Crew resilience on a modern battleship

Does a resilient 21st-century battleship need a larger crew, perhaps around 700 sailors?

No; automated redundancy limits staffing needs, while excessive crew numbers increase support demands and put more people at risk.

Redundant systems in this proposed battleship would operate automatically, so duplicating machinery would not require a second crew beside every component. Extra personnel increase support needs and expose more people to danger. Carrier complements are a poor comparison because their catering, medical and other hotel services also sustain air wings and embarked forces. Clarke's estimate for his heavily automated design is roughly 300 to 350 sailors, enough for about three fully staffed watches on a scaled-up Type 45 or Type 26 model. Operators would switch to a healthy system when a fault occurred, then assess whether a repair was possible at sea and whether several watches needed to combine their efforts. Four gas turbines and four diesel generators would provide additional power and resilience without proportionately increasing the people monitoring them. Personnel would concentrate in control spaces rather than remain dispersed in compartments that might be isolated during damage control.