A six-ship Lexington counterfactual

The proposed force has three modernized Lexington-class battlecruisers paired with three Lexington-type carriers. Because the gunships would supply sixteen-inch firepower, the carriers could replace their eight-inch turrets with a stronger five-inch anti-aircraft battery. The question is whether three such groups would have allowed the main battle fleet to remain on the American west coast instead of being deployed forward to Hawaii. If Pearl Harbor held only one carrier-battlecruiser group, Japan would then have to reconsider whether sending the Kido Butai against that target justified the effort and risk.