Putting a converted Ise-class ship to sea required nearly 1,500 people. The aviation conversion also increased the ship's weight by about 700 tons despite the removal of two turrets and their ammunition. The resulting construction effort is compared with a destroyer or more, rather than with the net weight increase alone. One proposed alternative is to release the battleship's crew and accelerate merchant-ship conversions already intended to provide aircraft carriers. Machinery constraints remain, but the comparison questions whether the hybrid deserved those resources.
Notable Point · 19:13-20:37
What else could the hybrid conversion resources support?
The hybrids consumed crew and construction resources that could instead have supported merchant-ship conversions into carriers.