Japan might abandon its usual offensive logic and keep the fleet protected at Kure or Hashirajima, adopting a fleet-in-being strategy. The likely Royal Navy response is a Taranto-style night strike against a harbor defended by searchlights and guns. Swordfish are slow but stable, easy to maintain, and suited to night attack. A tension-wire arrangement helps their torpedoes enter shallow water without diving into the bottom. The attack could cripple ships or provoke the survivors to sortie, creating the fleet action that blockade alone cannot deliver. Its strategic effect would depend on how many ships were disabled and whether the survivors chose to fight.
Chapter · 1:40:03-1:46:19
A fleet in being at Kure invites a Taranto-style strike
If Japan shelters its battle fleet at Kure, Royal Navy night aviation and shallow-water aerial-torpedo methods offer a way to force or disable the fleet in being.