Des Moines-class cruisers in the early Pacific war

How much difference would Des Moines-class cruisers in service in 1942 make?

A few would matter little, but a sizeable group positioned with ABDA or the carrier force could materially strengthen night fighting and carrier protection.

One or two extra Des Moines-class cruisers would have limited strategic effect because even a powerful design cannot cover a theatre by itself. Half a dozen concentrated in the western Pacific could give ABDA a formidable surface group, particularly for night actions. The same ships with the main American fleet could provide carriers with heavy anti-surface and screening firepower. A still larger number would begin to change the campaign rather than merely an engagement. The answer therefore makes deployment and concentration central to the counterfactual: capability matters only when enough ships are present where the operational problem occurs.