The 1923 annual compares post-First World War demobilization with the Royal Navy's much harder adjustment after the Napoleonic Wars. Reserve organizations allowed many wartime officers to leave without immediately breaking the permanent officer cadre. A 1920 Admiralty scheme then offered retirement pay or gratuities to selected younger lieutenant commanders, lieutenants, and mates. Brassey's judged the offer unsuccessful because it was piecemeal and aimed at a few local promotion blockages rather than the whole personnel structure. Rapid force contraction can create decades of stagnation even when it produces an immediate saving in public expenditure.
Notable Point · 1:21:50-1:23:06
The Royal Navy's post-1918 officer demobilization problem
Brassey's 1923 account shows how reserve structures eased demobilization while a limited retirement scheme failed to prevent career stagnation in the permanent officer corps.