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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gabbard | Royal Navy | Battle | destroyer | 2,325 | 10 December 1946 [5] | paid off 1953 |
Gadila | Netherlands | Rapana | merchant aircraft carrier | 8,000 | 1944 | returned to merchant service 1946; scrapped 1958 |
Gallant | Royal Navy | G | destroyer | 1,335 | 25 February 1936 | sunk as a blockship September 1943, scrapped 1953 |
Galt | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 15 May 1941 | paid off 21 June 1945 |
Gambia | Royal Navy Royal New Zealand Navy | Fiji | light cruiser | 8,000 | 21 February 1942 | scrapped 1968 |
Gambier Bay | United States Navy | Casablanca | escort carrier | 7,800 | 28 December 1943 | Sunk 25 October 1944 |
Gamble | Wickes | minelayer destroyer | 1,090 | 29 November 1918 | Damaged 17 February 1945, scuttled 16 July 1945. | |
Gansevoort | Benson | destroyer | 1,620 | 25 August 1942 | decommissioned 1946, sunk as target 1972 | |
Gardenia | Royal Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 24 May 1940 [6] | 9 November 1942 [6] |
Garland | Royal Navy Polish Navy | G | destroyer | 1,335 | 3 March 1936 | to Poland 3 May 1940, paid off 24 September 1946 |
Garth | Royal Navy | Hunt | destroyer escort | 1,000 | 28 August 1940 | scrapped 1958 |
Gato | United States Navy | Gato | submarine | 1,525 surfaced | 31 December 1941 | Scrapped 25 July 1960 |
General Belgrano | Argentine Navy | Giuseppe Garibaldi | armored cruiser | 6,100 | c.1896 | Stricken 8 May 1947 |
General Pueyrredon | Giuseppe Garibaldi | armored cruiser | 6,100 | 1897 | Stricken 2 August 1954 | |
Genista | Royal Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 8 December 1941 | |
Gentian | Royal Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 20 September 1940 | |
George Leygues | French Navy Free French Naval Forces | La Galissonnière | light cruiser | 7,600 | 15 November 1937 | scrapped 1959 |
Georgetown | Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy Soviet Navy | Town | destroyer | 1,200 | 23 September 1940 | to Canada September 1942, to USSR as Doblestny 10 August 1944 |
Georgios Averof | Hellenic Navy | Pisa | armored cruiser | 9,450 | 16 May 1911 | Decommissioned 1952, museum ship |
Geranium | Royal Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 24 June 1940 [6] | |
Gherardi | United States Navy | Gleaves | destroyer | 1,630 | 15 September 1942 | decommissioned 1955, sunk as target 1973 |
Giffard | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower modified | corvette | 1,015 | 10 November 1943 | 5 July 1945 |
Gilbert Islands | United States Navy | Commencement Bay | escort carrier | 10,900 | 5 February 1945 | scrapped 1 November 1979 |
Gillespie | Benson | destroyer | 1,620 | 18 September 1942 | decommissioned 1946, sunk as target 1973 | |
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere | Regia Marina | Giussano | light cruiser | 5,200 | 10 February 1932 | Sunk 19 July 1940 |
Gipsy | Royal Navy | G | destroyer | 1,350 | 22 February 1936 | sunk 21 November 1939 |
Giulio Cesare | Regia Marina | Conte di Cavour | dreadnought | 26,140 | 10 May 1914 | Ceded to Soviet Union 1948, renamed Novorossiysk |
Giuseppe Garibaldi | Duca degli Abruzzi | light cruiser | 9,195 | 1937 | scrapped 1972 | |
Giuseppe Miraglia | seaplane tender | 4,965 | 1927 | decommissioned 15 July 1950 | ||
Glace Bay | Royal Canadian Navy | River | frigate | 1,445 | 2 September 1944 | paid off 17 November 1945 |
Gladiolus | Royal Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 6 April 1940 | sunk on 17 October 1941 by U-553 [7] |
Glaisdale | Hunt | destroyer escort | 1,050 | 12 June 1942 | to Norway after war, scrapped 1961 | |
Gleaves | United States Navy | Gleaves | destroyer | 1,630 | 14 June 1940 | Sold 29 June 1972 and broken up for scrap |
Glennon | Gleaves | destroyer | 1,630 | 8 October 1942 | sunk 10 June 1944 | |
Gloire | French Navy Free French Naval Forces | La Galissonnière | light cruiser | 7,600 | 15 November 1937 | scrapped 1958 |
Gloriosa | Royal Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | Cancelled, 23 January 1941 | |
Glorious | Glorious | aircraft carrier | 22,500 | 20 April 1916 | sunk 8 June 1940 [8] | |
Glory | Colossus | aircraft carrier | 13,200 | 2 April 1945 | scrapped August 1961 | |
Gloucester | Town | light cruiser | 9,400 | 31 January 1939 | Sunk on 22 May 1941 during the Battle of Crete [9] | |
Glowworm | G | destroyer | 1,350 | 22 January 1936 | sunk 8 April 1940 | |
Gloxinia | Flower | corvette | 925 | 22 August 1940 | ||
Gneisenau | Kriegsmarine | Scharnhorst | battleship | 32,000 | 21 May 1938 | sunk as block ship March 1945 |
Goathland | Royal Navy | Hunt | destroyer escort | 1,050 | constructive loss July 1944 | |
Godavari | Royal Indian Navy | Black Swan | sloop | 1,350 | 28 June 1943 | 1948 |
Godetia (I) | Royal Navy | Flower | corvette | 925 | 15 July 1940 | sunk in collision 6 September 1940 |
Godetia (II) | Flower | corvette | 925 | 23 February 1942 | ||
Goldsborough | United States Navy | Clemson | destroyer | 1,250 | 26 January 1920 | Decommissioned 11 October 1945 |
Good Hope | South African Navy | Loch | frigate | 1,435 | 1 December 1944 | scrapped June 1978 |
Goodall | Royal Navy | Captain | frigate | 1,150 | 4 October 1943 | sunk 29 April 1945 |
Gorizia | Regia Marina | Zara | heavy cruiser | 11,900 | 1931 | sunk 1943 |
Gouden Leeuw | Royal Netherlands Navy | Prins van Oranje | minelayer | 1,291 | 24 February 1932 | scuttled 7 March 1942 |
Graf Zeppelin | Kriegsmarine | Graf Zeppelin | aircraft carrier | 23,200 | launched 8 December 1938, not completed, scuttled 16 August 1947 [10] | |
Grafton | Royal Navy | G | destroyer | 1,350 | 20 March 1936 | scuttled after torpedo attack by U-62 on 29 May 1940 |
Graph | Kriegsmarine Royal Navy | Type VIIC | submarine | 769 | launched 15 April 1941 | German U-boat, captured by the British, 27 August 1941. Ran aground September 1944 |
Gravelines | Royal Navy | Battle | destroyer | 2,325 | 14 June 1946 [11] | paid off March 1953 |
Grayson | United States Navy | Gleaves | destroyer | 1,630 | 14 February 1941 | decommissioned 1947, scrapped 1974 |
Greenhalgh | Brazilian Navy | Marcílio Dias | destroyer | 1,500 | 29 November 1943 | decommissioned 1966 |
Greif | Kriegsmarine | Raubvogel | torpedo boat | 1,290 | 15 March 1927 | sunk 23 May 1944 |
Grenade | Royal Navy | G | destroyer | 1,350 | 28 March 1936 | sunk 29 May 1940 |
Grenville (I) | G | destroyer | 1,350 | 1 July 1936 | sunk 19 January 1940 | |
Grenville (II) | U | destroyer | 1,777 | 27 May 1943 | paid off 1974, scrapped 1983 | |
Greyhound | G | destroyer | 1,350 | 1 February 1936 | sunk 22 May 1941 | |
Gridley | United States Navy | Gridley | destroyer | 1,590 | 24 June 1937 | scrapped 1947 |
Griffin | Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy | G | destroyer | 1,350 | 6 June 1936 | to Canada 1 March 1943 as Ottawa, paid off May 1945 |
Grom | Polish Navy | Grom | destroyer | 1,975 | 11 May 1937 | sunk 4 May 1940 |
Grou | Royal Canadian Navy | River | frigate | 1,445 | 4 December 1943 | paid off 25 December 1946 |
Grove | Royal Navy | Hunt | destroyer escort | 1,050 | 5 February 1942 | sunk 12 June 1942 |
Gryf | Polish Navy | Gryf | minelayer | 2,085 | 27 February 1938 | sunk 3 September 1939 |
Guacolda | Chilean Navy | H | submarine | 441 | 1917 | scrapped 1949 |
Guadalcanal | United States Navy | Casablanca | escort carrier | 7,800 | 25 September 1943 | decommissioned 15 July 1946, scrapped 1959 |
Guale | Chilean Navy | H | submarine | 441 | 1917 | scrapped 1945 |
Guam | United States Navy | Alaska | battlecruiser ("large cruiser") | 27,500 | 17 September 1944 | scrapped August 1961 |
Guelph | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower modified | corvette | 1,015 | 9 May 1944 | 27 June 1945 |
Gurkha (I) | Royal Navy | Tribal | destroyer | 2,020 | 21 October 1938 | sunk 9 April 1940 |
Gurkha (II) | L | destroyer | 1,920 | 18 February 1941 | sunk 17 January 1942 | |
Gustav V | Swedish Navy | Sverige | coastal defence ship | 7,125 | 12 December 1922 | paid off 22 March 1957, scrapped 1970 |
Gwin | United States Navy | Gleaves | destroyer | 1,630 | 15 January 1941 | sunk 13 July 1943 |