The political head of the Navy should have passed direction through the First Sea Lord, who could decide what operational messages were needed. Direct communication with the chief of staff instead added work to an already distracted system. Cradock lacked a senior commander above him who could filter surplus messages and challenge unsuitable instructions. He received priority notice that reinforcements were coming, while their cancellation received less urgency. Knowing Defence was unavailable would have changed the choices he could make.
Notable Point · 2:07:42-2:09:49
The missing message mattered more than the original order
The Admiralty told Cradock that reinforcement was coming but did not give equal priority to telling him when HMS Defence was diverted.