Matching command experience to different wartime ships

Small combatants such as destroyers, submarines, and motor boats rewarded aggression, while complex troop-carrying auxiliaries needed steadiness. Rapid promotion could put energetic junior officers into the smaller warships, while recalled captains brought ship-handling and organizational experience to converted merchant vessels. Princess Beatrix and Queen Emma also carried soldiers and specialists whose unfamiliar missions created demands beyond ordinary navigation. Their size and embarked staffs gave crews room to work through those missions, while reports from Beatrix and Emma fed into emerging amphibious policy.