Why Manchester's scuttling led to a court martial

Captain Drew feared renewed torpedo attacks, grounding, or capture, but Manchester had recovered more capability than he understood. Radar, electrical power, steering, and an outer turbine were working again, and Somali, Eskimo, and Pathfinder were nearby. The Admiralty concluded that the situation at abandonment differed materially from the ship's initial isolation and damage. One of the Royal Navy's longest courts martial found that Drew had shown a lack of determination to fight his ship and barred him from further command. Four officers and a petty officer were also punished; A. V. Alexander and Dudley Pound did not intervene on Drew's behalf. Manchester's loss is therefore a case study in damage reporting, command communication, and the decision to scuttle a recoverable warship.