User blog comment:Yuy168/Merging some works from MW into here./@comment-3155949-20131229093513/@comment-3155949-20140102073514

The "drastic reduction in scale" will still be needed for this to be successfully implemented in GC (which I am excited about, make no mistake).

Regardless, power generators and weapons equipment so large that it takes up that much space on a ship hundreds of kilometers long would be mind-bendingly powerful. I don't doubt you did the math, but the efficiency of a vessel and its size is far more than a linear function, or an expansion of a fractal pattern.

As for feeding and providing for large crews or embarked armies, a good analogy is to think of a ship like a unicellular organism. Obviously, they can range from very small (sloops or large fighters) to relatively enormous (battleships and fleet transports), but we don't see cells past a certain range of size (snubs to battleships/dreadnoughts/SSD's) because the linear increase in surface area can't keep up with the geometric increase in volume, and as such these ultra-large cells cannot sustain themselves. The situation is similar with very large ships. You can only afford so much extra logistical staff, corridor widening, and extra space until you've become more inefficient than a squadron of ten ships each 10% of the size of the original dreadnought.

You also mention the rest of the unused space being afforded to frigates and landing craft. The first issue is that free space is a luxury aboard naval vessels, especially those in space. Of course, that's a moot point if this space is actually dedicated to containing other vessels (like a carrier). However, multi-role vessels that implement both combat and combat craft sustainment roles tend to grow in cost with size faster than single-role vessels.

My final issue is why you would want to carry frigates aboard your dreadnought. Fighters and bombers (and other such small craft) are understandable; they're platforms whose doctrine demands they be as small and efficient as possible, to the point of shedding larger systems and space that full vessels have. Frigates, however, do not shed these features, and thus do not require a mothership. It would be akin to upsizing a ship like Yorktown to carry eight Gearing-class destroyers. The question then stands, why do the destroyers need to be carried? They could make all the same cruises that the carrier makes with no loss in efficiency.