One of the major unanswered questions of Dieppe is what if a battleship had been present? That question will not be answered here, but an understanding of relative battleship strengths and deployments may help to understand the plight of the Royal Navy in August of 1942.

Before the entry of Japan into the war the Royal Navy had nine battleships and battlecruisers. These were responsible for containing Tirpitz and her escorts in Norway, the French navy in Toulon, Oran, Dakar, and Casablanca, and the Italian navy in the Mediterranean. The Japanese brought ten battleships into the war and knocked out eight American, half of the US battleships in the first stroke.

That December the British lost one battleship and one battlecruiser to the Japanese, and two battleships to the Italians. The Japanese deployed five of their battleships to the Indian Ocean to challenge the British. Against them the Royal Navy pitted five of their oldest battleships, one of which was disabled in Madagascar. That left four old battleships against Japan's five new battleships. The U.S Navy was still in the process of repairing and moving ships to the Pacific to cover Hawaii. The Duke of York was commissioned, and it along with the King George V were left to guard against a sortie by the Tirpitz or Scharnhorst. When it is remembered that the Royal Navy deployed four battleships to catch the Bismarck the seriousness of the situation becomes evident. There were only the old battleships Nelson and Rodney left to guard the Mediterranean and South Atlantic, and the Warspite at Alexandria. When Combined Operations asked for a battleship or cruiser to assist in Operation RUTTER they were denied.