The Imperial Japanese Navy based recruitment on ships already in service instead of the fleet expected five years later. Other navies in the comparison estimated future ship totals and recruited against that forecast. Japan waited until the additional ships arrived before beginning the corresponding intake. Its highly selective officer process and demanding sailor recruitment made the resulting delay harder to recover. The mismatch helps explain why trained crews could matter more than preserving marginal hulls such as both Ise-class hybrids.
Notable Point · 12:34-14:06
Japanese recruiting lagged behind new warships
The Imperial Japanese Navy began recruiting for additional crews only after new ships arrived, creating a manpower lag that made its selective intake system harder to scale.