How does Hosho slow Yamamoto down? She's a 25-knot ship, but so are Nagato and Mutsu and he's not going to leave those two behind.
Hōshō's book speed listed in Conway is 26.7 knots maximum as built. HOWEVER, after she was fitted with Sperry gyrostabilizer gear and bulged out and gained weight thereby, her operational speed at max into the wind was more like 23 knots. She was actually 2 knots slower than Mutsu.
