Quote:
Originally Posted by IDonT
The most probable naval fleet action in the future would probably involved regional powers not the USN. The USN is too strong to fight.
There are many emerging naval powers like South Korea, China, and India. Fleet actions would likely be between them.
At that time, direct energy weapons would mature and air interception would happen at the speed of light. Weapon evolution continues between attacker and defender.
One more thing, I think the Union Navy of 1865 was a lot bigger than the Royal Navy.
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Maybe, but after the Civil War America let its navy rot. No new ships were built for over twenty years. By that time many of the wooden hulled square rigged steamers were outclassed by many European ironclads. That large number during 1865 dropped to just 18 dhips in 1885. The reason why we let our navy rot had to do with the number of ships leftover from the Civil War and that most of the funds went into the army to support the internal policy of Manifest Destiny, an America from sea to shining sea, i.e. opening up the West and forcing the American Indians onto reservations. . It wasn't until after the debacle at Samoa before America seriously started building a Steel Navy that was useful in winning the Spanish-American war ten years later.