Navies already recognised the promise of aircraft carriers, but an expected future advantage did not remove their immediate need for battleships. Abandoning new battleships while waiting five, ten, or fifteen years for aviation to mature would expose national security to an unacceptable risk in this projection. Battleship designs would continue to gain better air defence as aircraft became part of the expected operating environment. Fast battleships would remain in production, with 28 knots rapidly becoming the minimum speed for a ship to count as competitive.
Chapter · 12:50-14:24
Fast battleships remain central beyond treaty limits
A no-war 1950s still produces faster, better-defended battleships because carriers have promise but have not yet decisively displaced them.