What's the most potant wooden sailing warship ever built?

Question

What's the most potant wooden sailing warship ever built?

Answer 1

I believe it was Old Ironsides (USS Constitution) from the US Navy.

Answer 2

the most powerful wooden sailing warship was the Spanish Santissima Trinidad a ship of the line with a 130 guns she was captured by Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar  but later sank while being towed to England. PS frigates like the USS Constitution do not ever take on ships of the line as they would be destroyed in one or two broadsides. however i will grant the constitution had a spectacular record against other frigates like herself.

Answer 3

I second that.  The u.s.s. Constitution, or old Iron sides.

Answer 4

I'm going to wade into a bit of controversy and nominate the St Lawrence, circa 1812.  

Apparently, she was the largest warship in the Royal Navy in that time, yet spent her entire career on Lake Ontario.  The real claim to fame here might not be superlative naval architecture, or even impressive gunnery.  Rather, the St. Lawrence was a propaganda coup.  Built rapidly out of green timber {yes, really!} the sudden appearance of the ship was enough to keep the American fleet in port.  By the time the ruse was discovered some years later the ship had pretty much rotted away.  I think there were two smaller vessels built in the same manner, and all were most likely burned as spectacles after the end of the war.

Answer 5

I will continue the consensus by affirming both USS Constitution (take a look at her battle with HMS Java) and HMS Victory (flagship for Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar) as the most potent wooden warships ever built. The power of Constitution was found in her advanced hull design which allowed her to not only carry a devastating load of cannons, but also to sail as nimbly as a much smaller and lighter ship. Furthermore, the high quality of wood in her construction and the skill with which the shipwrights of Boston built her made her strong enough to withstand the impact of enemy cannonballs, hence her nickname "Old Ironsides."

HMS Victory represented the pinnacle of wooden warship technology, a powerful three-decker (i.e. three decks worth of cannons) that could still maneuver effectively to engage enemy warships. Her main claim to fame occurred during the Battle of Trafalgar, where she led the British fleet against a combined Spanish-French fleet off the coast of SW Spain. The British fleet, although essentially equivalent physically to their adversaries had years of experience and motivation behind it; her sailors were the most disciplined and effective anywhere at sea.

Both ships are living still: Victory resides in the Royal Dockyards in Portsmouth, England, and Constitution remains afloat at the old Navy Yard in Boston, MA. They are both well worth the effort to visit.

Answer 6

HMS Victory is a 104-gun ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built between 1759 and 1765. She is the oldest naval ship still in commission. She sits in dry dock in Portsmouth as a museum ship.