World's most expensive ships

Unfortunately majority of them are military ships.

When you look at all these ships, and see how much money they spent on building them, especially military vessels, person can only ask himself.

"Is this world that crazy?"

Billions of dollars for a ship.
Really, that is way too much.
I know billions of things that this planet really needs, and warships are not one of them.

But, for those of you who want to know...

HERE THEY ARE


Nimitz class aircraft carrier

The Nimitz-class supercarriers are a line of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the US Navy, and are the largest capital ships in the world. These ships are numbered with consecutive hull numbers starting with CVN 68. The letters "CVN" denote the type of ship: CV is the hull classification symbol for Aircraft Carriers, and N to indicate nuclear-powered propulsion. The number after the "CVN" means that this is the 68th "CV", or aircraft carrier.

Nimitz (CVN-68), the lead ship of the class, was commissioned in 1975. As of 2006, George H. W. Bush (CVN-77), the tenth and last of the class, was built by Northrop Grumman Newport News and will enter service in 2008. Bush will be the first transition ship to a new class of carriers (CVN-21) to start construction in 2007 and will incorporate new technologies including a new multi-function radar system, volume search radar and open architecture information network, and a significantly reduced crew requirement. To lower costs some new technologies were incorporated into Ronald Reagan, though not nearly as many as will be involved with Bush.

USS Nimitz

General characteristics

* Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia
* Power Plant: Two A4W reactors, four shafts
* Length: 333 m (1092 ft) overall
* Flight Deck Width: 76.8 - 78.4 m (252 - 257 ft 5in)
* Beam: 41 m (134 ft)
* Displacement: 98,235 - 104,112 tons full load
* Speed: 30+ knots (56+ km/h)
* Aircraft: 85 (current wings are closer to 64, including 48 tactical and 16 support aircraft)
o Intended to operate aircraft currently including the F/A-18 Hornet, EA-6B Prowler, E-2 Hawkeye, C-2 Greyhound, SH/HH-60 Seahawk, and S-3 Viking for many missions including self defense, land attack and maritime strike.
* Cost: about US$4.5 billion each
* Average Annual Operating Cost: US$160 million
* Service Life: 50+ years
* Crew: Ship's Company: 3,200 — Air Wing: 2,480
* Armament:
o NATO Sea Sparrow launchers: three or four (depending on modification)
o 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts: Three on Nimitz and Eisenhower and four on Vinson and later ships of the class, except Washington which has three.
o RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile: Two on Nimitz, Washington and Reagan, will be retrofitted to other ships as they return for RCOH.
* Date Deployed: 3 May 1975 (Nimitz)

USS Abraham Lincoln


Type 45 destroyer, HMS Daring (D32)

The United Kingdom's Type 45 destroyer is the state-of-the art air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy. The first Type 45 destroyer, HMS Daring, was launched on February 1st, 2006 by H.R.H. The Countess of Wessex and is expected to come into service in 2009. The ships are assembled by BAE Systems Naval Ships from "blocks" built by BAE and VT Group.

BAE Systems, in recently published information about the class, state that "they will be the most advanced fighting ships of their kind in the world". In a recent interview given to Warships International magazine, the former First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Alan West is quoted as saying, " I have no doubt the ships will be the best destroyers in the world".

HMS Daring is the lead ship of the Type 45 or 'D' Class of air defence destroyer (AAW) being built for the Royal Navy and the seventh to hold that name.

Daring's construction began at the BAE Systems Naval Ships yard at Scotstoun on the River Clyde in March 2003. The ship was launched at 14.21 GMT on February 1 2006. HRH The Countess of Wessex was the ship's sponsor at her launch.

She is both the first warship to include e-mail and entertainment systems (including iPod charging points) within the messdecks and the first Royal Navy vessel to include gender-neutral living spaces to accommodate male and female crew members.

HMS Daring will be, when complete, the most advanced and powerful air defence warship in the world. Its revolutionary radar can track every aircraft for several hundred miles.

HMS Daring

The Type 45 destroyers will be 152.4 m in length, with a beam of 21.2 m and a draught of 5.0 m. This makes them significantly larger than the Type 42 destroyers they replace, displacing 7350 tonnes compared to 5200 tonnes of the Type 42. The Type 45 destroyers are the first British warships built to meet the hull requirements of Lloyd's Register's Naval Rules.

The Type 23 frigates were the first British warships to incorporate signature reduction technology, with the large 7° angle of the bow, the elimination of right angles and reduced equipment on deck. The propulsion system was also chosen to minimise noise, with electric generators providing minimal acoustic signature for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions. Infrared signature is reduced by cooling devices on the funnels.

The design of the Type 45 brings new levels of signature reduction to the Royal Navy. The equipment on the deck is reduced further, producing a very "clean" superstructure similar to the La Fayette class of frigates. There is reduced equipment located on the mast and all docking equipment and life rafts are concealed behind superstructure panels.

Cost : £605 million

HMS Daring



RMS Queen Mary 2

The RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner Queen Mary, which was in turn named after Mary of Teck. At the time of her construction in 2003, the QM2 was the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built, and at 151,400 gross tons, was also the largest. She lost that last distinction to Royal Caribbean International's 158,000 gross ton Freedom of the Seas in April 2006, but QM2 remains the largest ocean liner (as opposed to cruise ship) ever built, and her height, length, and waterline breadth are unsurpassed by any other passenger ship. QM2's luxuries include 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, and a planetarium.

The Queen Mary 2 is the current Cunard flagship and makes regular transatlantic crossings. The ship was constructed to complement the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) — the Cunard flagship from 1969 to 2004 - replacing it on the transatlantic route. The first RMS Queen Mary sailed the Atlantic from 1936 to 1967.

The prefix "RMS" on the QM2 originally stood for "Royal Mail Steamer", but now stands for "Royal Mail Ship". The QM2 is not a steamship like her predecessors, but is powered by gas turbines and diesel engines that produce the power to drive her four electric podded propulsors. Also like her predecessors, she is a transatlantic ocean liner, as opposed to a cruise ship, though she is used for cruising purposes from time to time.

RMS Queen Mary 2

Length:
1,132 feet
Beam:
135 feet
Beam at Bridge Wings:
147.5 feet
Draft:
32 feet 10 inches
Height (Keel to Funnel):
236.2 feet
Gross Tonnage:
Approximately 150,000 gross tons
Passengers:
2,620
Crew:
1,253
Top Speed:
Approximately 30 knots (34.5 mph)
Power:
157,000 horsepower, environmentally friendly, gas turbine/diesel electric plant
Propulsion:
Four pods of 21.5 MW each; 2 fixed and 2 azimuthing
Strength:
Extra thick steel hull for strength and stability for Atlantic crossings
Stabilizers:
Two sets
Cost:
Estimated $800 million dollars

RMS Queen Mary 2


USS Virginia (SSN-774)

The Virginia class (or SSN-774 class) of attack submarines are the first U.S. subs to be designed for a broad spectrum of open-ocean and littoral missions around the world. They were designed as a cheaper alternative to the Cold War era Seawolf-class attack submarines, and are slated to replace aging Los Angeles-class attack submarines, some of which have already been decommissioned.

The Virginias were intended, in part, as a slightly cheaper ($1.8 vs $2 billion) alternative to the Seawolf subs, whose production run was stopped after just three vessels. To reduce costs, the Virginias use many "off-the-shelf" components, especially in their computers and data networks. In practice they actually cost about $2.3 billion (in fiscal year 2005 dollars) each, due in part to the lack of an economy of scale.

In hearings before both House of Representatives and Senate committees, the Congressional Research Service and expert witnesses testified that the current procurement plans of the Virginia class—one per year at present, accelerating to two per year beginning in 2012—resulted in high unit costs and (according to some of the witnesses and some of the committee chairmen) an insufficient number of attack submarines. In a March 10, 2005 statement to the House Armed Services Committee, Ronald O'Rourke of the CRS testified that, assuming the production rate remains as planned, "production economies of scale for submarines would continue to remain limited or poor."

The Virginia class is built through an industrial arrangement designed to keep both Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Newport News (the only U.S. shipyards capable of building nuclear vessels) in the submarine-building business. Under the present arrangement, the Newport News facility builds the stern, habitability & machinery spaces, torpedo room, sail and bow, while Electric Boat builds the engine room and control room. The facilities alternate work on the reactor plant as well as the final assembly, test, outfit and delivery.

O'Rourke wrote in 2004 that, "Compared to a one-yard strategy, approaches involving two yards may be more expensive but offer potential offsetting benefits." Among the claims of "offsetting benefits" that O'Rourke attributes to supporters of a two-facility construction arrangement is that it "would permit the United States to continue building submarines at one yard even if the other yard is rendered incapable of building submarines permanently or for a sustained period of time by a catastrophic event of some kind", including an attack.

USS Virginia

* Builders: GD Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Newport News
* Length: 377 ft (114.91 m)
* Beam: 34 ft (10.36 m)
* Displacement: 7,800 tons
* Payload: 40 weapons, special operations forces, unmanned undersea vehicles, Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS)
* Propulsion: S9G reactor
* Max. diving depth: greater than 800 ft (255 m)
* Speed: 25+ knots
* Planned cost: about US$1.65 billion each (based on FY95 dollars, 30-ship class & 2 ship/year build-rate, which has not yet been authorized)
* Actual cost: about $2.3 billion each (as of 2005)
* Crew: 120 Enlisted and 14 Officers
* Armament: Tomahawk missiles, VLS tubes, Mark 48 torpedoes, four torpedo tubes, advanced mobile mines, and unmanned undersea vehicles.

USS Virginia


Seawolf class submarine, USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23)

USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23), the third and last Seawolf-class submarine, is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for former President Jimmy Carter, who served in the US Navy as an officer in the Submarine Service as a nuclear engineer. Jimmy Carter is one of the few ships of the United States Navy to have been named for a person who was alive at the time of the ship's naming.

The contract to build Carter was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 29 June 1996 and her keel was laid down on 5 December 1998. Original schedules called for Carter to be commissioned in late 2001 or early 2002, but on 10 December 1999 Electric Boat was awarded an US$887 million extension to the Carter contract to modify the boat for highly classified missions and testing of new submarine systems, missions previously carried out by Parche (SSN-683). Carter was christened on 5 June 2004 sponsored by Rosalynn Carter, Jimmy Carter's wife.

Carter is roughly 100 feet (30 m) longer than the other two ships of her class. This is due to the insertion of a section known as the Multi-Mission Platform (MMP), which allows launch and recovery of ROVs and Navy SEAL forces. The plug features a fairing over a wasp-waist shaped passageway allowing crew to pass between the fore and aft sections of the hull while providing a space to store ROVs and special equipment that may need to launch and recover from the submarine.

According to figures published by Electric Boat, the MMP increased the Carter's displacement by about 33%, her navigation draft by over a foot (300 mm), and made her louder by two dB at 20 knots (37 km/h). It reduced her speed by two knots (4 km/h).

The Carter has additional maneuvering devices fitted fore and aft that will allow her to keep station over selected targets in odd currents. Past submarines that were so outfitted were used to place listening devices on undersea cables and listen on communications of foreign countries.

USS Jimmy Carter

* Builders: GD Electric Boat
* Beam: 40 ft (12 m)
* Draft: 35 ft (11 m)
* Speed: 35 knots (65 km/h) dived, 20 knots (37 km/h) "silent", 25 knots "Tactical Speed"
* Propulsion: S6W reactor manufactured by Westinghouse
* Depth: 2000 ft (610 m)
* Armament: 8 × 26 inch (660 mm) torpedo tubes, 50 torpedoes or missiles, or 100 mines

For SSN-21, SSN-22:

* Displacement: 9,137 tons dived, 7,460 tons surfaced
* Length: 353 ft (108 m)
* Complement (approximate): 121, including 12 officers

For SSN-23:

* Displacement: 12,158 tons dived, 10,460 tons surfaced
* Length: 453 ft (138 m)
* Complement (approximate): 126, including 15 officers, 50 SOF

USS Jimmy Carter is currently homeported in Bangor, Washington. In 2006, the Navy announced that it would homeport all three of its Seawolf submarines in Bangor.

Cost : around $3.5 billion

USS Jimmy Carter


Carnival Glory

The Carnival Glory is a Conquest Class cruise ship owned by Carnival Cruise Lines. Some features of the Glory include more nightclubs, duty-free shops, four pools, seven whirlpools, and a 214-foot waterslide. Sixty percent of her staterooms have ocean views and sixty percent of those feature private balconies.

The Carnival Glory's home port has been Cape Canaveral, Florida since its inaugural sailing. It sails the Eastern and Western Caribbean, to Nassau, Bahamas; St. Thomas, USVI; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten in the Eastern Caribbean, and to Nassau, Bahamas; Belize; Cozumel, Mexico; and Costa Maya, Mexico in the Western Caribbean.

The Glory was last drydocked in January, 2006.

Placed in Service: 2003
Status: in service
Tonnage: 110,000 gross tons
Length: 953 feet
Decks: 14
Speed: 21 knots
Complement: 2,974 passengers, 1,150 crew
Registry: Panama

Cost : $500 million

Carnival Glory


Voyager class

The Voyager class refers to a design of cruise ships operated by Royal Caribbean International cruiselines. The only cruise ships in the world that are larger are RCI's Freedom Class and Cunard's ocean liner RMS Queen Mary 2. The Voyager class ships were built at Kvaerner Masa Yard’s (now Aker Finnyards) facility in Turku, Finland

The ships have a diesel-electric powertrain. They are powered by six Wärtsilä Vasa 46 diesel engines, giving a total output of 75,600 kW. The generated electric power drives three 14 MW ABB Azipod azimuth thrusters (two steerable and one fixed). The service speed is around 22 knots.

Voyager of the Seas, completed in 1999, is the first of five Voyager-class cruise ships from Royal Caribbean International. It can handle up to 3114 guests, and, along with its cousins in the Voyager class, is one of the largest passenger ships in the world; currently, only Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and Royal Caribbean International's Freedom of the Seas are larger. Constructed at Aker Finnyards in Turku, Finland, the ship measures 142,000 gross tons on a 64,000 ton displacement.[1] It is 1020' long overall and a waterline beam of 127' and a maximum width of 156'.

Activities include:

* Ice skating rink
* Rock climbing wall
* Inline skating
* Nine-hole miniature golf course
* Golf simulators
* Full-sized basketball court
* Adventure Ocean® youth facilities

Other amenities include:

* Royal Promenade
* Casino
* Three-story main dining room
* Restaurants such as Johnny Rockets (1950s-style) and Portofino (Italian)
* Themed bars and lounges
* Day spa and Fitness Center
* Wedding chapel

Voyager class

* Gross Tonnage: 138,000
* Displacement: 64,000 tons
* Length: 311.1 m; 1020 feet
* Max Beam: 157.5 feet
* Breadth (hull): 38.6 m; 126.65 feet
* Draft: 29 feet
* Cruising Speed: 23.7 knots
* Passenger Capacity: 3,114
* Constructed at: Aker Finnyards in Turku, Finland

Cost : $520 million

Voyager


Carnival Valor

Carnival Valor is a cruise ship for Carnival Cruise Lines. She is the largest Carnival ship based out of the Port of Miami, Florida and has a "Heroes and Heroics" theme. Duty free shopping, a spa, casino, and numerous entertainment options are some of her features. She offers seven day sailings through the Eastern and Western Caribbean.

Public Rooms

* Attrium Americana
* Eagle Show Lounge
* One Small Step Dance Club
* Lindy Hop Piano Bar
* Scarlett's Supper Club
* Rosie's Restaurant - Lido deck
* Bronx Sports Bar
* The Caboose - game room/teen club
* Ivanhoe Show Lounge
* Winston's cigar bar
* Shogun Club Casino
* Paris Hot Jazz Club
* Iliad Library
* Jeanne's Wine Bar
* Togo Sushi Bar

Meeting Facilities
The Carnival Valor, in port at St. Thomas on April 26, 2006.
Enlarge
The Carnival Valor, in port at St. Thomas on April 26, 2006.

* Main lounge: 1,400 maximum guests fixed theater, 500 maximum guests reception, 300 maximum guests modified classroom
* Aft Lounge: 400 maximum guests fixed theater, 425 maximum guests reception, 200 maximum guests modified classroom
* Grand Lounge: 30 maximum guests fixed theater, 147 maximum guests reception, 30 maximum guests modified classroom
* Dance Club: 50 maximum guests fixed theater, 211 maximum guests reception, 30 maximum guests modified classroom
* Paris Hot Jazz Club: 40 maximum guests fixed theater, 81 maximum guests reception, 20 maximum guests modified classroom
* Lindy Hop Piano Lounge: 20 maximum guests fixed theater, 100 maximum guests reception, 15 maximum guests modified classroom
* Card Room: 15 maximum guests fixed theater, 10 maximum guests modified classroom, 8 maximum guests board room
* Iliad Library: 15 maximum guests fixed theater, 10 maximum guests modified classroom, 8 maximum guests board room

Carnival Valor

Placed in Service: 2004
Status: in service
Tonnage: 110,000 gross tons
Length: 952 feet
Beam: 116 feet
Decks: 13
Speed: 21 knots
Complement: 2,974 passengers, 1,180 crew
Registry: Panama

Cost : $500 million

Carnival Valor