B-64 as a carrier escort and cruiser killer

The nine 12.2-inch guns make sense in a cruiser role: the ship could overmatch anticipated heavy cruisers even without numerical equality. Japanese planners expected Britain might field cruisers with 9.2-inch guns, so greater individual firepower offered one answer to Japan's numerical constraints. B-64 resembles the Alaska concept, a cruiser grown to battlecruiser scale so it could destroy enemy cruisers and protect carriers. Its tactical purpose centred on carrier screening and cruiser combat instead of service in a conventional battle line. B-64 therefore shows why a design's intended job can matter more than its label.