Sea of Japan, February 16, 1944
The fleet was at sea as a coherent whole for the first time in over a year. Two purpose built fleet carriers and four conversions of various usefulness comprised the primary air striking arm. The three monster battleships with their foot and a half guns were the core of the gun line. A few ships built before the Tokyo Earthquake could have beefed up the numbers, but the value that they contributed did not justify the oil that they would burn. Half a dozen cruisers including Asama and Ibuki were operating to brush aside any screen and to act as limited radar pickets. Two dozen escorting destroyers looked for American and British submarines, although the minefields at Tshumina had probably worked as no ships had been torpedoed in this confined sea since the war began.
Two days to train together, two days to revisit doctrines that had been revised while officers waited for their ships to be repaired. Two days to make a collection of hulls into a plausible fleet. It would not be enough, but it was what the oil reserves would allow.
It looks like Shinano has been completed as a battleship. Hmm... could be interesting....