The Navy Board and Admiralty were connected yet institutionally distinct, giving each a reason to scrutinize the other. Their friction produced some inefficiency while making unchecked self-dealing harder. Financial authority, dockyard administration, and operational command did not sit in a single pair of hands. The arrangement accepted bureaucratic tension as the price of keeping corruption within manageable limits. Institutional rivalry could therefore work as an early check-and-balance within naval administration.
Notable Point · 19:21-20:56
Institutional rivalry as an anti-corruption control
Separating the Admiralty from the Navy Board created friction, but their overlapping responsibilities also made unchecked self-dealing harder.