Arsenal ship firepower versus battleship utility

Container ships offer an attractive basis for arsenal-ship conversions because of their structure and the way weapon systems could be loaded aboard. Filling them becomes expensive as individual missiles grow costlier. Larger production runs could lower unit prices, though whether they would lower them enough remains uncertain and helps explain the interest in shells and railguns. In this concept, an arsenal ship is a minimally crewed missile truck that fires its load and withdraws to reload. A carrier can instead replenish at sea and keep supplying attacks, although its broader functions make it a different kind of asset. Rocket-equipped landing craft at D-Day illustrate the arsenal ship's wartime usefulness and limited peacetime role. The battleship borrows concentrated firepower while retaining a wider range of naval duties.