A public display of Yamato and Musashi could have presented them as the new standard of battleship. Foreign intelligence already suspected that Japan was building two very large ships, but uncertainty over their guns kept the issue away from public and political pressure. Confirmation of 18-inch armament would reopen American gun-calibre debates and challenge Britain's nearly completed 14-inch-gunned King George V class. Britain might pause construction, alter later ships, or accelerate a new heavy-gun programme while the United States reconsidered the battleships it expected to complete in 1941-42. The ships' strategic value in this counterfactual comes from forcing rivals to pause, redesign, and spend before the Japanese construction lead disappears.
Chapter · 14:24-20:28
Using the Yamato class as strategic disclosure
Publicly revealing Japan's 18-inch-gun battleships in 1939 might disrupt British and American construction programs and buy Japan time.