A 30-knot Japanese capital ship would pressure both Anglo-American navies toward fast battleships, but their infrastructure constraints differ. American dimensions remain tied to the Panama Canal, while Britain must consider dry docks distributed across a global operating system and may have to fund new floating docks. France and Italy would also need answers even though their armament and industrial bases could not simply copy the largest Japanese design. Paper specifications therefore lead directly to the expensive shore infrastructure required to build, repair, and deploy a fleet.
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Fast battleships expose dock and canal constraints
Responding to a fast Japanese capital ship would force the United States, Britain, France, and Italy to reconcile fleet designs with canals, docks, armament capacity, and national industry.