Edmund Affleck's position aboard Bedford supplied a fourth senior commander near Rodney's centre. His placement kept an experienced officer close enough to assume responsibility if Rodney or another divisional admiral was killed or disabled. The fleet understood the succession order before combat rather than improvising it after a casualty. Each major division therefore retained someone capable of continuing command amid smoke, signal loss, and damage. The redundancy provided deliberate organizational resilience.
Notable Point · 1:03:46-1:07:42
A fleet designed to survive command losses
The British fleet placed a commodore in the center so command could continue if Rodney or another senior admiral was lost.