As a former carrier sailor, I agree with you vis-a-vis carier air poower versus gunfire. However, you have to realize that both ships have different missions.
Sure, we have seen the last of the BB on BB battles, simply because no one is capable of building those kinds of ships anymore, and especially at those prices. However, the BB still has life left in it doing those thngs carriers cannot.
- Carriers cannot defend themselves adequately against surface threats. They require escorts with AAA abilities, and a battleship can hold as much AAA capacity as several DDG-51's.
- Carriers cannot defend themselves adequately against submarines, again requiring escorts. A BB can screen a carrier from modern torpedoes, taking several hits which would severely hamper a carrier's ability to operate (not necessarily sink it -- it's not easy to sink carriers with torpedoes nowadays).
- Carriers can engage in gunfire duels with much better effect than today's escorts armed with 5" or 76mm guns.
- Battleships have almost the same range as a carrier air wing thanks to Tomahawk missiles.
The ships still complement each other rather nicely, I think, although whether the Iowas will ever be reactivated again is an open question.
Excuse me, that was carriers CANNOT engage in gunfire duels...
With it's airwing, a carrier can certainly protect itself better than a battleship depending on nothing more than CIWS. Battleships would require escorts as well.
Carriers cannot defend themselves adequately against submarines, again requiring escorts. A BB can screen a carrier from modern torpedoes, taking several hits which would severely hamper a carrier's ability to operate (not necessarily sink it -- it's not easy to sink carriers with torpedoes nowadays).
And who will screen the battleship, which has no ASW capabilities at all? The same assets that screen the carrier - destroyers with helicopters and our own submarines. In addition, the carrier will carry its own ASW helicopters and support centers to coordinate them. The battleship will not.
Carriers can engage in gunfire duels with much better effect than today's escorts armed with 5" or 76mm guns.
Assuming you meant battleships, the last surface gunfire dual on the high seas predates the last amphibious assault of a defended beach. If anything on the surface comes close enough to a carrier to shoot at it, then something went seriously wrong.
Battleships have almost the same range as a carrier air wing thanks to Tomahawk missiles.
You can say the same about destroyers, frigates, and submarines. All newer platforms, more flexible, and less expensive to run than battleships.
The ships still complement each other rather nicely, I think, although whether the Iowas will ever be reactivated again is an open question.
I'm sorry, but I believe battleships are a relic from several wars ago, and have no place in the modern navy.