If Japan redirected its main carrier force toward Malaya, Prince of Wales and Repulse could face an entire fleet rather than an isolated attack. The imagined force includes six carriers and four Kongō-class ships, making clear how heavily the two British capital ships could be outnumbered. The discussion questions the deterrent value assigned to Force Z against a fully prepared Japanese fleet. It contrasts that commitment with Britain's larger effort against the Italian Navy. By late 1941, the German threat is characterized here as increasingly concentrated on submarines, though surviving surface ships still required British forces ready to counter a sortie.
Notable Point · 5:13:17-5:15:14
Why two capital ships offered a limited deterrent against Japan
A hypothetical Japanese concentration against Malaya leads into a comparison of the naval forces Britain faced in different theaters.