A proposed evolution from a raid to a fleet-disabling strike

One proposed reconstruction begins with a single-carrier raid intended to anger the United States into advancing through Japan's attrition attacks. The existence and composition of that early plan remain conjectural. American planners had already recognized the danger of rushing across the Pacific, making provocation an uncertain way to obtain the battle Japan wanted. A larger attack on carriers and battleships together could instead unbalance the American fleet at the start of war. Yamamoto's threat to resign is interpreted as resistance to changing the doctrine around which Japan had built much of its fleet. A possible shift during 1934 to 1938 is then connected to Shokaku-class planning, but that design connection is an inference. The carriers' availability was nevertheless an important practical condition for the eventual strike.