Lee refuses to gamble on night battle

Willis Lee's seven battleships had numerical and radar advantages over the Japanese battle line, including Yamato and Musashi. In this assessment, Lee could have used several ships against the two largest Japanese battleships or contained them while defeating the rest. Lee nevertheless regarded night fighting as a practiced art rather than a technological shortcut. Even with more radar-directed ships and a seven-to-five advantage, he would not commit crews he considered insufficiently trained for the complexity of a fleet action in darkness. The decision shows an experienced commander refusing to let favorable equipment figures substitute for collective readiness.