I think that at the moment, in modern warfare, we are at sort of a point where on one really knows what works well, because no where are there two forces with modern weapons fighting each other. We have ways we think things will turn out, but until shots start being fired, no one is really sure. I am reminded of the battle of tsusima, which was the first major engagement between pre-dreadnought warships, and it didn't turn out at all how people expected, and the fallout was major changes in warship design and the eventual rise of the dreadnought.
I think that if the worst should happen, and war should break out between two major powers, then we could see a return of the battleship. That is, if everyone isn't dead from all the nukes, which might be more likely.
All very true. I just don't think we'll see a return to huge massive battleships. The dreadnoughts, and post dreadnought battleships were all built around their main guns. The Yamato was such a huge monster because that's exactly how big it had to be to be able to safely use those massive 18" guns. Same with the Iowa's which didbfire a smaller 16" bullet, but pushed them out with more velocity.
So in order to deal with their size, they also had to have thick armor, lots of AA, secondary, tertiary, and other batteries to try and protect themselves.
However, all that mass and manpower and explosives in one container is a HUGE liability, one that every major navy operated with out of necessity. The battleship had a strategic role that no other vessel of the time could fill: seaborne artillery.
Even before guided missiles were regularly used, battle ships could still be brought down by much smaller destroyers and destroyer escorts (think like a battle frigate, for those who don't know) carrying torpedoes. Ww2 showed how effective airpower actually was at taking them down. Suddenly, the main role of the battle ships went from bombarding coast line targets and other capital ships, to screening friendly carriers against fighters.
A vessels available firepower has grown vastly over the years, but a ships defense against it only marginally by comparison. I feel that any navy that spends the resources to make a battleship again will only lose it, quickly, along with any poor souls who would be its crew.
You just don't need the size to field that type of firepower anymore. The battleships role is filled by cruisers and destroyers now, and they do it while being sleeker, more mobile, with less operating costs.
Of course, I'm sure what you're getting at is a wholly modern design. Smaller than its ww2 predecessors, with the absolute latest in defensive measures and most high tech weapons (railgun from earlier, maybe? Not as effective as a missile, but a fraction of the cost to use). I can't imagine what such a vessel would be like, but if they called it a battleship, I doubt it would bear anything other than the most superficial of resemblances to the old battleships.
Oh god. Text dump. What have I done?
