"As a result the Americans were quick to change from a mixed doctrine to a carrier focused naval doctrine. The Japanese did not and had a tougher time and lost key naval battles due to their battleship focus."
This is not true. The Japanese realized the importance of carrier aviation before the war even began; if you look at their shipbuilding efforts during the war, it was entirely carrier-centric. Two battleships were even converted to carriers during the war at great time and expense, as well as the planned third Yamato class that was under construction (Shinano). Japan didn't build a single battleship during the war aside from Musashi, and she was fairly near to completion when the war began.
In contrast, the US built something like a dozen battleships during the war, and even raised some of the sunken battleships at Pearl. And if the US had relied on carriers for the duration of the war, they never would've defeated the Japanese at Guadalcanal, which was entirely decided by nighttime surface battles, where carrier aircraft were useless. Battleships were still under construction up to the end of the war, and were still HEAVILY used to support invasion forces with shore bombardments, a role which carriers of the time simply couldn't competitively perform. And Leyte Gulf showed that reliance on carriers (particularly when commanded by blockheads) can be disasterous - it was battleships that stopped the Japanese at Surigao Straight, and sheer brazenness that saved Taffy 3 off Samar (and it would've been battleships, not carrier aircraft, that would've saved the day had the Japanese not withdrawn). Reliance on carrier aviation alone would've resulted in the worst military disaster in American history at Leyte Gulf.
New game: gameID=61317
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