What is displacement? In order to get an answer to this question, we turn to marine concepts.
Terminology
Displacement is the volume of water displaced by the ship. The weight of this fluid is the weight of the vessel. Therefore, displacement is usually measured in weight units - tons, and not in volume units - liters and gallons. The weight of the ship is a variable value, which varies depending on the fuel consumption and cargo load of the ship. Because the displacement of the vessel is divided into "full load" and launch. Consider each of the options. What is a “full load” displacement? This is the weight of the ship at full load. Launching weight means the weight of the vessel during launching, i.e. without equipment. If they ask what displacement is, then, in simple words, this is the weight of the vessel.
Displacement Measurement
Displacement of ships is measured at the design stage according to the theoretical drawing. How does this happen? Along the entire drawing length of the vessel, lines are drawn that divide the hull into 20 equal parts. Then, cross-sectional lines and waterline lines are drawn. Then they resort to the Simpson method in the same way as when calculating the capacity, converting the result from cubic feet to tons by dividing by 35 if the vessel is intended for navigation in salt water, or by 36 for fresh water.
The largest ships in the world
Having figured out what displacement is, let's look at the largest ships in the world. There are many of them.
The largest oil tanker in the world is Knock Nevis flying the Norwegian flag. With a length of 460 meters, the ship has an amazing displacement of 657 thousand tons. Launched in 1979 at the request of the Greek shipowner, the gigantic ship had a very sad fate. In 1986, at the very beginning of the Iran-Iraq war, Knock Nevis was attacked in the Persian Gulf by a group of Iraqi fighters. In 1988, after the end of the war, the ship was raised and repaired, continuing its service until 2010. After that, the obsolete supertanker was sent for disposal.
The largest warship is now considered to have entered service on May 31, 2017, the US Navy aircraft carrier Gerald Ford. The length of the vessel is 337 meters. Displacement - 99 thousand tons. It is planned to place 90 fighters, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles on the new aircraft carrier. "Gerald Ford" is the lead ship of a series of three aircraft carriers.
And the largest nuclear-powered icebreaker in the world was launched on June 16, 2016, the Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika. The length of the ship is 159 m. The displacement of the nuclear icebreaker "Arctic" is 34 thousand tons.