Warspite or Enterprise?

[Valmy]

This thread makes me miss the days we named CVs cooler names than the name of some douchey ex-President.

The Gerald Ford class?  Are you fucking kidding me?

[Admiral Yi]

Absolute worst was the Carl Vinson.

[Berkut]

Absolute worst was the Carl Vinson.

I actually disagree, just because Vinson is so unknown that it just sounds like a name that you don't even know what it means one way or the other.

[Admiral Yi]

I actually disagree, just because Vinson is so unknown that it just sounds like a name that you don't even know what it means one way or the other.

I like it when they name ships after obscure naval heroes because then you get a cool little back story with it.  With Vinson all you get is the fact that he voted yes a bunch of times.

[Tonitrus]

USS Texas

Seriously?  I'd be interested inseeing you make the case.  Five battle stars seems a long way from Big E's 20.

If it's popular legend, and not just naval grognards...then it would probably be USS Missouri.  Though Missouri got a rather late start.

I think you are back to "popular" again.  I don't think Missouri did anything to make it legendary, though it was well-known because of the Japanese surrender signing.

I was thinking more along the lines of just BBs, from the Yamato tangent.

[Siege]

[CountDeMoney]

What's that, Hebrew for "hit us here with Silkworms we didn't know you had"?

[Siege]

"Fuck you CdM"

[grumbler]

The Missouri was one of the longer serving ships.

Actually, she wasn't.  She was in commission for less than 11 years (1944-1955) and then six years (1986 to 1992).  Warspite was in commission for 19 years (1915-1934) and then less than 8 years (1937-1945).  Enterprise was only in commission 9 years (1938-1947).  Longevity goes to Warspite here (though Victory served 1778-1798, and then again 1803-1812, so gets the nod over any of the above).

[Syt]

"Fuck you CdM"

לך תזדיין, הרוזן של כסף
?

[Ideologue]

The Hood, the Tirpitz and definitely the Graf Zeppelin are more known for what they could have been, aren't they?

The Hood is most known for its long, successful career showing the flag in the interwar period, for being a very beautiful warship, for sinking the crappy French Navy and for a brief gun duel with the Bismarck ending in spectacular death.  Tirpitz and Graf Zeppelin are relatively well-known because they were German, and a large subset of WWII fans love German tech.

I think a more innocuous part of it is that it's really easy to keep track of the entire German surface fleet in your head, and did so little that their few sensational exploits are equally easy to remember.

Anyway, of course I chose CV-6.  Could it have been any other way?

I'd like to give an honorable mention to the Zuikaku, as probably the closest Japanese equivalent to the Enterprise, although necessarily less successful--she didn't survive, but she persevered the longest, and made a romantic if ultimately futile sacrifice, destroyed after being required to fight beyond all endurance and reason as the only fleet carrier in the decoy force at Leyte.

On the plus side for Zuikaku...

Nothing can touch the Enterprise.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Enterprise has warp drive, Warspite is a Languish poster who afaik lacks warp drive. I vote Enterprise.

[Warspite]

Enterprise has warp drive, Warspite is a Languish poster who afaik lacks warp drive. I vote Enterprise.

[grumbler]

Enterprise has warp drive, Warspite is a Languish poster who afaik lacks warp drive. I vote Enterprise.

Warspite has warped drivel.  That's three letters more than "warp drive" and so obviously superior.

[Eddie Teach]

Grumbler, you're not Welsh by any chance?