The orders of battle become more useful when read as a force-structure comparison instead of a simple hull count. Japan brought five fleet carriers, four light carriers, five battleships, eleven heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, thirty-one destroyers, twenty-four submarines, six oilers, and roughly 750 carrier and land-based aircraft. The Americans fielded more carriers, battleships, light cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and about 900 carrier aircraft, with another powerful invasion-cover force still near Saipan. Japan's only numerical advantage was three additional heavy cruisers, which could not replace the missing carrier striking power or the much thinner escort screen. The submarine balance also contradicted Japanese attrition doctrine: more American submarines than Japanese submarines were present at the battle.
Notable Point · 47:33-56:42
The force balance behind the command chart
A ship-by-ship comparison shows that Japan's small heavy-cruiser advantage could not offset American superiority in carriers, screens, aircraft, and submarines.