Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 137" video.

  1.  @snakeplissken2018  that thought crossed my mind too. The Yamatos, Nagato, and the Kongos were together with the Fusos at Brunei. They all set sail on October 22. It would have been easy to switch assignments so that BB Division 1, the Yamatos and Nagato, went through Surigao, while the Fusos and Kongos form the center force. Only thing that comes to mind that would cause an objection to that alignment would be the speed difference between the Fusos and Kongos. Of the US battleships at Surigao, only two, West Virginia and Maryland, had 16" guns. I would put the Yamatos at the head of the column to break trail, presuming they can take the most damage, while they deal with the US line. That would leave Nagato, no pushover itself, relatively undamaged, to get at the beachhead. Of course, it would have also helped if Shima's force of cruisers and destroyers had coordinated better, so they could deal with the US DDs and PTs before they got a crack at the Japanese battleships.
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