The strongest militaries in the world are largely defined by their naval assets. Among the most valuable of these assets is the aircraft carrier. World War II was won in large part due to these behemoths and the massive territories they can control. However, naval power goes further than just aircraft carriers. Submarines, corvettes and support ships each play an integral role in how any country projects power in the ocean.
The United States is considered the strongest naval power on the planet, although it does not have the largest fleet. The fact that the U.S. Navy is home to 11 aircraft carriers, which are host to hundreds of aircraft, is what makes it one of the strongest in the world. Comparatively, other rival nations have at most two aircraft carriers, but the bulk of any given navy in the top quartile of the world is a mix of many different ships and subs. (These are the U.S. Navy’s newest ships.)
To identify the 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.
Sweden’s recent admission to NATO adds a strong naval component to the overall alliance. With over 350 ships in its fleet, Sweden is capable of keeping a watchful eye on the North Atlantic and practically everything in the Baltic Sea.
It’s worth noting that submarines are a highly valuable asset for any navy and as such they are somewhat hard to come by in terms of production. The United States, Russia and China each have a sizable force of submarines individually but there is a great disparity between these nations and the rest of the world. Most countries with powerful navies, outside of these three, only have a handful of submarines at their disposal but they make up for this disparity with destroyers, corvettes and frigates. (These are the fastest military ships and submarines in the world.)
Here is a look at the countries with the most military ships and submarines:
30. Bangladesh
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 117
- Total submarines: 2
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 6
- Frigates: 7
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 55
- Military strength score: 0.5419 – #37 out of 145
29. 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
28. Morocco
Source: cne-cna-c6f / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 121
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 1
- Frigates: 6
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 22
- Military strength score: 1.0081 – #61 out of 145
27. Kuwait
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total ships and submarines: 123
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 106
- Military strength score: 1.4261 – #77 out of 145
26. Qatar
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 123
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 4
- Frigates: 0
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 20
- Military strength score: 1.0789 – #63 out of 145
25. 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
24. Chile
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 130
- Total submarines: 4
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 8
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 40
- Military strength score: 0.8128 – #52 out of 145
23. Nigeria
Source: infomatique / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 133
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 1
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 109
- Military strength score: 0.5619 – #39 out of 145
22. Brazil
Source: Thinkstock
- Total ships and submarines: 134
- Total submarines: 4
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 2
- Frigates: 6
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 23
- Military strength score: 0.1944 – #12 out of 145
21. Egypt
Source: MC3 Scott Pittman/usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 140
- Total submarines: 8
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 7
- Frigates: 13
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 42
- Military strength score: 0.2283 – #15 out of 145
20. Japan
Source: usnavy / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 155
- Total submarines: 23
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 6
- Frigates: 4
- Destroyers: 36
- Patrol vessels:: 6
- Military strength score: 0.1601 – #7 out of 145
19. Spain
Source: ooocha / Flickr
- 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
18. Turkey
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- 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
17. 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
16. Mexico
Source: navalsurfaceforces / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 194
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 4
- Frigates: 11
- Destroyers: 5
- Patrol vessels:: 150
- Military strength score: 0.4274 – #31 out of 145
15. South Korea
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total ships and submarines: 200
- Total submarines: 22
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 5
- Frigates: 17
- Destroyers: 13
- Patrol vessels:: 35
- Military strength score: 0.1416 – #5 out of 145
14. Algeria
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
- Total ships and submarines: 213
- Total submarines: 6
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 16
- Frigates: 8
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 75
- Military strength score: 0.3589 – #26 out of 145
13. Myanmar
Source: Goldquest / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 227
- Total submarines: 3
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 3
- Frigates: 6
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 124
- Military strength score: 0.5251 – #35 out of 145
12. Colombia
Source: my_public_domain_photos / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 237
- Total submarines: 4
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 2
- Frigates: 9
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 219
- Military strength score: 0.7347 – #44 out of 145
11. 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
10. Sri Lanka
Source: ertyo5 / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 270
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 0
- Frigates: 5
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 59
- Military strength score: 1.3459 – #75 out of 145
9. Thailand
Source: Goldquest / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 293
- Total submarines: 0
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 6
- Frigates: 7
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 49
- Military strength score: 0.3389 – #25 out of 145
8. India
Source: vale_t / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 294
- Total submarines: 18
- Aircraft carriers: 2
- Corvettes: 18
- Frigates: 12
- Destroyers: 12
- Patrol vessels:: 137
- Military strength score: 0.1023 – #4 out of 145
7. 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
6. Indonesia
Source: Reezky Pradata / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- Total ships and submarines: 333
- Total submarines: 4
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 25
- Frigates: 8
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 205
- Military strength score: 0.2251 – #13 out of 145
5. Sweden
- 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
4. 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
3. North Korea
Source: High Contrast / Wikimedia Commons
- Total ships and submarines: 505
- Total submarines: 35
- Aircraft carriers: 0
- Corvettes: 4
- Frigates: 1
- Destroyers: 0
- Patrol vessels:: 169
- Military strength score: 0.5313 – #36 out of 145
2. China
Source: navalsurfaceforces / Flickr
- Total ships and submarines: 730
- Total submarines: 61
- Aircraft carriers: 2
- Corvettes: 72
- Frigates: 42
- Destroyers: 49
- Patrol vessels:: 150
- Military strength score: 0.0706 – #3 out of 145
1. Russia
Source: Philippe Chagniot / Wikimedia Commons
- Total ships and submarines: 781
- Total submarines: 65
- Aircraft carriers: 1
- Corvettes: 83
- Frigates: 12
- Destroyers: 14
- Patrol vessels:: 122
- Military strength score: 0.0702 – #2 out of 145
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