Institutional memory depends on experienced people passing their knowledge to successors. One explanation for its erosion in Britain combines privatization with wartime losses, hurried succession and management fashions that discounted older experience. The naval risk is that a break in carrier operations also interrupts the transmission of practical knowledge. The Royal Navy sent personnel to serve on U.S. carriers to preserve that knowledge before Queen Elizabeth-class operations began. Even this effort left mistakes to work through when the capability returned.
Notable Point · 1:54:13-1:57:03
Carrier gaps and institutional memory
The Royal Navy's use of U.S. carrier assignments illustrates the effort needed to preserve operating knowledge during a carrier gap.