Huge battleships as a blockade problem

Very large Japanese battleships could exert political and operational pressure without waiting for a fleet battle. Their proposed 18-inch guns mattered because Britain lacked an equivalent ship and might have to build or deploy enough strength to answer them. That burden could force the Royal Navy to concentrate in the Far East for blockade enforcement while still facing Italy, Germany, and commitments elsewhere. This differed from a risk-fleet strategy because its intended effect came from forcing British precautions instead of directly seeking battle. Britain's shallow-water aerial-torpedo work offered another answer: strike the Japanese ships in harbor rather than keep a permanent distant battlefleet on station.