Officer corps preserve or lose combat knowledge

Naval expertise is cumulative rather than confined to the veterans who personally fought earlier battles. Officers and chief petty officers train the generation behind them, allowing practical knowledge to survive long periods of service. The French Navy weakened this process by excluding Protestant officers and later losing much of its officer corps during the Revolution. The Royal Navy entered the Revolutionary Wars with a more continuous chain of instruction and experience. This comparison explains institutional advantage through human networks rather than ship counts alone.