The panel's favorite naval officers from 1900 to 1945

Who were the panel's favorite admirals and captains from the major navies between 1900 and 1945?

Their incomplete slate included Jellicoe, Cunningham, Togo, Ozawa, Fletcher, Evans, Langsdorff, Scheer, Harwood, and Forbes, chosen for competence under difficult conditions.

The panel cannot produce a complete favorite admiral and captain for every listed navy, and several speakers openly identify gaps in their knowledge of French and Italian officers. British choices include John Jellicoe, Andrew Cunningham, Henry Harwood, and Charles Forbes, with Cunningham's destroyer command receiving particular praise. Japanese selections include Togo Heihachiro and Jisaburo Ozawa, whose difficult late-war command is judged sympathetically. American discussion highlights Chester Nimitz, Husband Kimmel, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Ernest Evans, especially officers who worked under severe constraints or receive less public attention. Hans Langsdorff is praised for conducting Graf Spee's commerce-raiding cruise according to maritime law, while Reinhard Scheer is noted for accepting the odds at Jutland. Across the answers, professional competence and unglamorous reliability matter as much as fame.