Japanese task forces served an attrition strategy

The Japanese approach was tied to an attrition strategy rather than to the British problem of holding dispersed sea areas. Its purpose was to weaken an approaching American or British force enough for the Combined Fleet to seek a decisive battle and then a negotiated peace. That made independent, lower-level groups useful for offensive raids, night actions, torpedo attacks, and other harassing operations. These tasks placed considerable responsibility on ship commanders even though larger Japanese commands often remained under senior admirals. The doctrine therefore encouraged flexibility for attrition operations but had less reason to imagine the balanced carrier-capital ship-cruiser force associated with Britain.