Why Somerville and Harwood receive unfair wartime judgments

Which Royal Navy flag officers from the Second World War have been treated most unfairly by history?

Somerville and Harwood are strong candidates because later criticism often neglects Somerville's health and exhaustion and Harwood's lack of preparation for interservice political conflict.

James Somerville had left the Navy through illness, returned for technical work, and was then pulled through a succession of demanding commands after serving as second-in-command at Dunkirk. By the time of his Indian Ocean responsibilities, he had received little opportunity to recover. Henry Harwood faced a different problem: his earlier service had not prepared him for interservice politics or for other organizations shifting responsibility onto him. Those circumstances complicate criticism of their later wartime performance.