[stcredzero]

Big warships could accomodate bigger cannons. Bigger cannons could deliver bigger shells further, enabling your warships to hit the enemy while keeping out of their range.

In hindsight, if the ability to deliver more ordinance a longer distance was the thing, the aircraft carrier should have been a shoo-in.

[smallblacksun]

The problem was that until WWII-era bombers, airplanes couldn't deliver ordnance with enough accuracy to actually hit enemy ships reliably.