Warship

United States Navy destroyer "USS Deyo."

A warship is a ship carrying weapons, which is used by the navy. Some warships also carry aircraft.

Types of warships

Warships come in many different sizes. Here is a list of different kinds of warships, from the largest to the smallest of World War II:

Type	Weight	Weapons and notes
Battleship	35,000	12" to 18" guns
Aircraft carrier	27,000	Fully loaded with aircraft, an aircraft carrier weighed over 36,000 ton.
Battlecruiser	25,000	10" to 12" guns
Cruiser	10,000	Heavy cruiser had 8" guns or larger Light cruiser had less than 8" guns.
Destroyer	2,000	4" to 6" guns.
Frigate	1,500	3" to 5" guns
Submarine	1,500	torpedoes

A submarine is a special kind of warship that can go under the sea. An aircraft carrier is like an airport on a ship.

Modern warships

Modern warships come in the same "class" of ship as they did in World War II, but the sizes are different. From largest to smallest:

• Aircraft carriers are often called "floating cities" because they can hold hundreds of planes, and thousands of sailors. US Nimitz class carriers can weigh over 100,000 ton.
• Escort carriers are smaller, sometimes older, aircraft carriers. They have less planes and sailors, but are usually faster. One kind of escort carrier is used by the marines to launch helicopters (LHD).
• Battleships are not often used anymore by most countries. This is because they are expensive to operate and hard to keep safe from enemy attacks. Very few of these exist anymore. Those that do are all in museums. Smaller battleships may be called battlecruisers. Battlecruisers have less armor and guns than a battleship, but are faster.
• Cruisers and Frigates are often now the same size. They are mainly used to launch guided missiles or to shoot down enemy airplanes. Cruisers are usually slower and larger and have longer range than frigates. Most cruisers and frigates are large enough to hold helicopters on the back of the ship. This part is called the fantail. Cruisers can usually hold one or two. Although they are smaller, some frigates are designed to hold two or three.
• Destroyers are smaller and faster than cruisers and frigates. They are usually used to hunt down enemy submarines. Sometimes, they will also attack enemy airplanes. They can also go closer to shore than larger ships. This allows them to attack things on land.

Other uses

Other warships are used to supply ammunition, food, and other supplies to the larger warships. Some warships exists because they have powerful computers that can spy on nearby ships. Usually these kinds of ships are smaller, and do not have many guns or missiles themselves.