Britannic's escort as a surface-raider deterrent

Rodney began the Bismarck crisis escorting Britannic toward Halifax with Somali, Eskimo, Mashona, and Tartar. The liner carried civilians and military passengers and needed time to use her own speed if a German raider appeared. A battleship and four Tribal-class destroyers presented a force that Bismarck and Prinz Eugen might outrun but could not attack without risking damage serious enough to compromise the raiding mission. The example explains a central logic of convoy defence: an escort can protect shipping by making combat unattractive, even when it cannot guarantee destruction of the raider. That contrast also opens a separate retrospective debate about the doctrine followed by Hood and Prince of Wales at Denmark Strait.