The unusually detailed Admiralty instructions issued for the voyage defined the relationship between naval command and scientific leadership. Station commanders were ordered to assist Challenger and not divert it from its special service, protecting the scientific programme from ordinary naval demands. Authority was shared between Nares and chief scientist Charles Wyville Thomson under a formal command arrangement. If Thomson and his staff could not continue, the Admiralty trusted Nares to direct the research as well as the ship, demonstrating how seriously it regarded his scientific competence.
Notable Point · 28:23-30:25
Nares's authority over ship and science
Admiralty instructions treated Captain George Nares as a scientific as well as naval leader if the expedition's chief scientist could not continue.