Special Report
These Are the NATO Countries with the Most Military Ships and Submarines
Published:
Sweden is the newest country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). With this addition, NATO greatly adds to its military might, especially in terms of its navy. While Sweden might not have the biggest or the most advanced military, it has a prominent coastline in Northern Europe that is patrolled by one of the largest navies on the planet.
Although Sweden does not have any aircraft carriers, it has one of the largest fleets of patrol vessels in the world. Also unlike many countries, Sweden owns a handful of submarines and corvette-class warships.
There are a number of formidable navies within NATO, not just Sweden. The United States is by far considered the strongest naval power in the world, boasting 11 aircraft carriers. Italy ranks high as well, with over 300 warships and submarines in its navy, along with two aircraft carriers. (These are all seven world powers with aircraft carriers, ranked.)
To identify the NATO countries with the most military ships and submarines, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2024 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Countries were ranked on the total number of military ships and submarines in their fleet. We included supplemental information regarding submarines, aircraft carriers, destroyers, corvettes, patrol vessels, and frigates, as well as each country’s overall military strength score.
There is one country in NATO that has no military and thus no navy, and that country is Iceland. This frozen nation never established a naval force, despite being a founding member of NATO. Instead, Iceland relies on the collective defense guarantee should any need arise. A few other countries in NATO are completely landlocked and have no need for a navy as well. (These are the NATO countries with the highest military spending.)
Here is a look at the NATO countries with the most military ships and submarines:
32. Iceland
Source: patpongs / iStock via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 0
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 0
- Military strength score: 3.5038 – #136 out of 145
31. North Macedonia
Source: Leonid Andronov / iStock via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 0
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 0
- Military strength score: 2.1717 – #110 out of 145
30. Luxembourg
Source: SvetlanaSF / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 0
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 0
- Military strength score: 2.1458 – #109 out of 145
29. Slovakia
- Total ships and submarines: 0
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 0
- Military strength score: 1.1891 – #69 out of 145
28. Hungary
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total ships and submarines: 0
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 0
- Military strength score: 0.8478 – #54 out of 145
27. Czechia
- Total ships and submarines: 0
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 0
- Military strength score: 0.7706 – #46 out of 145
26. Slovenia
Source: 39955793@N07 / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 2
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 2
- Military strength score: 1.8286 – #91 out of 145
25. Belgium
Source: atoach / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 9
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 2
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 2
- Military strength score: 1.2064 – #70 out of 145
24. Estonia
Source: infomatique / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 10
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 6
- Military strength score: 1.7237 – #87 out of 145
23. Lithuania
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 11
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 4
- Military strength score: 1.7395 – #88 out of 145
22. Montenegro
Source: mgaylard / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 13
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 5
- Military strength score: 2.9109 – #129 out of 145
21. Latvia
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 18
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 11
- Military strength score: 1.9911 – #99 out of 145
20. Albania
Source: defenceimages / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 19
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 19
- Military strength score: 1.8188 – #90 out of 145
19. Romania
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 20
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 7
- Frigates: 3
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 3
- Military strength score: 0.7712 – #47 out of 145
18. Norway
Source: alan_jamieson / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 25
- Total submarines: 6
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 6
- Frigates: 4
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 17
- Military strength score: 0.5664 – #41 out of 145
17. Croatia
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 32
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 10
- Military strength score: 1.1333 – #66 out of 145
16. Bulgaria
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 40
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 3
- Frigates: 4
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 2
- Military strength score: 1.0132 – #62 out of 145
15. Poland
Source: cne-cna-c6f / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 45
- Total submarines: 1
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 2
- Frigates: 2
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 3
- Military strength score: 0.2917 – #21 out of 145
14. Germany
- Total ships and submarines: 64
- Total submarines: 6
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 5
- Frigates: 12
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 0
- Military strength score: 0.2847 – #19 out of 145
13. Canada
Source: CatEyePerspective / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 67
- Total submarines: 4
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 12
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 14
- Military strength score: 0.3813 – #27 out of 145
12. Denmark
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 91
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 9
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 45
- Military strength score: 0.7743 – #48 out of 145
11. Netherlands
Source: cityswift / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 112
- Total submarines: 3
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 6
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 4
- Military strength score: 0.5644 – #40 out of 145
10. Portugal
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 113
- Total submarines: 2
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 2
- Frigates: 5
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 20
- Military strength score: 0.5609 – #38 out of 145
9. United Kingdom
Source: Sitikka / iStock via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 117
- Total submarines: 10
- Aircraft carriers: 2
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 11
- Destroyers: 6
- Patrol vessels:: 26
- Military strength score: 0.1443 – #6 out of 145
8. France
Source: vale_t / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 128
- Total submarines: 9
- Aircraft carriers: 1
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 11
- Destroyers: 10
- Patrol vessels:: 15
- Military strength score: 0.1878 – #11 out of 145
7. Spain
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total ships and submarines: 168
- Total submarines: 3
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 11
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 23
- Military strength score: 0.2882 – #20 out of 145
6. Turkey
Source: CatEyePerspective / iStock via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 186
- Total submarines: 12
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 9
- Frigates: 16
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 34
- Military strength score: 0.1697 – #8 out of 145
5. Greece
Source: mscsealift / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 187
- Total submarines: 11
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 13
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 35
- Military strength score: 0.4349 – #32 out of 145
4. Finland
Source: dohne / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 246
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 8
- Military strength score: 0.7967 – #50 out of 145
3. Italy
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 309
- Total submarines: 8
- Aircraft carriers: 2
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 13
- Destroyers: 4
- Patrol vessels:: 18
- Military strength score: 0.1863 – #10 out of 145
2. Sweden
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 353
- Total submarines: 5
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 7
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 298
- Military strength score: 0.4009 – #29 out of 145
1. United States
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 472
- Total submarines: 64
- Aircraft carriers: 11
- Corvettes: 23
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 75
- Patrol vessels:: 5
- Military strength score: 0.0699 – #1 out of 145
ALERT: Take This Retirement Quiz Now (Sponsored)
Take the quiz below to get matched with a financial advisor today.
Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests.
Here’s how it works:
1. Answer SmartAsset advisor match quiz
2. Review your pre-screened matches at your leisure. Check out the advisors’ profiles.
3. Speak with advisors at no cost to you. Have an introductory call on the phone or introduction in person and choose whom to work with in the future
Take the retirement quiz right here.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.