Missile-only ships and short-endurance forces made sense inside a forecast of a brief conventional phase followed by nuclear war. Calling an aircraft carrier a through-deck cruiser to avoid Treasury resistance shows how budgetary labels also shaped force structure. The Second World War offers a counterexample: Britain and Germany retained large chemical and biological arsenals without using them against each other. Even invasion and national collapse did not overcome fear of retaliation. The analogy carries a caveat because a war of aggression may begin irrationally. Yet using strategic weapons removes both sides' control, so fear of retaliation may still restrain escalation and leave conventional naval endurance relevant.
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The short nuclear war assumption reshapes Cold War ships
Designers omit guns and endurance when they expect any major war to escalate quickly, despite historical evidence that strategic retaliation can restrain escalation.