• Let’s not forget rail gun technology! I would definately say that BBs would be making a comeback. Maybe the USS Missouri’s guns will once again have their mothballs taken out the great ship will ride out of Pearl Harbor like it did in Desert Storm!


  • YEEAAHH Zeppelins ROCK! I have been following their resurgence closely–they’re hoping to use them to spot mines in formerly war-torn countries: a good use for the former tool of war…

    Have you read Wilbur Cross’ book “Zeppelins of WW1”? The story of the Zeppelin crews should be heard…

    About BBs–I am not trying to dis them, I’m just stating an unfortunate fact. They are an anachronism. Yes they are the proudest and most intimidating ships on the seas. But while surface ships have been making somewhat of a comeback since the 1980s, due largely–as you mentioned–to the power of the missile and of computerized defense systems, the basic purpose of the battleship, that is, to come to grips with and destroy other battleships (and basically anything else that can’t get away) in tremendous line-of-battle engagements cannot happen on the high seas today. The Carrier Task Force has replaced the old Line of Battle. The big, slow Battleship, no matter how intimidating or well-armored, cannot win in a modern naval battle–sad, but true…

    Ozone27


  • yes, there is a german company building two rigid airships larger than the hindenburg for lifting entire construction sites.

    Zeppelin is building airships (semi rigid) already in operation for touring. they plan to make 40 of them, and i heard there are also plans for trans-atlantic airships.

    Cruise-ships made a comeback, because of vacationers, not speed. imagine taking a slow beautiful tour without loud helicopter sounds…the beauty of a rigid airship. damn, i hope they comeback…they just might fifty years from now. just to think that in the 1950s, the world only had two airships all together. that was it.

    I got all of my blimp info from a book i got for ten bucks called “Hindenburg” by Rick Archbold. great book with a lot of rare pictures.


  • For now BB ships have met an unfortunate fate. However as MacAruthur once said, “A good soldier never dies, he just fades away.” I wouldn’t say BB have faded away just yet. They’re roles have changed from ship to ship engagements to anti-aircraft and cruise missile roles. But in the future who knows? Maybe with the invention of long range ballistics you’ll once again ship-to-ship battles hundred of miles away.


  • Oh as for the airship fact, I would love it if they returned en mass. I always wanted to ride an airship after watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. And from what I 've read, the Hindenberg disaster wasn’t actually based on the fact of its hydrogen power.


  • the hindenburg was sabotaged IMO. They say it was blown down by static electricity…i don’t think so. it has been documented that it has been struck by lightning, so isn’t that a bigger zap? lightning didn’t take it down, so i doubt a tiny zap would.

    The fire seems to have started near the back. there was an area where people can access deep inside the airship, and there was a man named Spehl who had access to the axial walkway, and could of placed a bomb there. He had anti-nazi friends, and taking down the hindenburg was like taking down the twin towers. it was symbolic. in fact, the hindenburg was hours late, and the bomb was probably supposed to go off without any real casualties. at least IMO.


  • Regardless of whether it was sabotage or not, hydrogen-filled airships are dangerous to operate and when they crash there are rarely any survivors. The modern Zeps are all filled with Helium with little or no apparent drop in performance…

    Ozone27


  • When they invent a naval gun that can accurately shell targets beyond or even at the range and precision of modern jet fighters and cruise missiles, then yeah, the BB may have a comeback. But until then don’t hold your breath…

    Ozone27


  • Hydrogen lifts better than helium, but modern technology probably lessens the need for as much ballast.


  • Helium power? Isn’t that also flameable or am I thinking of a different element?

    Naval guns are pretty accurate. But they’re more used in mass saturation then precision strikes. Sometimes you don’t have access to the neccessary tacticle information to put out such strikes. Besides, mass saturation is useful just too flatten all of the enemy’s defenses in one stroke. The BB has it’s own cruise missile to do precision bombing.

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