Fragmented operations weakened Japan's usable force

The Midway support force's four heavy cruisers, two destroyers, and oiler could have been combined more closely with the principal carrier formation. That change would have added useful surface and scouting strength while improving the ratio between ships needing protection and ships able to provide it. For a navy facing a materially larger opponent, dispersal creates a recurring dilemma: ships are present in the theatre but unavailable where the decisive risk is being accepted. Britain and the United States could sustain simultaneous global commitments because of their much larger fleets. Japan needed to concentrate overwhelming strength on a chosen objective or avoid committing scarce surface units there. A major operation did not require every ship to sail together, but it did require enough concentrated strength to be viable.