Aircraft carriers didn’t cost $13 billion dollars either. The light carriers were built on cruiser hulls and the escort carriers were converted merchant ships. The Battle of Leyte Gulf showed that they could still pack a wallop.
At its peak, the U.S. Navy was operating 6,768 ships on V-J Day in August 1945, including 28 aircraft carriers, 23 battleships, 71 escort carriers, 72 cruisers, over 232 submarines, 377 destroyers, and thousands of amphibious, supply and auxiliary ships.