Lieutenant Commander Ralph Seymour was the junior member of Beatty's staff. The chief of staff and Commander Reginald Drax both outranked him. Drax had written a respected book on naval tactics and completed the Royal Navy's relatively new staff course. These senior officers were responsible for training and supervising Seymour, coordinating the staff, and ensuring that orders were understood. Responsibility for communications failures therefore extended through the command team.
Notable Point · 3:18:06-3:21:48
Responsibility for Beatty's signalling extended through his staff
Look beyond the usual blame placed on Ralph Seymour to the senior officers responsible for supervising Beatty's communications staff.