The List of ships of the Second World War contains major military vessels of the war, arranged alphabetically and by type. The list includes armed vessels that served during the war and in the immediate aftermath, inclusive of localized ongoing combat operations, garrison surrenders, post-surrender occupation, colony re-occupation, troop and prisoner repatriation, to the end of 1945. For smaller vessels, see also list of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons. Some uncompleted Axis ships are included, out of historic interest. Ships are designated to the country under which they operated for the longest period of the Second World War, regardless of where they were built or previous service history. Submarines show submerged displacement.[1][2][3][4]
Click on headers to sort column alphabetically.
Ship | Country or organization | Class | Type | Displacement (tons) | First commissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Racehorse | Royal Navy | R | destroyer | 1,705 | 1942 | scrapped 8 December 1949 |
Raider | R | destroyer | 1,705 | 1942 | paid off January 1946 | |
Raimondo Montecuccoli | Regia Marina | Montecuccoli | light cruiser | 3,184 | 1935 | decommissioned 1964 |
Rainbow | Royal Navy | Rainbow | submarine | 2,060 | 18 January 1932 | Sunk 4 October 1940 in collision |
Rajah | Ruler | escort carrier | 11,400 | 17 January 1944 | paid off 7 February 1947, scrapped 1975 | |
Rajputana | armed merchant cruiser | 16,568 | December 1939 | sunk 13 April 1941 | ||
Raleigh | United States Navy | Omaha | light cruiser | 7,050 | 6 February 1924 | scrapped 1946 |
Ralph Talbot | Bagley | destroyer | 1,500 | 14 October 1937 | scuttled after A-bomb test, 1948 | |
Ramb I | Regia Marina | Armed merchant cruiser | 3,667 | 10 June 1940 | sunk 27 February 1941 | |
Ramb II | Armed merchant cruiser | 3,667 | 10 June 1940 | to Japanese as Calitea II, sunk on 12 January 1945 | ||
Ramb III | Armed merchant cruiser | 3,667 | 10 June 1940 | to Germany 9 September 1943, then in post-war service with the Yugoslav Navy as Galeb | ||
Ramillies | Royal Navy | Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 1 September 1917 | Decommissioned 31 August 1945, scrapped 1949 |
Rampur | Royal Indian Navy | Basset | minesweeper | 529 | 1941–1944 | 1941–1944 |
Ramsay | United States Navy | Wickes | minelayer destroyer | 1,090 | 15 February 1919 | Decommissioned 19 October 1945, scrapped 1947 |
Randolph | Essex | aircraft carrier | 27,100 | 29 June 1944 | decommissioned 13 February 1969, scrapped 1975 | |
Ranee | Royal Navy | Ruler | escort carrier | 7,800 | 2 June 1943 | paid off 22 January 1947, scrapped 1973 |
Ranger | United States Navy | Ranger | aircraft carrier | 14,500 | 4 June 1934 | decommissioned 18 October 1946, scrapped 1947 |
Ranunculus | Royal Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 28 July 1941 | returned to Royal Navy 1947 |
Rapana | Rapana | merchant aircraft carrier | 16,000 | July 1943 | transferred to merchant service post-war; renamed Rotula | |
Rapid | R | destroyer | 1,705 | 20 February 1943 | sunk as target, 13 September 1981 | |
Ravager | Ruler | escort carrier | 14,630 | 25 April 1943 | paid off February 1946, scrapped 1973 | |
Rawalpindi | Armed merchant cruiser | 16,697 | 1 October 1939 | Sunk 23 November 1939 | ||
Razumny | Soviet Navy | Gnevny | destroyer | 1,695 | November 1941 | scrapped 1964 |
Reaper | Royal Navy | Ruler | escort carrier | 7,800 | 21 February 1944 | paid off 2 July 1946, scrapped 1967 |
Rechinul | Royal Romanian Navy | Rechinul | submarine | 585 | 9 May 1943 | captured by the Soviets in August 1944, scrapped after the war |
Redmill | Royal Navy | Captain | frigate | 1,300 | 30 November 1943 | declared total loss 27 April 1945 |
Redoubt | R | destroyer | 1,705 | 1 October 1942 | transferred to the Indian Navy as Ranjit, 1949; scrapped 1979 | |
Regent | Rainbow | submarine | 2,060 | 11 November 1930 | Sunk 18 April 1943 | |
Regina | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 22 January 1942 | sunk on 8 August 1944 by U-667 |
Regulus | Royal Navy | Rainbow | submarine | 2,060 | 7 December 1930 | Sunk 6 December 1940 |
Reid | United States Navy | Mahan | destroyer | 1,450 | 2 November 1936 | sunk 11 December 1944 |
Relentless | Royal Navy | R | destroyer | 1,705 | 30 November 1942 | paid off August 1965 |
Reno | United States Navy | Atlanta | light cruiser | 6,000 | 28 December 1943 | decommissioned 1946, scrapped 1962 |
Renoncule | Free French Naval Forces | Flower | corvette | 925 | 28 July 1941 | 1947 |
Renown | Royal Navy | Renown | battlecruiser | 32,000 | 20 September 1916 | scrapped 1948 |
Repulse | Renown | battlecruiser | 32,000 | 18 August 1916 | sunk 10 December 1941 | |
Resolution | Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 7 December 1916 | scrapped 1949 | |
Restigouche | Royal Canadian Navy | C | destroyer | 1,375 | 15 June 1938 | paid off 6 October 1945 |
Reuben James | United States Navy | Clemson | destroyer | 1,200 | 24 September 1920 | sunk by U-552, 31 October 1941 |
Revenge | Royal Navy | Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 1 February 1916 | scrapped 1948 |
Rhind | United States Navy | Benham | destroyer | 1,500 | 10 November 1939 | scuttled after A-bomb test 1948 |
Rhododendron | Royal Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 18 October 1940 | decommissioned 1947; sold 1950; scrapped 1968 |
Ribble | Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy |
River | frigate | 1,445 | 1944 | to Canada 24 July 1944, paid off 11 June 1945 |
Richelieu | French Navy Free French Naval Forces |
Richelieu | battleship | 35,000 | 15 July 1940 | scrapped 1968 |
Fairfax | Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy Soviet Navy |
Town | destroyer | 1,060 | 26 November 1940 | to Canada 1942, to USSR 16 July 1944 as Jivoochyi |
Richmond | United States Navy | Omaha | light cruiser | 7,050 | 2 July 1923 | scrapped 1946 |
Rimouski | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 26 April 1941 | paid off 24 July 1945 |
Rio Grande do Sul | Brazilian Navy | Bahia | light cruiser | 3,100 | 1910 | scrapped 1948 |
Riquelme | Chilean Navy | Serrano | destroyer | 1,090 | Discarded 1963 | |
Rivadavia | Argentine Navy | Rivadavia | dreadnought | 27,720 | 27 August 1914 | scrapped February 1956 |
Riviere du Loup | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower modified | corvette | 1,015 | 21 November 1943 | 2 July 1945 |
Ro-31 | Imperial Japanese Navy | Kaichū V type | training submarine | 1,030 | 10 May 1927 | scuttled 5 April 1946 |
Ro-33 | Imperial Japanese Navy | Kaichū VI type | submarine | 1,200 | 7 October 1935 | sunk 29 August 1942 |
Ro-34 | Kaichū VI type | submarine | 1,200 | 31 May 1937 | sunk 7 April 1943 | |
Ro-35 | Imperial Japanese Navy | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 25 March 1943 | sunk 25 August 1943 |
Ro-36 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 27 May 1943 | sunk 13 June 1944 | |
Ro-37 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 30 June 1943 | sunk 22 January 1944 | |
Ro-38 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 24 July 1943 | missing after 19 November 1943 | |
Ro-39 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 12 September 1943 | sunk 1 February 1944 | |
Ro-40 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 28 September 1943 | sunk 16 February 1944 | |
Ro-41 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 26 November 1943 | sunk 23 March 1945 | |
Ro-42 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 31 August 1943 | sunk 11 June 1944 | |
Ro-43 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 16 December 1943 | sunk 26 February 1945 | |
Ro-44 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 13 September 1943 | sunk 16 June 1944 | |
Ro-45 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 11 January 1944 | sunk 30 April 1944 | |
Ro-46 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 19 February 1944 | missing after 17 April 1945 | |
Ro-47 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 31 January 1944 | sunk 26 September 1944 | |
Ro-48 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 31 March 1944 | Sunk 19 July 1944 | |
Ro-49 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 19 May 1944 | missing after 25 March 1945 | |
Ro-50 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 31 July 1944 | scuttled 1 April 1946 | |
Ro-55 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 30 September 1944 | sunk 7 February 1945 | |
Ro-56 | Kaichū VII type | submarine | 1,447 | 15 November 1944 | sunk 9 April 1945 | |
Ro-57 | Imperial Japanese Navy | Type L3 | training submarine | 1,102.7 | 30 July 1922 | scrapped 1946 |
Ro-58 | Type L3 | training submarine | 1,102.7 | 25 November 1922 | scrapped 1946 | |
Ro-59 | Type L3 | training submarine | 1,102.7 | 20 March 1923 | scrapped 1946 | |
Ro-60 | Imperial Japanese Navy | Type L4 | submarine | 1,301 | 17 September 1923 | wrecked 29 December 1941 |
Ro-61 | Type L4 | submarine | 1,301 | 9 February 1924 | sunk 31 August 1942 | |
Ro-62 | Type L4 | submarine | 1,301 | 24 July 1924 | scuttled May 1946 | |
Ro-63 | Type L4 | submarine | 1,301 | 20 December 1924 | scuttled May 1946 | |
Ro-64 | Type L4 | submarine | 1,301 | 30 April 1925 | sunk 12 April 1945 | |
Ro-65 | Type L4 | submarine | 1,301 | 30 June 1926 | sunk in diving accident 3 November 1942 | |
Ro-66 | Type L4 | submarine | 1,301 | 28 July 1927 | sunk in collision 17 December 1941 | |
Ro-67 | Type L4 | submarine | 1,301 | 15 December 1926 | scrapped 1946 | |
Ro-68 | Type L4 | submarine | 1,301 | 29 October 1925 | scuttled 30 April 1946 | |
Ro-100 | Imperial Japanese Navy | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 23 September 1942 | sunk 25 November 1943 |
Ro-101 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 31 October 1942 | sunk 15 September 1943 | |
Ro-102 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 17 November 1942 | missing after 9 May 1943 | |
Ro-103 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 21 October 1942 | missing after 28 July 1943 | |
Ro-104 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 25 February 1943 | sunk 23 May 1944 | |
Ro-105 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 5 March 1943 | sunk 31 May 1944 | |
Ro-106 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 26 December 1942 | sunk 22 May 1944 | |
Ro-107 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 26 December 1942 | missing after 6 July 1943 | |
Ro-108 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 20 April 1943 | sunk 26 May 1944 | |
Ro-109 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 30 April 1943 | sunk 25 April 1945 | |
Ro-110 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 6 July 1943 | Sunk 11 February 1944 | |
Ro-111 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 19 July 1943 | sunk 10 June 1944 | |
Ro-112 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 14 September 1943 | sunk 11 February 1945 | |
Ro-113 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 12 October 1943 | sunk 13 February 1945 | |
Ro-114 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 20 November 1943 | sunk 17 June 1944 | |
Ro-115 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 30 November 1943 | sunk 1 February 1945 | |
Ro-116 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 21 January 1944 | sunk 24 May 1944 | |
Ro-117 | Ko type | coastal submarine | 782 | 31 January 1944 | sunk 17 June 1944 | |
Ro-500 (ex-U-511) | Imperial Japanese Navy | Type IXC | submarine | 1,213 | 16 September 1943 | Scuttled 30 April 1946 |
Ro-501 (ex-U-1224) | Imperial Japanese Navy | Type IXC/40 | submarine | 1,237 | 15 February 1944 | Sunk 13 May 1944 |
Roberts | Royal Navy | Roberts | monitor | 8,000 | 27 October 1941 | scrapped June 1965 |
Rocket | R | destroyer | 1,705 | 4 August 1943 | paid off 11 May 1962 | |
Rockrose | Flower | corvette | 925 | 4 November 1941 | to South Africa as Protea, 1947; sold 1962; scrapped 1967 | |
Rockwood | Hunt | destroyer | 1,050 | 4 November 1942 | constructive loss November 1943, scrapped 1946 | |
Rodman | United States Navy | Gleaves | destroyer | 1,630 | 29 April 1942 | to Taiwan 1955, damaged and struck 1969, destroyed for motion picture 1976 |
Rodney | Royal Navy | Nelson | battleship | 34,000 | 10 November 1927 | scrapped 1948 |
Roe | United States Navy | Sims | destroyer | 1,570 | 5 January 1940 | scrapped 1947 |
Roebuck | Royal Navy | R | destroyer | 1,705 | 10 June 1943 | paid off 1962 |
Roi | United States Navy | Casablanca | escort carrier | 7,800 | 6 July 1944 | decommissioned 9 May 1946, scrapped 1947 |
Roma | Regia Marina | Littorio | battleship | 41,000 | 14 June 1942 | sunk 9 September 1943 |
Rosario | Argentine Navy | Rosario | gunboat | 1,055 | 1909 | Sold 4 December 1959 |
Rose | Royal Norwegian Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 31 October 1941 | to Norway 31 October 1941, sunk 26 October 1944 by Manners |
Rosebay | Royal Navy | Flower modified | corvette | 1,015 | 28 July 1943 | paid off 20 March 1946 |
Roselys | French Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 19 September 1941 | 1947 |
Rosthern | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 17 June 1941 | paid off 19 July 1945 |
Rotherham | Royal Navy | R | destroyer | 1,705 | August 1942 | paid off 1945 |
Rover | Rainbow | submarine | 2,060 | 29 January 1931 | Scrapped 1946 | |
Rowan | United States Navy | Benham | destroyer | 1,500 | 23 September 1939 | sunk 11 September 1943 |
Roxborough | Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy Soviet Navy |
Town | destroyer | 1,060 | 23 September 1940 | to Canada 1942, to USSR 1 August 1944 as Zhyostky |
Royal Mount | Royal Canadian Navy | River | frigate | 1,445 | 25 August 1944 | paid off 17 November 1945 |
Royal Oak | Royal Navy | Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 1 May 1916 | sunk 14 October 1939 |
Royal Sovereign | Royal Navy Soviet Navy |
Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 1 February 1916 | transferred to USSR as Arkhangelsk 30 May 1944 |
Rucumilla | Chilean Navy | H | submarine | 441 | 1917 | scrapped 1945 |
Rudyerd Bay | United States Navy | Casablanca | escort carrier | 7,800 | 25 February 1944 | decommissioned 11 June 1946, scrapped 1960 |
Runnymede | Royal Canadian Navy | River | frigate | 1,445 | 14 June 1944 | paid off 19 January 1946 |
Ruler | Royal Navy | Ruler | escort carrier | 15,390 | 22 December 1943 | paid off 29 January 1946, scrapped 31 May 1946 |
Russell | United States Navy | Sims | destroyer | 1,570 | 3 November 1939 | scrapped 1947 |
Ryūhō | Imperial Japanese Navy | Ryūhō | light aircraft carrier | 13,360 | 31 March 1934 | struck 30 November 1945, scrapped 1946 |
Ryūjō | Ryūjō | light aircraft carrier | 10,600 | 9 May 1933 | sunk 24 August 1942 |