This chart shows just how massive the US's Navy is

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Kapt Z

Ok, let's see a comparable sheet of the US Navy, Spring '45. Of course that would be a navy on full war footing with a mobilized nation behind it so it wouldn't be fair, but it would be fun to see.

On the other hand, if you compare them on things like armament or even engine power, the sheer destructive capacity on board today's ships is probably several orders of magnitude greater than all the ships the USN had in '45!

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by CCIP

...or even engine power...

I don't know about orders of magnitude, but I agree in general. This is especially true when comparing submarines. On the other hand, did you know that the Nimitz class aircraft carrier's steam turbine engines produce no more horsepower than the Forrestal class of 1955?

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by CCIP

On the other hand, if you compare them on things like armament or even engine power, the sheer destructive capacity on board today's ships is probably several orders of magnitude greater than all the ships the USN had in '45!

Exactly. That was Mitt Romney's error when trying to bust Obama over the number of ships in the Navy--one nuke sub today is more lethal than all of the 1917 navy.

[TorpX]

So is one Russian nuke sub, and one Chinese nuke sub, and maybe soon one Iranian nuke sub ...

[Kapt Z]

Originally Posted by CCIP

On the other hand, if you compare them on things like armament or even engine power, the sheer destructive capacity on board today's ships is probably several orders of magnitude greater than all the ships the USN had in '45!

Oh, I agree. It was only the number of hulls in the water that I was talking about.

As has been said, one Ohio class sub has so much destructive power by itself that it defies imagination.

[CCIP]

And here is a similar chart for the USAF:



https://i.imgur.com/Ao9UdzT.jpg

[Torplexed]

As an interesting addendum to this chart, it now appears that the USS Constitution is now the only remaining commissioned US warship that has sunk a enemy ship in combat. The one other remaining USN warship with that distinction was the recently retired Oliver Perry class frigate Simpson, which sank a Iranian missile patrol boat in 1988. I do suppose there are still some carriers around who's air groups have sunk something, but I don't know if that counts.

http://www.boston.com/news/2015/09/2...bjJ/story.html

So, as ancient as she is, she's the only one left with a kill to her sole credit.