Japanese cruisers sank both freighters and at least one liner during the raid. A liner differed from ordinary cargo shipping because it carried troops at useful speed and scale. Every such loss reduced Britain's ability to shift military formations between distant theatres. In a global conflict, passenger shipping therefore formed part of strategic lift rather than a readily replaceable pool of commercial tonnage.
Notable Point · 52:51-53:21
Why losing a liner damaged global strategic lift
A fast passenger liner provided strategic lift on a different scale from an ordinary merchant hull, so its loss reduced the capacity to move large forces around a global war.