The staff work behind a destroyer flotilla

What did wartime naval personnel do away from the guns, including administrative and communications staff?

The engineering example shows a flotilla's senior specialist gaining a deputy as operational work increased, first in reserve formations and then in regular flotillas.

Patrols during the Spanish Civil War raised the question of whether destroyers needed their full wartime staff. A peacetime flotilla normally had one senior engineering officer, who could also serve as the leader's chief engineer. Wartime work justified a deputy. Reserve flotillas received the extra officer first because their reservists were expected to need more support, while regular flotillas initially continued without one. Within about three months, the extra engineering officer had been extended to all the flotillas. The example shows how operational workload changed staffing beyond the gun crews.