Japan, the United States, Germany, and Britain pursued different battle lines because their strategic problems differed. Japan lacked the resources to support separate fleets of battlecruisers and battleships. The United States could build a heavily protected defensive line behind its ocean approaches. Germany needed battlecruisers to keep a smaller fleet from being enveloped, while Britain had to retain numerical and technological leadership. National geography, money, and force structure produced different answers to the same battleship design problem.
Chapter · 44:39-49:26
Why navies wanted different battle lines
Japanese, American, German, and British dreadnought choices followed different strategic problems: limited resources, defensive geography, fleet inferiority, and technological leadership.