The institutional reform that could transform the Georgian Navy

What single reform would most improve the Royal Navy from about 1760 onward?

Professionalize the NCO and warrant-officer corps and create a path for talented ratings to become officers.

Human organization matters more than a technological shortcut in this reform. Professional chief petty officers, NCOs and warrant officers would preserve standards and experience below the commissioned ranks. A route for exceptional ratings to become officers would also broaden the service's leadership base. Sustained from the eighteenth century, that system could profoundly change the Royal Navy inherited by the First World War.