[ealgeone]

Somehow 12 ships and armada just don't go together when one thinks about TF 38 of the 3rd Fleet in WWII which consisted of 8 Fleet Carriers, 8 light carriers, 6 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 9 light cruisers, 58 destroyers.

I do realize the difference in firepower and capability though. Just focusing on the numbers.

[ClearCase_guy]

I’ll supplement your observation about modern task force size with a comment about “steaming” as an anachronistic way to describe Naval propulsion in the 21st century.

[Simon Green]

Somehow 12 ships and armada just don't go together when one thinks about TF 38 of the 3rd Fleet in WWII which consisted of 8 Fleet Carriers, 8 light carriers, 6 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 9 light cruisers, 58 destroyers.

I do realize the difference in firepower and capability though. Just focusing on the numbers

Bear in mind, in 1945 we spent 42% of GDP on defense. In 2016 it was 3%.

Also, a Fletcher-class destroyer cost $6 million in WW2 (in 1945 dollars, of course). An Arleigh Burke-class destroyer costs $1.8 billion. Even taking inflation into account, that's 21 times more expensive!

[CodeToad]

They gravity bombed using eyesight. We can precision bomb today where 1 bomb take the place of over 1,000 bombs.