Correct, it is very unlikely nukes were used in any great numbers at sea since sea power on all sides had been virtually destroyed by the time they started to see use in China.
How many life boats does a warship carry? How long could the people in a life boat expect to be at sea before they were found and rescued? Not everyone is going to die in the first half hour of a sinking, many, many more may survive, perhaps wounded, and die later before ever seeing land again - it's not like a full scale air/sea search and rescue operation is going to be able to be mounted while the enemy are still a threat.
We also know navies on all sides were decimated and virtually eliminated relatively early in the way - by June 97. Tactical nukes began to see use a month later, strategic nukes a couple of months after that. Why would any navy carry on a wide scale recruiting/recall campaign when they didn't have ships? Wouldn't the army have a greater need for and ability to actually use the manpower?
Those recruits which were called up might well see a large number of desertions the moment word of nukes was heard. Most people wouldn't want to be caught in a military training facility if they thought it was about to be turned to glass! Once the nukes died down and the military began to be perceived as an easy way to a free meal, the ability of any navy of any nationality to put recruits to use was virtually gone.
We also know from the Last Sub trilogy that skilled naval personnel where in extremely short supply - Milgov threw a lot of resources into scouring continental USA for crew and came up very short...
To be blunt, it's just not logical for military leaders to try rebuilding a navy when a) the army needs the manpower more, and b) there's next to no enemy naval forces to worry about. Resources are limited. They must be used to best effect.
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If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives.
Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect"
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