Tone-class scouts in Japan's attrition doctrine

Japanese planning assumed that Britain or the United States could not be defeated in a prolonged industrial war, so the enemy fleet first had to be worn down. The attrition sequence relied on long-range torpedo and gun attacks at night and air strikes by day before the fleet attempted its climactic battle. Cruiser-based scouts supported dispersed attrition groups while keeping reconnaissance flights from leading an opponent back to the main carriers. Smaller groups under vice admirals were meant to keep fighting even if one formation was destroyed, preserving the wider attritional campaign. The Tone class embodied this specialization with six floatplanes and two catapults, though concentrating so heavily on one doctrinal solution distorted the ship's balance.