Perrée's senior rank made him comparatively easy to exchange because France lacked ships for him to command. British authorities placed more value on retaining navigators, junior officers, petty officers, and trained sailors. Those ranks carried the practical knowledge needed to prepare, navigate, and fight a fleet. In this reading, French political leaders undervalued those skills, allowing captivity to compound the navy's existing loss of institutional memory.
Notable Point · 56:50-57:28
Prisoner exchanges and the war for naval experience
British prisoner policy targeted the navigators and junior officers France needed to rebuild an effective seagoing institution.