Cradock's social and professional connections made a clean scapegoating narrative difficult to sustain. The communications passing through Sturdee showed that Churchill had repeatedly pressed him toward engagement. Those surviving messages separate contemporary blame management from the operational evidence.
Notable Point · 1:59:44-2:00:26
Churchill's attempt to blame Cradock
Churchill's effort to place responsibility on the dead admiral was checked when his own messages ordering action became public.