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Actually, the London Naval treaty forbade guns larger than 16". The Japanese, of course,
ignored the treaty but the USN followed the rules. After the treaty was void, the USN
started work on 18" guns and tested the 18"47 and 18"/48.
Although I can't give you a specific source, I do recall reading several books where there
was discussion about the 18" guns on the unbuilt Montana class. It may be possible that
this was purely speculation, however it doesn't make any sense for the USN to have not
considered it, otherwise, what was the point of making the 18" guns if BB72 Lousiana was
the last BB to be authorized?
There are several other big plans that the USN had that never came to be realized with the
end of the war. Some of my favorites:
-Conversion of the Alaskas to huge guided missile ships. The plan was to drag them out of
mothballs and remove the rear turrets, similar to the DD FRAM I and FRAM II. They would
have been dangerous missle/gun ships and probably would have survived into the 80s.
- A total rebuild of the Bunker Hill and Franklin into ultra-modern CVs. After their
kamakaze damage, they were totally repaired and restored. Unlike the remainder of their
class, they weren't used again as the USN was wanting to turn them into super Essex class
ships. After years of being kept in perfect condition for a restoration that never
happened, the navy gave up and scrapped both.
- The United States class CV was so big that it could launch nuclear bombers. Also it was
designed to have 4 catapults to launch planes from BOTH ends of the flight deck at the
same time. It was to be 83,000 tons and over 1,000 feet long, huge by 40s standards. Its
cancellation 5 days after the keel was laid brought "the revolt of the admirals" and
instant resignation of the secretary of the navy.
- Return of the nuclear fleet from Bikini island. The captains and most of the navy
leadership believed that their ships were going to survive the blast then the crews would
decontaminate the ships and sail them home, proving that atomic weapons were no match for
the might of steel armor. The captain of the New York, in particular, was quite distressed
when after 10 days of decontamination, his ship was still not safe to return home.
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