[CCIP]

I don't really question the force - I think as deterrent, they were justified in being stationed where they were. The problem, really, is in the planning and execution of their ill-fated sortie - that was a serious blunder and the ships should have never sailed where they did. I think the underlying factor was the vast under-estimation of what land-based air can do to battleships. Which is very ironic, seeing that it was British planes proved quite the opposite earliest on in the war, playing such a crucial role in the Bismarck hunt and raids on the Italian fleet. Why the British thought they could but others couldn't probably does lie with the blatant disregard and disrespect of the Japanese military.