An American fleet with 15-gun, 18-inch Tillman ships would change the problem that produced Yamato. Japan could not answer simply by enlarging its existing design because Yamato already pressed against available infrastructure. Building something larger would require extensive new industrial investment. The cost might become ruinous before either fleet fought, which makes economic capacity part of the counterfactual alongside gun calibre and armour.
Notable Point · 37:53-38:31
A Tillman fleet would reshape the Yamato problem
Fielding 15-gun, 18-inch Tillmans would force Japan to rethink Yamato, but the infrastructure for a larger answer could become financially ruinous.