Japanese officers understood many of their strategic problems, but faced hard limits in yards, resources, and the ability to replace losses. Germany likewise lacked enough large-ship building capacity, whereas the United States and Canada could expand fleets across many yards. Italy possessed a comparatively broad naval infrastructure but lacked the resources to exploit it fully. Japan's useful conversion ideas remained too few and too late because its industrial system could not deliver enough ships, rather than because every idea was unsound.
Chapter · 29:50-32:36
Industrial depth set the limits of Japanese carrier plans
A comparison of Japanese, German, Italian, British, American, and Canadian capacity explains why good designs could not erase disparities in yards and production depth.