Interwar destroyer exercises could damage ships, and officers such as Cunningham and Vian were not automatically discarded when hard training went wrong. This tolerance for calculated risk is linked to a Nelsonian inheritance in which realistic preparation could help a well-trained force overcome material or numerical disadvantages. An institution that demands aggression while ending careers after every failed risk will discourage the behaviour it claims to want. The Royal Navy still expected officers to learn from collisions and avoid repeating them. Its aim was to develop commanders who had tested the boundary between speed, initiative, and danger before war required decisive action in darkness.
Notable Point · 1:44:28-1:46:54
Calculated risk was part of destroyer training culture
Hard interwar exercises accepted some damage because the Navy valued commanders who could act decisively under the pressure of a night action.