Between 1920 and 1922, Nelles attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, on a course intended to prepare junior officers for senior responsibility. Later establishment appointments gave him less sea time but more experience with the institutional machinery behind a navy. He returned to Canada in 1925, became a commander, and took the senior naval appointment at Esquimalt. A small service needed that knowledge to create the training, administration, and infrastructure required to sustain combat capability rather than merely possess ships.
Notable Point · 19:53-21:21
Learning to build a navy's institutional depth
Study at Greenwich and shore appointments taught Nelles how senior officers and naval establishments create the depth behind an operational fleet.