> Carriers didn’t make battleships obsolete, missiles did. > Missiles are the only reason big guns aren’t a thing any more. Missiles were the final nail in th

> Carriers didn’t make battleships obsolete, missiles did. > Missiles are the only reason big guns aren’t a thing any more. Missiles were the final nail in the coffin for battleships, sure, but missiles reliable enough to hit another ship or land target from over-the-horizon didn't come about till over a decade after carriers obsoleted battleships. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Dec 1941 took out the entire US surface fleet except its carriers. Then half a year later in June 1942, those 3 carriers destroyed the 4 lead carriers of the Japanese combined task force heading for Midway. The remaining Japanese fleet was faced with a decision to continue the attack on Midway and the US carriers with only battleships/cruisers/frigates/destroyers and no carriers of their own, or to cut their losses and retreat. They retreated, because there was a real risk they could lose all the rest of their fleet even against three weakened US carriers and Midway base's decimated air wing. That was the moment when carriers proved they were just next level compared to other surface combatants, obsoleted battleships forever, and Naval doctrine began re-orienting around battlegroups with a carrier at the center and surrounding ships providing anti-sub and later anti-missile defense.