Navies like their ships to be as similar as possible – for good reason.
It’s easier to train sailors on similar ships and systems, it’s cheaper to build many ships of the same design in bulk and they’re cheaper to operate and maintain.
Late last year, when the U.S. Navy decided to base its next generation amphibious warship design, the LX(R), on an existing hull it cited cost savings in design, maintenance and manpower as justification.
But occasionally, the mission demands something special, something unique.
Throughout its history, while it developed classes of similar hulls for the bulk of its work, the Navy created several specialized platforms to test experimental capabilities or built one-offs for a unique requirement.
The following list features singular ships of the service: a ship that could silently lob dynamite with pressurized air, a test bed to bring aircraft stealth to the waves and a barge with the single mission of supplying World War II sailors with thousands of gallons of ice cream.
