During Australia’s British deployment, HMS Sussex served with the Royal Australian Navy in exchange. Ships and personnel moved between the services as a normal means of sustaining experience and presence. This routine exchange helps explain why American planners could treat the imperial navies as one interconnected naval force. Ships could temporarily fill one another’s operational places, giving practical effect to their common institutions and practices.
Chapter · 56:06-57:00
British-Australian cruiser exchange and fleet integration
Australia’s British deployment and Sussex’s reciprocal service show how Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces were intended to operate as one system.