The battle line Lee could realistically assemble

Washington and Alabama were with Lee, while Massachusetts and South Dakota could plausibly join from Task Group 38.3 because they belonged to his battle-line organization. New Orleans and Wichita supplied heavy-cruiser support, and nearby Bagley-class destroyers carried unusually heavy sixteen-torpedo batteries. Their original anti-aircraft weakness had been corrected by 1943, making them useful escorts as well as unusually dangerous torpedo platforms. Four Fletchers might also come with the 38.3 detachment, but the resulting screen would still be too small for the proposed battle line. Borrowing additional Fletchers from Kinkaid could raise the screen to roughly sixteen destroyers and turn a powerful gun line into a balanced fighting force. Assembling the capital ships solved only part of the force-generation problem. The counterfactual succeeds or fails on the screen needed to protect and employ them.