The closing problem concerns the US Navy's movement from destroyers with specialist roles toward ships able to perform several missions. One question is whether the development, form, and operational capabilities of missiles encouraged that convergence. Another is whether specialist classes remained practical only for a fleet large enough to build sufficient numbers. Shrinking fleets are presented as a pressure toward generalists, with the United States identified as the navy large enough to have sustained specialists. These questions are left for viewers to consider, without a concluding answer about whether the change was inevitable.
Notable Point · 1:01:43-1:02:57
Could the US Navy have retained specialist destroyers?
The closing problem asks whether missiles and shrinking fleets made generalist destroyers inevitable, or whether a sufficiently large navy could have retained specialists.