There is also something else to consider when bringing mothballed ships back into service. Many of these ships date to WWII/Korea and are very manpower intensive, something that the modern navy has moved away from.
Another factor to consider is the time and cost of refitting these ships. The best example is, of course, the recommissioning of the four Iowa-class Battleships.
The New Jersey (BB62) was commissioned 23 May 1943 and deactivated 30 June 1948. She was reactivated 21 Nov 1950 and deactivated 21 Aug 1957. She was reactivated on 6 April 1968 and deactivated again on 17 Dec 1969. She was reactivated again on 28 Dec 1982. She was refitted for each of her activations, losing her 20mm and most of her 40mm batteries for the Korean War, the remaining 40mm for the Vietnam War and then her final configuration (fitted with Tomahawk/Harpoon/Phalanx) for her "modern" deployment. Her cost for her latest refit was $332.7 million.
The Iowa (BB61) was commissioned 22 Feb 1943 and deactivated 23 Mar 1949. She was reactivated 25 Aug 1951 and deactivated again on 24 Feb 1958. Her final activation took place on 28 April 1984. Her refit cost came to $348.7 million.
The Missouri (BB63) was commissioned 11 June 1944 and she was deactivated on 26 Feb 1955. She was reactivated 10 May 1986. Her cost came to $473.3 million.
The Wisconsin (BB64) was commissioned 16 Apr 1944 and she was deactivated 1 July 1948. She was reactivated again on 3 May 1951 and deactivated 8 Mar 1958. She was reactivated on 1 Aug 1986. Cost for her refit came to $503.1 million.
As you can see, the longer the ship is out of commission, the more expensive her rebuild.
Going with accelerated production with the Sino-Soviet War and tensions with the Soviet Union, I really don't see a lot of the older (WWII/Korea/Vietnam-era) mothballed warships being brought back into service. It really would be a case of not enough return on the investment, not to mention recruiting and training sailors on equipment that really is old enough to draw Social Security.
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The reason that the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis.
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