When naval growth outran civilian oversight

A small service had long handled equipment and supply through informal professional relationships, but wartime scale made that arrangement inadequate. Politicians suddenly needed to supervise an organization whose officers were accustomed to operating with little sustained civilian attention. After the defence minister died in June 1940, Mackenzie King's reorganization made Angus L. Macdonald the first minister assigned specifically to the RCN, although his First World War experience had been with the Cape Breton Highlanders rather than naval administration. Nelles combined responsibilities analogous to the first, second, and third Sea Lords and had become the first Canadian full admiral, leaving uncertain whether he was principally operational commander, naval administrator, or policy authority. Claims that he had become too powerful or successful do not adequately explain the dispute. The conflict grew from a failure to define authority and working relationships rather than any lack of patriotism in either man. Rapid expansion forced Nelles to make a huge volume of decisions in which mistakes could cost lives, while Macdonald carried political responsibility for the results. The formal deputations Nelles used to approach Macdonald show how little direct professional-political machinery had been established. Nelles was ultimately transferred to Britain as Canada's representative on the chiefs-of-staff machinery.