© Getty Images

Kon-Tiki -

In 1947, Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl led the Kon-Tiki Expedition, a voyage by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have reached Polynesia during pre-Columbian times, and set out to prove the theory. After 101 days and over 6,900 km (4,300 mi), Heyerdahl and his crew made successful landfall. The Kon-Tiki raft is now on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum at Bygdøy in Oslo.

© Getty Images

HMS Belfast -

A Town-class light cruiser permanently moored on the River Thames near London's Square Mile, England, HMS Belfast, commissioned in 1939, now serves as a museum ship.

© Shutterstock 

Mary Rose -

Sunk in battle in 1545, Mary Rose is a warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. Raised in 1982, the remains of the hull are displayed at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in Hampshire, England.

© Getty Images

James Caird -

The James Caird is the small lifeboat that successfully carried Ernest Shackleton and five companions across treacherous seas to South Georgia after the failed Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. The voyage is regarded as one of the greatest small-boat journeys ever completed. The tiny vessel is on permanent display at Dulwich College in London, England.

© Public Domain

HMS Warrior -

HMS Warrior and her sister ship HMS Black Prince (sold for scrap in 1923) were the first armor-plated, iron-hulled warships in the world. Warrior is permanently moored at Portsmouth, England, as a museum ship.

© Getty Images

Khufu ship -

One of the most important marine relics ever unearthed, the Khufu ship is an intact full-size vessel from Ancient Egypt that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2500 BCE. It was almost certainly built for Khufu, the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, and is one of the oldest, largest, and best-preserved vessels from antiquity. The ship is housed in The Khufu Boat Museum, a small modern facility resting alongside the Great Pyramid outside of Cairo.

© Shutterstock 

HMS Victory -

Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, HMS Victory lies in dry dock at Portsmouth, England, as a museum ship. A plaque attached to the upper deck marks the spot where Nelson fell, fatally shot by a marksman.

© Getty Images

M/V Arthur Foss -

Built in 1889 in Portland, Oregon, and originally named Wallowa, M/V Arthur Foss is believed to be the oldest wooden tugboat afloat in the world. Northwest Seaport now preserves the handsome vessel as a museum ship in Seattle, Washington.

© Shutterstock

Vasa -

Vasa is an early 17th-century Swedish warship that foundered and sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628. The ship was salvaged with a largely intact hull in 1961, and is on permanent display at the Vasa Museum in the Royal National City Park in Stockholm.

© Shutterstock 

Mikasa -

Named after Mount Mikasa in Nara, the battleship Mikasa was built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1890s. Decommissioned in 1923, Mikasa is the last remaining example of a pre-dreadnought battleship anywhere in the world.

© Shutterstock

SS Great Britain -

Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York City, SS Great Britain has a permanent home as a museum ship in Bristol Harbor, England.

© Shutterstock 

USS Constitution -

USS Constitution, launched in 1797, is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat. A wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy, the vessel is usually berthed at Pier 1 of the former Charlestown Navy Yard at one end of Boston's Freedom Trail in Massachusetts.

© Shutterstock 

HMY Britannia -

In service from 1954 until 1997, Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia served as the official royal yacht for Queen Elizabeth II. The vessel is now permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal in Leith near Edinburgh, Scotland, and is a popular visitor attraction.

© Shutterstock 

HMS Gannet -

Commissioned in 1879, HMS Gannet's primary role was to maintain British naval dominance through trade protection, anti-slavery, and long term surveying. The vessel is now on display as a museum ship at the Chatham Historic Dockyard in England.

© Shutterstock

USS Arizona -

The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii serves as a poignant reminder of the tragic events of December 7, 1941. The battleship's sunken remains are visited by more than two million people annually.

© Public Domain 

USS Wisconsin -

Launched on December 7, 1943 (the second anniversary of the Pearl Harbor raid), USS Wisconsin participated in Operation Desert Storm in January and February 1991. She currently functions as a museum ship at The National Maritime Center in Norfolk, Virginia.

© Getty Images

RSS Discovery -

The last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in the United Kingdom, RSS Discovery carried Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, and highly successful, journey to the Antarctic, known as the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904. Discovery is now the centerpiece of Dundee, Scotland's visitor attraction Discovery Point.

© Shutterstock

USS Midway -

One of San Diego's most impressive visitor attractions, the USS Midway Museum, located at the Californian city's Navy Pier, features the giant aircraft carrier in all its preserved glory. The vessel was the United States' longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century, from 1945 to 1992.

© Shutterstock 

Oseberg Ship -

Built almost entirely of oak in 820 CE, this vessel, which is widely celebrated as one of the finest artifacts to have survived from the Viking Era, can be admired in its remarkable entirety at the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy on the western side of Oslo, Norway.

© Shutterstock 

RMS Queen Mary -

In its heyday, the British ocean liner RMS Queen Mary held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, from 1938 to 1952. Retired from service in 1967, the liner is now permanently moored at Long Beach in California, and serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum, and a hotel. 

© Shutterstock

Cutty Sark -

Launched in 1869, Cutty Sark is one of the last tea clippers to be built, and one of the fastest. The ship is in permanent dry dock at Greenwich, London for public display.

© Shutterstock 

TSS Earnslaw -

Plying the crystalline waters of Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand is TSS Earnslaw, the only remaining commercial passenger-carrying coal-fired steamship in the southern hemisphere.

© Shutterstock 

RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 -

Better known as the QE2, this sleek ocean liner cruised the globe before being decommissioned in 2008. Since 2018, she has been operating as a floating hotel in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

© Shutterstock 

Sigyn -

Built in Gothenberg in 1887, Sigyn is the last remaining example of a wooden barque used for trade across the oceans. Retired from service in 1938, Sigyn is now a museum ship and is moored at Turku in Finland.

© Shutterstock

Dom Fernando II e Glória -

Launched in 1843, Dom Fernando II e Glória is a wooden-hulled, 50-gun frigate of the Portuguese Navy. Restored in time for Lisbon's World Exposition of 1998, the frigate eventually found a permanent home on the south bank of the Tagus River, at Cacilhas, a short ferry ride from the Portuguese capital.

© Getty Images 

Aurora -

The Aurora is a Russian-built cruiser launched in 1900 at Saint Petersburg. Its place in history was sealed when it reportedly fired the opening salvo during the October Revolution, thus signaling the beginning of the attack on the Winter Palace. It's currently preserved as a museum ship, moored within sight of the landmark palace.

© Shutterstock 

HMCS Bras d'Or -

During sea trials in 1969, HMCS Bras d'Or—a hydrofoil that served in the Canadian Forces—exceeded 63 knots (117 km/h; 72 mph), making her the fastest unarmed warship in the world at the time. These days the vessel is a key exhibit at the Musée Maritime du Québec in L'Islet.

© Shutterstock

USS Constellation -

A mid-19th-century sloop-of-war, USS Constellation is the last sail-only warship designed and built by the United States Navy. She remains open to the public as part of the Historic Ships in Baltimore exhibit in the city's Inner Harbor.

© Shutterstock 

Duchesse Anne -

Built in Bremerhaven, Germany in 1901 and originally called Großherzogin Elisabeth, this majestic steel-hulled vessel was handed over to France as a war reparation in 1946 and renamed Duchesse Anne. She is the last remaining full-rigged ship under a French flag, and is permanently moored at Dunkirk.

© Shutterstock 

Hikawa Maru -

The Japanese ocean liner Hikawa Maru made her maiden voyage from Kobe, Japan to Seattle, USA on May 13, 1930. During the war she served as a hospital ship and survived being damaged by mines on three occasions. Decommissioned in 1960, Hikawa Maru is now a museum ship and permanently berthed at Yamashita Park in Yokohama.

© Getty Images

USS Potomac -

Formerly USCGC Electra, this was Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945. Now preserved in Oakland, California as a National Historic Landmark, and the only presidential yacht open to the public, USS Potomac is open to dockside tours and regular cruises on San Francisco Bay.

See also: Seafurrers: The remarkable history of the ship's cat.

© Shutterstock