Somerville's restraint contrasts with the Royal Navy's repeated celebration of ships that attacked stronger opponents. Glowworm charged Admiral Hipper, Rawalpindi engaged Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and commanders such as Cunningham treated destruction of the enemy as the safest strategic result. Preserving two modern carriers was a defensible calculation, but it did not match the service's preferred answer to a fleeting opportunity. That culture distinguished the material value of a ship from the strategic reason for possessing it. A fleet that always protected scarce hulls could surrender the sea control those hulls existed to secure.
Chapter · 1:29:28-1:32:47
Royal Navy command culture rewarded attack
Examples from Glowworm to Cunningham show a service culture that accepted losing scarce ships when aggressive action offered a chance to destroy the enemy.