Why no single ship owns the Second World War damage record

Which ship took the most damage during the Second World War and survived?

There is no uncontested answer; destroyers, carriers, battleships, and cruisers survived radically different forms of catastrophic damage.

No single Second World War survivor can claim the damage record because different forms of damage are hard to compare. HMS Eskimo repeatedly lost bow sections, HMS Nubian lost her stern, and some American carriers survived devastating internal fires before returning to service. Battleships and cruisers offer additional cases, including HMS Belfast's mine damage and broken back. Survivability can mean preserving buoyancy, propulsion, structure, or repairability under very different kinds of attack.