Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:01-4:00

Could the dreadnought revolution have waited until after 1945?

A counterfactual asks what battleships and the naval arms race might have looked like if the all-big-gun ship had emerged only after the Second World War.

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Question

What if the all-big-gun battleship idea had developed only after the Second World War?

Short answer

The scenario requires major changes to fire control, engagement ranges, and air power; otherwise the all-big-gun design emerges much earlier.

Notes

One possible delayed path keeps mixed-battery battleships in service, perhaps pairing 16-inch main guns with 9.2-inch or even 12-inch secondaries. The difficulty is that longer-range fire control favors a uniform heavy battery, while short-range fighting keeps rapid-fire secondary guns useful. Reaching 1945 without an all-big-gun breakthrough would also require air power to develop very differently because aircraft had already displaced the battleship from its former primacy. If the change finally arrived with radar-controlled gunnery, an American-Soviet race might push main batteries to 18 or 20 inches. The counterfactual ties the historical revolution to fire control, engagement range, aviation, and weapons development.