Ark Royal's inquiry and readiness accountability

The inquiry accused Captain Maund of failing to keep a properly constituted damage-control party aboard and of failing to ensure Ark Royal was ready to deal with damage. In this assessment, the failure to organize an immediate response deserves criticism. Responsibility for the ship's readiness also extended through the command chain: Ark Royal needed proper dockyard work, yet repeated operations and the absence of a relief carrier kept her at sea. Reserve diesel generation was already being fitted elsewhere, so its absence aboard Ark Royal belonged to an existing repair and modernization problem. Somerville had sought a replacement carrier, which qualifies the criticism of his role in the deferred maintenance. Philip Vian provides a comparison for more forceful demands on higher command: he secured maintenance for Afridi and transferred personnel to Cossack while relieving overworked senior officers. Maund and his predecessor Cedric Holland are judged to have needed the same persistence in securing repairs.