Two Kongo-class ships accompanied an invasion force whose transports could not exploit their speed. Moving them to Kido Butai would have given the carrier force more fast capital-ship escorts. Slower battleships assigned to the northern force were a proposed substitute for protecting the invasion fleet. The criticism concerns matching ships to operational needs: fast escorts were scarce protection for carriers, while slower ships could accompany transports without setting a lower pace.
Notable Point · 1:06:36-1:07:12
Fast escorts tied to a slow invasion force
Reassigning slower battleships to the invasion force could have released two Kongo-class ships to protect the carriers.