrying mail for the British Royal Mail, allocated ship prefix RMS while doing so. Typically a fast liner carrying passengers. ;

Schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

: A fore and aft-rigged vessel with two or more masts of which the foremast is shorter than the main ;Settee: Single-decked, single or double-masted Mediterranean cargo vessel carrying a

settee sail The settee sail was a lateen sail with the front corner cut off, giving it a quadrilateral shape. It can be traced back to Greco-Roman navigation in the Mediterranean in late antiquity; the oldest evidence is from a late-5th-century AD ship mosaic ...

;

Shallop Shallop is a name used for several types of boats and small ships (French ''chaloupe'') used for coastal navigation from the seventeenth century. Originally smaller boats based on the chalupa, the watercraft named this ranged from small boats a l ...

: A large, heavily built, sixteenth-century boat which is fore-and-aft rigged; more recently a poetically frail open boat ;Ship or full-rigged ship: Historically a sailing vessel with three or more full-rigged masts. "Ship" is now used for any large watercraft ;

Ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

f battle F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

A sailing warship generally of first, second or third rate, i.e., with 64 or more guns; until the mid eighteenth century fourth rates (50-60 guns) also served in the line of battle. Succeeded by the powered battleship ; Slave ship: A cargo vessel specially converted to transport slaves ;

Sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

: A fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel with a single mast; later a powered warship intermediate in size between a corvette and a frigate ; Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH): A modern design built for stability in rough seas; predominantly used for research vessels ; Snow: A small sailing ship, with a foremast, a mainmast and a trysail mast behind the main; sometimes armed as a warship with two to ten gunsOxford English Dictionary, Compact Edition, p. 2896 ;

Steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

: A ship propelled by a steam engine; includes steam frigates. Ship prefix SS for merchant vessels ; Tartane or tartan: A single-masted ship used for fishing and coastal trading in the Mediterranean from the 17th to the late 19th century, usually rigged with a large lateen sail, and a fore-sail to the bowsprit. ; Trabaccolo: A type of Mediterranean coastal sailing vessel ; Tramp steamer: A steamer which takes on cargo when and where it can find it ; Trireme: An ancient warship propelled by three banks of oars per side ; Troopship: A ship used for transporting troops. Large ocean liners, fast enough to outrun warships, were often used for this purpose during wartime ; Victory ship: Mass-produced cargo ship of the Second World War as a successor to the Liberty ship ; Xebec: A Mediterranean sailing ship, typically three-masted, lateen-rigged and powered also by oars, with a characteristic overhanging bow and stern ; Yacht: A recreational boat or ship, sail or powered

References

{{Reflist Ship types Lists of watercraft types

See also

References