Naval History Forums

With the rise of the Aircraft carrier in WW2 could the Battleship/Battlecruiser concept be modified to Fast Escort/Fire Support of Amphibious operations?

I think that is pretty much what happened, even if there was no "doctrine".

I mean as long range cruise missile and SAM platforms?

Try looking at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Missouri_(BB-63)

You will see that the USN did that with the Iowa class battleships. By the time they were withdrawn from service for the last time they had a large missile battery, and the Tomahawks were used against Iraq.