There were possibly some US Navy Auxiliary Support ships sunk by Viet Cong Underwater teams in South Vietnam's main harbors; but NO US Navy Warships were sunk during the Vietnam War. The US Navy Destroyer, USS Higbee was bombed by a North Vietnamese MIG-17 Jet Fighter/Bomber in 1972. The explosion (one 250 pound bomb) destroyed the aft 5" gun mount; there were no casualties, as the turrets gun crew had just vacated the mount prior to the attack. The US Navy's Aircraft Carrier's USS Forestall and USS Oriskany suffered operational bomb, rocket, and fuel explosions on their flight decks in 1967/68. Those explosions and fires killed, together, approximately 200 US Sailors, and destroyed nearly 40 jet aircraft, and came very close to destroying/sinking one or both aircraft carriers. The US Navy's Brown Water Navy (Riverine Forces) lost 10 Swift Boats destroyed (PCF-Patrol Craft Fast), several PBR's (Patrol Boat River), several Alpha Boats (ASPB-Assault Support Patrol Boats), and many damaged Monitors (River Battleships). Most of the Riverine Boats were lost to mines; and the others to firefights in which RPG's (Rocket Propelled Grenades) or small arms fire reached ammunition magazines aboard the vessels, exploding them. Most of the sunk Riverine Boats were salvaged and sent to Japan or the Philippines for re-builds; those that were not salvagable were either dragged into deeper waters as they became "navigational hazards" or were scrounged by the Nationals for their scrap metal value, especially after the war.
The last warship to sink was a ship by the name of Vandenburg, but it was sunk to create an artificial reef. The last one to sink in battle is hard to find, as not many have recently sunk. I would put the time somewhere around World War II. Further research will probably reveal the answer.
There is no ship known, it is not the Lusitania, which was an English ship.
The Curacao was sunk by the QE 2
No US Navy warships were sunk; 1 US Destroyer was bombed by a NVAF MIG-17, but not sunk; 1 US Navy support ship was sunk by a VC sapper (commando) while docked in a harbor. The only US Navy vessels sunk during the war were "Brown Water Navy" (Riverine boats); approximately 10 Swift Boats (PCF-Patrol Craft Fast, all aluminum 50 footers, with 5 crewmen and 1 officer commanding) were destroyed in the war. Many others were sunk in action, but were raised, repaired, and put back into service. Other USN Riverine craft sunk were Alpha Boats (ASPB-Assault Support Patrol Boats, all steel contruction, used for mine sweeping the rivers); Monitors (River Battleships armed with 40mm cannons and/or 105mm howitzers); and PBR's (Patrol Boat River-all fiberglass 32 footers).
The Navy ship was the USS Maine (ACR-1) a US Navy Battleship moored in Havana Harbor. Though to this day controversy still exists as to the initiating cause of the explosion that sank the Maine, the consensus is that the ignition of powder in her forward magazines and resulting explosion are what sunk her. Initiating causes range from a mine to a fire cause by spontaneous coal combustion.
USS Housatonic
9 Jan 1943
the siege
The last Navy ship to be officially recorded as being sunk by enemy action in WW2 was the USS Bullhead (SS-332), on 6 August 1945, the day Hiroshima was attacked. A Balao-class submarine, the Bullhead was sunk by engagement from a Japanese Army aircraft, which dropped depth charges on the Bullhead, claiming 2 direct hits. The geographic area she was in when sunk is believed to have reduced her radar range, and thus prevented her from detecting the plane until it was too late.Though the initial answer to this question mentioned the Indianapolis, that answer is incorrect. The Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine on 29 July 1945, over a week prior to the Bullhead. The last U.S. ship sunk was the submarine USS Bullhead SS 332 sunk by the Japanese aircraft on August 6, 1945 at the west end of Lombok Strait.
There is no ship known, it is not the Lusitania, which was an English ship.
Well over a dozen US Navy riverine boats were sunk in the Vietnam War; Swift Boats (PCF); PBRs (Patrol Boat River), Alpha Boats (ASPB-Assault Support Patrol Boats); unknown number of Monitors sunk, if any. The ex-USN Aircraft Carrier USS Card was sunk by communist sappers in harbor in South Vietnam.
There have been six ships named Achilles, none of which appear to have sunk. The most famous of these six was the HMS Achilles of the Royal Navy. It was built between 1905 and 1907. The ship served during World War 1, and sunk the German ship, Leopard. She was reclassified to a training ship in 1918, and was disassembled (scrapped) in 1921.
It was a brand new ship, it sunk on its first voyage. Now we think of it as an old ship.
Effective date: 10 December 1941, first time airplanes acting alone, sunk a battleship at sea, while underway and shooting back! Battleship HMS Prince of Wales sunk by airpower. On this date the aircraft carrier replaced the battleship as the ship of the line.
Torpedo boats ultimately sank the battleship Prince Suvorov, flag ship of the Russian Navy at Tsushima in 1905.
The US Navy battleship USS Arizona sunk, taking more than 1,000 crewmen with her to the bottom.
Clement
The German warship Bismarck was sunk during World War II after sustaining damage from British warships and aircraft. After being disabled, the crew scuttled the ship to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.