Engineer officers and command in the ironclad era

How often did engineer or technical officers get to command ships in the ironclad era?

Technical and engineering officers began to break into command during the ironclad era, although they had to be especially capable to do it.

Engineer command belongs inside the wider technical transformation of navies. Engineering officers had existed for some time, but the ironclad era strengthened the case for technical officers commanding ships. The route remained exceptional because those officers had to be unusually capable to break into an older command culture. Naval institutions adapted more slowly than the machinery on which their ships increasingly depended.