U.S. Navy doctrine bars essential ships from sailing within 100 miles of a hostile shore, writes William Lloyd Stearman, author of “An American Adventure, From Early Aviation Through Three Wars to the White House,” because American ships are vulnerable to anti-ship missiles. However, Stearman says that this prevents the Navy from a visible show of force and from mounting an assault against a well-defended position. But the U.S. needs to show force sometimes in dangerous regions, and other times it needs to provide continuous support. Therefore, Stearman writes in The Wall Street Journal, the Navy should transform a supertanker into a highly armed, virtually unsinkable warship. Naval architect Kenneth S. Brower came up with the concept, which has been supported by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis when he was a Marine general. The ship would be able to survive torpedo hits, high-explosive shaped charges and armor-piercing weapons. The ship would also be highly lethal itself. It would contain highly visible, large-caliber guns. It would be able to accommodate helicopters, jet fighters and a fleet of drones.
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