The Royal Navy is judged to have entered the war with the heaviest anti-aircraft fit of any fleet, yet that protection proved insufficient. Henderson had questioned exercises in which pilots sought maximum credit by attacking capital ships, carriers and cruisers. Destroyers could be largely ignored under those conditions, encouraging the expectation that enemy pilots would behave similarly. In war, the danger of being killed changed the calculation and destroyers on the edge of formations became attractive targets. The N-class changes illustrate the rapid revision of anti-aircraft armament in response to those combat conditions.
Notable Point · 24:31-26:47
Why prewar air exercises understated the danger to destroyers
Pilots seeking exercise credit concentrated on large ships, while combat exposed destroyers at the edge of fleet formations.