Ise and Hyuga as compromised battle-carriers

Ise and Hyuga show the attraction and cost of combining battleship firepower with aviation, an idea also seen in the Soviet Kiev class. Their aircraft could launch but not recover aboard, making regular reconnaissance dependent on awkward stops or recovery elsewhere. Aviation fuel and lightly framed structures created a vulnerable stern, while a 25-knot maximum speed limited fleet employment. Because the Imperial Japanese Navy began recruiting for new ships only after they arrived, decommissioning one or both hybrids and reallocating their trained crews might have been more useful than preserving both hulls. A more extensive flight deck was conceivable, but Japan was unwilling to surrender so much heavy-gun firepower for an uncertain aviation result. The hybrids functioned technically while answering the wrong operational question.