The world's most powerful navies in 2023, ranked

Chinese sailors atop a naval vessel in April 2009. China's navy is one of the world's most powerful.REUTERS/Guang Niu/Pool

• The World Directory of Modern Military Warships ranked the world's navies based on their power.
• It looked at overall strength, modernization, logistical support, attack and defense capabilities.

The World Directory of Modern Military Warships (WDMMW) ranked the strongest navies in the world, covering 36 nations.

The ranking looked at the total number of warships and submarines, alongside factors like the age of a fleet, its logistical support, and attack and defense capabilities.

It also looked at the balance of each force: How many different types of assets they have, and if they are concentrating their assets in one area. It included most ships but left out smaller craft, survey ships, and historical ceremonial vessels.

The ranking distinguished between several classes of combat ship — listing the relatively small corvette and frigate types as well as larger destroyers and cruisers.

Each navy was given a final "True Value Rating" to measure them against one another.

This is how the top 25 countries stack up: