List of longest wooden ships
This is a list of the world's longest wooden ships. The vessels are sorted by ship length including bowsprit, if known.
Finding the world's longest wooden ship is not straightforward since there are several contenders, depending on which definitions are used. For example, some of these ships benefited from substantial iron or even steel components since the flexing of wood members can lead to significant leaking as the wood members become longer. Some of these ships were not very seaworthy, and a few sank either immediately after launch or soon thereafter. Some of the more recent large ships were never able or intended to leave their berths, and function as floating museums. Finally, not all of the claims to the title of the world's longest wooden ship are credible or verifiable.
A further problem is that especially wooden ships have more than one "length". The most used measure in length for registering a ship is the "length of the topmost deck" – the "length on deck" – 'measured from leading edge of stem post to trailing edge of stern post on deck level' or the "length between perpendiculars" – 'measured from leading edge of stem post to trailing edge of stern post in the construction waterline '. In this method of measuring bowsprit including jibboom and out-board part of spanker boom if any have both no effect on the ship's length. The longest length for comparing ships, the total "overall" length based on sparred length, should be given if known.
The longest wooden ship ever built, the six-masted New England gaff schooner Wyoming, had a "total length" of to tip of spanker boom and a "length on deck" of. The -difference is due to her extremely long jib boom of her out-board length being.
Longest known wooden ships
Over 100 meters (328 feet)
100-90 meters (328-295 feet)
| Length | Beam | Name | Service | Fate | Comment |
| 6 m |  Belyana type ships | 19th century | disassembled | Belyanas were Russian freshwater ships used for log driving on the Volga and Vetluga rivers. Their bottom was made from fir and sidings from pine and featured a complement of 60 to 80 workers. The largest Belyanas could transport up to of logs all stacked on their deck in the form of an inverted pyramid. | |
| 14.0 m |  | 1899–1918 | sunk | A schooner-barge on the Great Lakes, towed by until 1905 and then the steamer John F. Morrow until 1918. | |
| 15.0 m |  | 1892–1905 | burned, then sunk | A huge four-masted barque with skysails of a total length of and. In 1905 she was under the command of Captain Jabez A. Amesbury when she caught fire while loading at the anchorage of Noumea and burned to the waterline. This ship used iron bolts and steel reinforcements. | |
| 12.8 m | | 1896–1905 | run aground and sunk | A Great Lakes steamship capable of carrying 3,000 tons of bulk cargo. Built with metallic cross bracing, keelson plates, and multiple arches because of her extreme length. Several syphons and steam-driven pumps were required to keep her afloat. Towed the steamer barge Santiago. | |
| unknown | 1871–1905 | decommissioned | A steam-propelled yacht for personal use of the Russian Imperial Family in the Baltic Sea. | ||
| 18.6 m | 1825 | stranded and broken apart | This unseaworthy British ship was a disposable ship. Created to avoid taxes on timber, the components were intended to be sold after the ship's arrival from Quebec to London. The ship stranded on the Goodwin Sands and broke apart while being towed with a pilot aboard. Parts of her timber were found on the French coast. The ship had 5,294 GRT and an overall length of 362 ft / 110 metres. | ||
| 13.0 m | | 1892–1919 | burned | A steam screw operating on the Great Lakes, it required an innovative iron and steel-reinforced hull to be a viable vessel. | |
| 15.0 m |  Shenandoah | 1890–1915 | accidentally rammed and sunk | Another huge four-masted barque of the fleet of Arthur Sewell & Co. of Bath, Maine, with double top-sails, single topgallant sails, royal and sky sails of a total length of and 3,406.78 GRT. It was rammed by the steamer Powhattan near Fire Island, Long Island, New York in 1915. | |
| 23.7 m |  | 1890–1957 | museum ship | A steamboat with twin, 27-foot paddlewheels that carried railcars, cars and passengers across San Francisco Bay. Currently a National Historic Landmark at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, and the longest wooden ship that is still afloat. | |
| 12 m | | 1891–1905 | sunk | A lake freighter that sank on September 2, 1905, on Lake Superior with the loss of all hands. | |
| 12 m | | 1893–1898 | wrecked | A lake freighter that sank on Lake Michigan with the loss of all hands. Her wreck was located in 2010. | |
| 17.1 m | 1865–1923 | sold for scrap | A Royal Navy central battery ironclad. It served in the Channel Fleet and North America. | ||
| 13 m |  Haian Yuyuen | 1872–? 1873–1885 | hulked and scrapped sunk | Twin steam-powered frigates of the Imperial Chinese Navy, and the largest vessels built in China until the 1930s. Yuyuen was sunk in action during the Sino-French War; Haian survived, but was hulked after being used as a blockship in the same war, and was scrapped years later. |
89-80 meters (291-262 feet)
| Length | Beam | Name | Service | Fate | Comment |
| 17.3 m |  Sagunto | 1869-1896 | hulked and broken up | Designed as a 100-gun screw-propelled frigate but turned into an armored frigate during construction. The hull was wooden but fully covered by iron plates. Turned into a hulk in 1887. | |
| 87 m | 13 m |  | 1845–1940 | museum ship | A 50-gun frigate of the Portuguese Navy. It became a training ship in 1865 and was permanently moored at Lisbon after 1878. Despite this, it was named the flagship of Portugal's European squadron in 1938. Two years later it became a naval school and museum ship. It is currently displayed in Almada. |
| 12 m |  | 1884–1896 | burned | A steamship that burned down on Lake Michigan. | |
| 15.0 m |  Rappahannock | 1889–1891 | burned | A three-masted wooden full-rigged ship of 3,054 GRT, built and owned by Arthur Sewall & Co., with double top-sails and topgallant sails, royal and sky sails of a total length of. The ship burned down near Juan Fernández while transporting soft charcoal from Liverpool to San Francisco, but everyone aboard reached Robinson Crusoe island, where they were rescued. | |
| 16.6 m | Zaragoza | 1867–1899 | scuttled | A Spanish armored frigate built in Cartagena with a wooden hull covered by iron plates. Became a torpedo training ship in 1892. | |
| 10.97 m | 1869–1954 | museum ship | Built as one of the last and fastest clippers for the tea trade with China, it switched to transporting wool from Australia after the Suez Canal was built. It was sold to a Portuguese company and used as a cargo ship between 1895 and 1922, when it was reacquired by British citizens and eventually restored for exhibition. | ||
| 18 m | | 1864–1875 1865–1889 | run aground and sold for scrap broken up | Sister ships reputed at once to be the heaviest wooden ships ever built, the fastest steaming wooden ships, and the slowest-sailing ironclads in the Royal Navy. Both served in the Channel Fleet and the Mediterranean Squadron. Lord Clyde was plagued with engineering problems and was sold for scrap after it run aground and its hull was found to be rotten. Lord Warden had a more distinguished career, serving in the Reserve at the Firth of Forth after leaving the Mediterranean. | |
| 15.9 m | Arapiles | 1868–1883 | broken up | A Spanish ironclad with a wooden hull covered entirely by iron plates. It served mostly in the Caribbean. | |
| 15.2 m | 1859–1883 | broken up | A 26-gun sixth-rate screw frigate of the Royal Navy's North America and West Indies Station. | ||
| 17 m | Tetuán | 1863-1874 | burned and sunk | First armored frigate built in Spain, in the Ferrol royal shipyard, with a wooden hull covered by iron plates. She burned as a result of sabotage during the Cantonal Revolution. | |
| 18.5 m |  | 2001– | museum and restaurant | A Kuwaiti non-seagoing model of a dhow, reputed to be the largest ever built. | |
| 13.7 m | Susquehanna | 1891–1905 | sunk | The third hugest four-masted wooden barque of the fleet of Arthur Sewell & Co. with double top-sails, single topgallant sails, royal and sky sails of 2,745 GRT. Lost in a heavy storm three days after leaving Noumea, New Caledonia, for Delaware with a cargo of 3,558 tons of nickel ore. This ship used also iron bolts and steel reinforcements. | |
| 10.9 m | 1873–1878 | run aground and sunk | A steam-propelled yacht for personal use of the Russian Imperial Family in the Black Sea. It sank at night, due to unruly weather, but without loss of life or cargo. | ||
| 18.08 m |  | 1855–1880 | broken up | A 130-gun three-decker ship of the line, built as an improvement over the successful. It was equipped with an 8-boiler steam engine and a propeller that could be retracted to streamline the hull when sailing under sail only. It saw action during the Crimean War, and was used as a school ship after 1866. | |
| 13.4 m |  Morning Light | 1856–1889 | wrecked | Largest vessel in British North America at the time of its construction. Sold to a German company in 1881, and found wrecked and abandoned north of New Jersey, in 1889. |
79-70 meters (259-230 feet)
69-60 meters (226-197 feet)
59-56 meters (193-184 feet)
Longest wooden ships by ensign
| Nationality | Navy | Length | Merchant | Length |
| Australia | City of Adelaide | 74.4 m | ||
| Belgium |  British Queen | 75 m | ||
| Canada | William D. Lawrence | 102 m | ||
| China | Haian Yuyuen | 91 m | 50 m | |
| Denmark | 71 m |  | 47 m | |
| England | 71.5 m | |||
| Egypt | Khufu ship | 43.6 m | ||
| Finland | Sigyn | 57.5 m | ||
| France | | 120 m | Provence | 59.7 m |
| Germany | Walther von Ledebur | 63.16 m |  Jacob Fritz | 80.9 m |
| Greece |  Olympias | 36.9 m | ||
| Hanseatic League | 78.3 m | 51 m | ||
| Hong Kong |  | 42 m | ||
| Italy | Cambria | 67 m | ||
| Ireland |  | 53.7 m | ||
| Japan | Kasuga | 73.6 m | Date Maru | 55.35 m |
| Korea | Turtle ship | 36.6 m | ||
| Kuwait | | 83.7 m | ||
| Malta | San Giovanni | 49.8 m | ||
| Netherlands |  Koninklijke Hollander | 55.2 m |  | 56.6 m |
| New Zealand | Edwin Fox | 48 m | ||
| Norway | Kong Sverre | 64.9 m | Kommandør Svend Foyn | 102 m |
| Portugal | | 87 m | Ferreira | 85.34 m 280 ft |
| Prussia | SMS Barbarossa | 63 m | ||
| Roman Empire |  Nemi Ship II | 73 m | Caligula's Giant Ship | c. 104 m |
| Russia | 94.8 m | Belyana type | 100 m | |
| Scotland |  | 73.2 m 249.8 ft | ||
| Spain | Sagunto | 89.5 m |  El Galeón | 55 m |
| Sweden |  | 69 m | 58.5 m | |
| Ottoman Empire |  | 76.15 m | ||
| United Kingdom | Columbus | 108 m | ||
| United States | 115 m | | 140 m |