Re: GZG FH: Blue water navy.

You wrote: 

>anyway; i'm not sure that ocean-going ships will wane in
> importance - global trade depends utterly on ships to
> move billions of tonnes of freight each year. i don't
> see many technologies on the horizon which seriously
> threaten this. thus, ocean communications are still
> vital. however, i do not think that wet navies will
> have much use; by then, shore-based aircraft and recon
> satellites will control the seas.

On Earth, where you have an incredibly vast concentration of wealth 
generated by trade among two major land masses and a whole host of 
minor ones, where dinky little islands are host to superpowers, and so 
forth, yes ships will be important economic assets.  BUT, only on 
Earth.	And on Earth we no longer have real conflicts--all the action 
is out there, among the stars.	There is no real need for projecting 
force across the oceans, and there is therefor no need to escort it 
with ships, which means you don't have the escalation of providing 
bigger and better wet navy ships ad nauseum.  Submarines I can see.  
Patrol craft which can dual-hat for brown and blue water, I can see.  
But not the USS Enterprise.  

John