Battleship World

Bearcat

Banned
USS Alaska (BB-92)

Displacement, 80,000 Tons full load

8-16' guns in 2 quadruple turrets forward (I love quads, plus this reduces belt) and belt/deck/turret faces armored to withstand 18' fire and aerial bombs/missiles.

10 silo-launched anti-ship cruise missles aft.
mixed secondary battery of automated rapid fire 5-inch, missles, and 20mm close in defense
designed for crew survivability in nuke contaminated environment.

Built-in ASW capability consisting of helicopters and anti-submarine missles
or
Built in littorial warfare capability with marines, landing craft, and helos

nuclear power

Such ships would be at the core of task forces and, yes, "Wog Bashing" would be a major role.

Seems a little undergunned for such a large ship. I'd expect 18" guns. For a world where you're the only BBs, you don't need a lot of guns. If you have peer opponents, that's different. So either triples or quads, depending.

And more than 10 Tomahawk-class ASMs. Maybe 20 or 30, along with a like number of long range land attack missiles, a few vertical launch ASROCs and up to 100 or more SAMs. Everything in VLS to avoid the overpressure from the main battery, of course.

A sonar for detection of subs makes sense, either a bow unit or better yet a passive tail like TACTAS. Helos though, take up lots of space and burn prettily. I'd rather have a few smaller UAV types for spotting and recon. The escorting DDs can carry the helos and the ASW warfare centers.

Modern electronics, probably AEGIS. Nuclear power, use the CVN plants or something similar.

The combo of BB and amphibious transport is intriguing, but probably should be another smaller design. An amphibious monitor, dock (LMD) perhaps? A big twin turret or two forward for gunfire support, and a well deck aft for landing troops, tanks, whatever.
 
If the British carrier stikes on the zeppelin sheds in WWI failed (a possibility for all sorts of meterological and military reasons) the potential of carrier aviation might have been not appreciated.

The POD would not have worked since the British were still working up towards a carrier strike against Wilhelmshaven. There is mention in Massie's Steel Castles that the very first offensive, tho unsuccessful, the British took against the High Seas Fleet was a seaplane attack in the opening weeks of the Great War.

The great threat to the battleship is the torpedo and both the submarine and the aircraft will evolve into the best delivery systems.
 

Markus

Banned
If you want to keep BB around you need a world without any kind of aviation, missiles included because once the airplane is invented it will sooner or later be armed and again sooner or later operate from ships.
 
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