Eight - eight fleet The was a Japanese naval strategy formulated for the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the first quarter of the 20th century , which stipulated that the navy should include eight first - class battleship s and eight armoured cruiser s or battlecruiser s . History and development . The " Eight - Eight Fleet " concept originated in post - Russo - Japanese War period with the 1907 Imperial Defense Policy , which was a settlement reached by the competing Army and Navy factions of the Japanese government . The Naval faction , inspired by the Mahanian doctrine of Satō Tetsutarō , argued that Japanese security could only be guaranteed by a strong navy . Satō argued that to ensure security , Japan should be capable of defeating the power which represented the greatest potential threat . In the 1907 Imperial National Defense Policy , Japan ’ s military focus shifted away from the defeated Imperial Russia and towards the United States as the primary threat to Japan ' s future security . In Japanese minds , the United States had proven to be an aggressive expansionist power in Asia , with its annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii and colonization of the newly formed First Philippine Republic . The Open Door Policy towards China was in conflict with Japanese aspirations on the Asian mainland , and its immigration policies were perceived as an indication of American racial enmity towards the Japanese . Based on a theoretical United States Navy strength of 25 battleships and cruisers , Japanese naval theoreticians postulated that Japan would need a fleet of at least eight first - line battleships and eight cruisers for parity in the Pacific Ocean . When Naval Minister Admiral Yamamoto Gonnohyoe presented the budget request for this fleet to the Diet of Japan , the amount was more than twice that of the entire Japanese national budget at the time . The Eight - Eight Fleet policy was controversial because of the enormous cost of battleships , and only once was authorization given by the Diet of Japan for a building program which would have reached the " Eight - Eight Fleet " ideal . To complicate matters further , while the " Eight - Eight Fleet " plan lasted over a decade , the ships required for it changed ; by 1920 the ships which had been ordered in 1910 to start to fulfill the plan were becoming obsolete . Various alternative plans were discussed , including a reduction in the plan to " Eight - Four Fleet " program , of later to an " Eight - Six Fleet " program . First " Eight - Eight " . The first serious attempt to build an " Eight - Eight Fleet " came in 1910 , when the Naval General Staff proposed a building program of eight battleships and eight armored cruisers ( by that time , they would inevitably become battlecruiser s ) . The Navy Ministry cut back this request for political reasons , to seven battleships and three armored cruisers . The Cabinet eventually recommended one battleship and four battlecruisers , and the Diet authorized these ships in 1911 . The battlecruisers became the " Kongō " class and the battleship was " Fusō " : all technologically advanced ships of admirable design . The 1913 program saw a further three battleships authorized , making a total of " four - four " . These ships , " Yamashiro " , " Ise " and " Hyūga " , were sister ships or cousins of " Fusō " . In 1915 , the Navy proposed another four battleships , to reach an " Eight - Four Fleet " . This was rejected by the Diet . However , in 1916 the Diet agreed to an additional battleship and two battlecruisers . In 1917 , in response to the U . S . Navy ' s plan to build an additional ten battleships and six battlecruisers , the Diet authorized a further three battleships ; and in 1918 the Cabinet authorized another two battlecruisers . In total , the authorization existed for an " Eight - Eight Fleet " . The new ships started were the two " Nagato " - class battleships , the two " Kaga " - class battleships , and a total of four " Amagi " - class battlecruisers : all modern , capable ships carrying 16 - inch guns . Only the two " Nagato " - class ships were eventually completed in their intended role . One " Kaga " and one " Amagi " were completed as aircraft carriers . Second " Eight - Eight Fleet " . So great was the difference in capability between this generation of ships and those of five years previously that the " Eight - Eight Fleet " plan was restarted : " Nagato " was now regarded as Ship No . 1 in the new project , and planners now began to write off the older battleships and battlecruisers . On this revised basis the Navy was back down to a " Four - Four Fleet " . A further impetus to achieve the Eight - Eight Fleet ideal came from an additional expansion of the U . S . Navy under American President Woodrow Wilson ' s 1919 plan to build another set of 16 capital ship s ( on top of the 16 already authorized in 1916 ) . In 1920 , under Prime Minister Hara Takashi , a reluctant Diet was persuaded to accept a plan to bring the " Four - Four " set of modern ships up to " Eight - Eight " strength by 1927 . This would have involved augmenting the " Amagi " - class battlecruisers with an additional four fast battleships of the new " Kii " class , which were marginally slower and more powerful . A further four battleships ( No . 13 - 16 ) would have been built , with 18 - inch guns . If completed , this would have been an " Eight - Eight Fleet " in full ; if one included the oldest ships of the navy , the " Fusō " and " Kongō " classes , then the even higher goal of an " Eight - Eight - Eight Fleet " with not two but three eight - ship battle squadrons could be realized . Washington Naval Treaty . Japan was spared the possibly ruinous expense of following through on this construction plan by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 . Under the terms of the treaty all the ships still being built - which meant all ships started after " Nagato " , the first ship of the 1916 building program - had to be broken up or converted into aircraft carrier s . A special exemption was made for the battleship " Mutsu " , which was nearing completion and which had a special place in many Japanese hearts , with many of the funds for her construction raised by public subscription . The treaty established a maximum tonnage for the Japanese navy as 60 % of the U . S . Navy and the British Royal Navy . For this reason , it was vociferously opposed by many Imperial Japanese Navy officers , including Admiral Satō Tetsutarō . This group formed the influential Fleet Faction which later achieved Japan ' s withdrawal from the treaty . Ironically , the treaty probably restricted British and especially American ship building much more than Japanese . Although Japanese Navy procurement still proceeded along the lines of initial " Eight - Eight Fleet " plans for several years , changes in naval strategy and the development of naval aviation made the term an anachronism by the 1930s .