The reason for limiting the initial Japanese order to 12 remains an open question. France needed destroyers in the Mediterranean and Channel, against submarines and Austro-Hungarian naval forces, for convoys to and from North Africa, and at Gallipoli. Its ships also supported Italy, and France was already asking allies for additional vessels. Those commitments make 12 look modest beside the operational demand. In this interpretation, disputes over Jeune École policy had damaged even the infrastructure for building torpedo craft. Early destroyers had developed from enlarged torpedo boats, yet France could not build enough of them despite the doctrine's emphasis on such craft. France was also considering cruiser purchases. A separate counterfactual asks how Japan's wartime and long-term position would have changed if France and Italy had become regular customers for Japanese destroyers and cruisers. That wider Japanese role as an Allied supplier is a proposed scenario, with no predicted outcome settled here.
Notable Point · 31:42-34:16
Why did France order only 12 Japanese destroyers?
France's escort and anti-submarine commitments make the initial order of 12 ships look surprisingly small, although no settled explanation for the limit is given.