[Right_Wing_Madman]

It seems more and more likely that twenty years from now most war will be fought by robots and surface ships will be obsolete.

Protection for surface ships was a big issue for both the US and Japanese navies in the 1940s. Despite changes in technology, countries will still have a need to project sea power, or else someone else will conquer that sea. See Tunisia's invasion of Italian islands in the Mediterranean Sea as a current example.

[Bookshelf]

Project sea power? Yes. Some geniuses will find a way to create a defensive envelope, but I submit the ships that result will not house humans.