Testing competing accounts of HMS Dasher

What is the basis for the account of HMS Dasher?

The account draws on books, articles, and archival consultation, with Royal Navy policy used to assess competing versions. It carries an explicit reservation that the research is not yet sufficient for an independent account of the loss.

Clarke's account of HMS Dasher draws on years of reading books and articles and consulting relevant archives, with the reservation that he has not done enough in-depth research to write an independent account of the loss. Where accounts conflict, consistency with Royal Navy policy provides a plausibility test. In this interpretation, senior officers could accept wartime secrecy about a loss while objecting strongly to departures from established treatment and burial of dead sailors. Admirals prepared to resign over Somerville's treatment provide the comparison behind that judgement. Alternative accounts still deserve mention and scrutiny. A personal recollection of a friend treating warship and battleship as synonymous illustrates how a sincere observer can misunderstand naval terminology.