Sunk/Scrapped ship(s) you would have loved to see had they survived WWII and were preserved?

I don't understand why they couldn't have preserved a few of the European BBs, how awesome would it be to visit one of the King George V', Richelieu', Goeben, and/or Vanguard, so damn lame. <_<

 

While I too would love it if Goeben or Warspite were still around, there IS an extant dreadnought from that era. I speak of the USS Texas, which served in 1918 with the 6th BS of the Grand Fleet and also saw a great deal of action in WWII (TORCH, D-Day, Cherbourg, DRAGOON, Iwo Jima, Okinawa). Texas is preserved as a museum in her namesake state, and I hope some day to see her.

 

Having been spoiled by some of the many US battleships that are now museum ships, my vote is for an Axis battlewagon. Specifically, a battleship from the IJN. Putting aside those ships sunk during the war, Nagato - captured intact and later sunk at Bikini - would have been a good choice. There's something so visually appealing about a "Pagoda" mast.

 

If we're going for Axis visual appeal then we have to include the Vittorio Veneto

 

For me it has to be the coastal defence ship "Ilmarinen" - by far the biggest Finnish war ship together with her sister-ship "Väinämöinen".

"llmarinen was a Finnish Navy Panssarilaiva ("Armored ship"; a coastal defence ship by British classification). The unit was constructed at the Crichton-Vulcan shipyard in Turku, Finland, and named after the mythological hero Ilmarinen from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. Ilmarinen was the flagship of the Navy from 1 May 1933 until her demise on 13 September 1941."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_coastal_defence_ship_Ilmarinen

 

Have you been to Lands End? The damaged bridge wings are there and are sobering.

 

No, never been there, probably would be a cool place to visit though.

 

My vote would be would be for HMS Warspite as well.

On the Italian side keeping a 35.000t battleship was a political impossibility, the peace treaty demanded they be scrapped, and Doria and Duilio were less symbolic, but San Giorgio and Montecuccoli survived long enough they could have been preserved and Montecuccoli was still pretty similar to he original aspect.
And of course my uncle's ship RN Baionetta, an important ship in Italian history if there ever was one, but possibly she would have been a too big reminder of what Italian leaders are really like. Instead they decided to save a couple of post war submarines, that mean little to me (the guys at the Betasom site will put a bounty on my head for saying this). At least we still have Vespucci, and when her time comes to retire not preserving her would be a crime.

 

I have had the thought many times that it is criminal that USS Enterprise and HMS Warspite are not still with us. They both fit the ideal of why warships are preserved as museum ships - the steel itself having been involved in crucial junctures where actual history was decided, and the will and spirits of two nations tangibly embodied in two hulls. I honestly cannot fathom how any USN or RS admiral with live emotions in his heart could have signed off on an order to send either ship to the breakers.

 

Most museum ships operate at a loss, I'm currently reading about the Russian Aurora (or Avrora if you want the Russian spelling), that's possibly the most significant XX century warship of all, though not from a military naval historian standpoint, and she was practically rebuilt with the original superstructure placed on a new lower hull, that sort of operation cannot be funded by a museum organisation. Besides the well known 1917 events she also fought in two world wars and the Russo-Japanese conflict so her combat record is nothing to sneer at.

 

I didn't think they signed them off--the bean counters-accountants, etc , no? or do the admirals list their needs, and those ships are not on the lists?[ which they couldn't be anyway logically ] or a combination of both? no more service life, and the Navy is not going to spend $ for them as a museum, as Tired Soldier states....not in the budget

 

There were 3 attempts to save the Big E; 1946, 1949, and 1956. All came to naught
http://www.cv6.org/1946/1946.htm

 

Good link, thanks!

 

IT is a real shame about the Goeben, which nearly survived to an era when its heritage would have been more highly valued. It was only scrapped in 1973 and, if wikipedia is correct only after the Federal German Republic declined to buy it back. Had the Turks held onto it it would have probably been a major tourist attraction in Istanbul to complement Gallipoli.

 

The offer to sell the Yavuz to West Germany was made in 1963, AFAIK, the Yavuz was reasonably maintained until she was scrapped.

Still, 1963 was likely to close to the end of Nazism and WW2 for any German to be interested in preserving the battlecruiser.

Although, there is the relatively unknown Greek armored cruiser, Georgios Averof, which is a museum ship in Palaio Faliro, Greece

 

Makes me wish that the USS Oregon had been left as a museum ship, rather than being taken over by the US Navy during World War II

 

She indeed would be one of a kind.

 

Agreed, that was one of those moments where the "ball was dropped."

 

Does anyone know how the Turks today feel about WWI? I understand Gallipoli is something of a foundation epic for them, much as it is for the Australians, perhaps because of Ataturk's role; but what about the war in general? They did lose, the Ottoman Empire was dissolved, and Goeben's actions contributed significantly to dragging them into the war. Not exactly their version of the Victory, Mikasa, or Olympia.

Of course we'd all love to have seen Goeben/Yavuz preserved, just wondering what the larger audience would be.

The chain of causation can be long and twisted, but one consequence of WWI was Palestine under the control of the British, who were more amenable to a Jewish homeland than any Muslim regime would be. Might no Goeben mean no Israel?