A prestige weapon deters only when potential opponents know enough to fear and answer it. Hood's interwar world cruise made British capital-ship power visible, while secrecy prevented Yamato's eighteen-inch guns from shaping Allied expectations. Japan could even have exaggerated the number planned to intensify the effect. Public knowledge might have forced redesigns, delayed construction, or altered forward deployments, buying time that a secret battleship could not.
Notable Point · 56:00-59:10
Yamato could not deter an enemy kept ignorant of it
Secrecy prevents Yamato's exceptional size and armament from influencing American and British shipbuilding decisions before war.