Some accounts expect the Royal Navy to have a perfectly codified fighter-direction system in 1940 while praising the U.S. Navy for learning similar lessons in 1941-42. American observers could watch British operations, including Taranto, without acquiring the experience of crews who had to make the system work themselves. The Royal Navy was also introducing radar and other new technologies earlier than planners had expected to fight a major war. A fair assessment compares organizations learning under pressure rather than one navy's opening campaign with another navy's mature wartime practice.
Notable Point · 7:29-9:20
Apply the same standard to British and American air-defence learning
The comparison rejects demands for perfect British fighter direction in 1940 when later American improvement is treated as normal wartime learning.