Is Trump’s Call For Putting Battleships Back In The Navy’s Fleet Even Feasible?

[BobfromWB]

And every frigate should look like The USS Constitution to satisfy your ridgid mindset.

And\nHere I thought I was the one who was autistic.
 

Nope, you are in good company ...

 

[DefiantMassRINO]

Battleships are a floating Maginot Line.  Great for show.  No-so-great for war.

[BobfromWB]

It’s not my mindset that’s rigid.  A “battleship” is a very specific type of ship - look it up (for once) - akin to the way that “tractor-trailer” is a very specific type of commercial vehicle. 


Battleships, eo nomine, are no longer substantial warfare assets, any more than horse-drawn wagons are.

Wait! We don't use horse-drawn wagons anymore? Time to bring back a modern version

 

[MeganC]

It’s not my mindset that’s rigid.  A “battleship” is a very specific type of ship - look it up (for once) - akin to the way that “tractor-trailer” is a very specific type of commercial vehicle. 

And do we still make tractor-trailers the way we made them in the nineteen forties? No, we do not. Modern tractor trailers that can carry container cargo are vastly different from the tractor trailers of eighty years ago that carried crated goods.

That you cannot conceive of a modern class of capital ship being called a battleship and a ship of the line is due to your limited imagination and nothing else.

[Smokin Joe]

That was MacArthur. Truman fired him - and it was not nuking, but laying a miles wide belt of Cobalt 60 the entire length of the border.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/how-korean-war-almost-went-nuclear-180955324/

Actually, it was more complex than that.

President Truman raised the ante. At a November press conference, he told reporters he would take whatever steps were necessary to win in Korea, including the use of nuclear weapons. Those weapons, he added, would be controlled by military commanders in the field.

In April of the next year, Truman put the finishing touches on Korea’s nuclear war. He allowed nine nuclear bombs with fissile cores to be transferred into Air Force custody and transported to Okinawa. Truman also authorized another deployment of atomic-capable B-29s to Okinawa. Strategic Air Command set up a command-and-control team in Tokyo.
This spate of atomic diplomacy coincided with the end of the role played by Douglas MacArthur. After MacArthur had publicly and repeatedly differed with the president over military strategy in Korea, Truman replaced him with General Matthew Ridgway, who was given “qualified authority” to use the bombs if he felt he had to.

[MeganC]

The USS Constitution is a frigate.

Right. So too will be the USS Constellation (FFG) when it launches in 2029. The new frigate will not have sails. It will not have cannons. It will not be built out of wood.

But it will still be a frigate.

[Kamaji]

And do we still make tractor-trailers the way we made them in the nineteen forties? No, we do not. Modern tractor trailers that can carry container cargo are vastly different from the tractor trailers of eighty years ago that carried crated goods.

That you cannot conceive of a modern class of capital ship being called a battleship and a ship of the line is due to your limited imagination and nothing else.

No, the rigidity is in your lack of imagination.  You want something called a “battleship”, but you don’t particularly care what it actually is, just so long as it carries the label battleship.

What pointless drivel.  A battleship, as such, whether built using 1940s technology or 2020s technology, is a white elephant; a pointless waste of precious resources for the sake of giving the enemy additional target practice. 

[MeganC]

No, the rigidity is in your lack of imagination.  You want something called a “battleship”, but you don’t particularly care what it actually is, just so long as it carries the label battleship.

What pointless drivel.  A battleship, as such, whether built using 1940s technology or 2020s technology, is a white elephant; a pointless waste of precious resources for the sake of giving the enemy additional target practice.

I guess you're opposed to the idea of a navy in general.

[Kamaji]

I guess you're opposed to the idea of a navy in general.

Wow.  Just wow.  You suppose wrong, but then, you must be quite used to be flagrantly wrong by now.

[MeganC]

Wow.  Just wow.  You suppose wrong, but then, you must be quite used to be flagrantly wrong by now.

I'm yet to be accustomed to dullards.

[Smokin Joe]

Wow.  Just wow.  You suppose wrong, but then, you must be quite used to be flagrantly wrong by now.

In the interest of discourse, how do you envision the navy of the future?
Keep in mind that there is a trade off between Littoral environment capability, maneuverability, speed, blue water (foul weather event) and combat survivability, and the ability to deliver ordnance to the enemy and Marines to the objective, not to mention logistical (fleet supply) capability.
With the inevitable presence of anti-ship drone swarms, both UAV and USV, and possibly UUV, smart mines, loitering torpedoes and the like, how do you envision the Navy of the future and its ability to project power while protecting itself?

[BobfromWB]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/how-korean-war-almost-went-nuclear-180955324/

Actually, it was more complex than that.

Regardless of some magazine [ one which has repeatedly made up, distorted, & flat out lied about many subjects it has printed ], my step-dad was involved in the operation and that's what he told me. There were no bombs involved, just a dusting of Cobalt-60 along the Korean-Chinese Yalu border to keep the Chinese at bay.

[AL]

Being a US Navy Vet I'll wait for the conceptual designs.  Battle Ship in reference to the old WW2 ships doesn't apply just as the sailing ships of the past.  I'm anxious to see what todays designers can come up with. 

[Smokin Joe]

Being a US Navy Vet I'll wait for the conceptual designs.  Battle Ship in reference to the old WW2 ships doesn't apply just as the sailing ships of the past.  I'm anxious to see what todays designers can come up with. 

Me, too. It is an ecological niche, not a specific species, and the question is whether that is a niche that is still relevant. I doubt the battleship of today would greatly resemble those of 70 years ago.

[MeganC]

Me, too. It is an ecological niche, not a specific species, and the question is whether that is a niche that is still relevant. I doubt the battleship of today would greatly resemble those of 70 years ago.

Perfectly stated. Thank you. 

[Smokin Joe]

Perfectly stated. Thank you. 

You're welcome m'am!