What if America and Japan had built just battleships?

How would the outcome changed? Do you think they would've built Super Battleships with 18,19? and 20??!?! Inch Guns blast at each other.

 

I'm not sure this is too realistic. Aviation technology was inevitably on it's way, and battleships were on the way out. Even without aircraft carriers, land based aircraft would have had a huge impact on seagoing vessels. The bigger the ship, the bigger (and more expensive) the bullseye.

 

Ah true, but wouldn't there still be Battleship against Battleship moments becuase land based craft can only stretch out so far right?

 

Ship -to-ship engagements among battleships did happen during WWII seldomly but, they were there....

The most notable and actually the last big-gun Ship-to-ship engagement was the "Battle of the Surigao Strait to the South of Leyte on October 24th,1944.

Involved in the engagement were two major task forces Halsey to the North with the 3rd US Fleet and Kinkaid to the South with the 7th U.S. Fleet.

Units and Commanders involved:

U.S.
Admirals: Thomas Kinkaid / Jesse Oldendorf

Ships:
7th U.S. Fleet(Battleships):
U.S.S. California
U.S.S. West Virginia
U.S.S. Tennessee
U.S.S. Maryland
U.S.S. Pennsylvania
U.S.S. Mississippi

7th U.S. Fleet(Crusiers):
H.M.A.S Shropshire
U.S.S. Louisville
U.S.S. Portland
U.S.S. Boise
U.S.S. Phoenix
U.S.S. Columbus
U.S.S. Denver
U.S.S. Minneapolis

7th U.S. Fleet(Destroyers):
U.S.S. Newcomb
U.S.S. Richard P. Leary
U.S.S. Albert W. Grant
U.S.S. Robinson
U.S.S. Halford
U.S.S. Bryant
U.S.S. Heywood L. Edwards
U.S.S. Bennion
U.S.S. Leutze
U.S.S. Claxton
U.S.S. Cony
U.S.S. Thorn
U.S.S. Aulick
U.S.S. Sigourney
U.S.S. Welles
U.S.S. Hutchins
U.S.S. Daly
U.S.S. Bache
H.M.A.S. Arunta
U.S.S. Killen
U.S.S. Beale
U.S.S. Remey
U.S.S. McGowen
U.S.S. Melvin
U.S.S. Mertz
U.S.S. McDermut
U.S.S. Monssen
U.S.S. McNair

Japanese
Admirals: Shoji Nishimura / Kiyohide Shima

Ships:
Force C(Battleships):
Yamashiro
Fuso

Force C(Crusiers):
Mogami
Nachi
Ashigara

Force C(Destroyers):
Michishio
Asagumo
Yamagumo
Shigure
Abukuma
Akebono
Ushio
Kasumi
Shiranuhi
Wakaba
Hatsushimo
Hatsuharu

So as you can see by both number and tactics this particular big-gun batte was lop-sided to begin with, with the U.S. 7th Fleet having a vast advantage. Both time and the tactics Kinkaid and Oldendorf employed more than proved themselves to be sufficient. However, big guns and aircraft were not the fatal factors so much as the experience and tactics of the individual navies.

Regards,
MARNE

 

Ah, well I soppose your right.