Q&A · 1:05:54-1:08:06

Where does the old aggressive destroyer-captain mentality belong today?

Modern destroyers are too valuable for a sacrificial command culture, but uncrewed surface vessels reward creative risk-taking.

Question

Should the Royal Navy revive its old attitude toward aggressive destroyer captains?

Short answer

Not for modern destroyers; that risk-taking mentality is better suited to uncrewed surface vessels.

Notes

Destroyers have moved from expendable peripheral escorts to high-value combatants, so the old appetite for losing ships no longer fits them. Crewed corvettes would not receive the same freedom to take risks. Highly inventive, aggressive officers would be better matched with uncrewed surface vessels powerful enough to matter but affordable enough to risk. That pairing preserves the tactical creativity associated with interwar destroyer captains without wagering a major combatant and its trained crew on every experiment.