Yamato secrecy undercut deterrence

The Yamato class was built as a deterrent around exceptional size and firepower, which made secrecy self-defeating. A public appearance by Yamato or even a visually convincing but incomplete Musashi could make newspapers and civilian leaders believe the American and British fleets had been outclassed. That shock could send the U.S. Pacific Fleet back toward San Diego and trigger larger battleship programs, producing some of the delay Japan wanted without war. Once hostilities began, secrecy had spent the ships' strongest political effect and left them to fight within Japan's unfavorable industrial position. Credible public deterrence might buy eighteen months or two years, whereas hidden capital simply became expensive wartime hardware.