Victoria's loss became evidence against the TA system even though other officers had supported intent-based command. Tryon bears responsibility for issuing the fatal order, and one interpretation is that he may also have been testing his officers. If the maneuver was intended as a test, its purpose was not communicated clearly enough. Markham, Bourke, and Johnstone had decades of experience and several lawful options: alter the turn, close watertight doors, reverse early, or explicitly challenge the order. Any one of those actions could have reduced or prevented the disaster, and Tryon's memoranda would have supported a safety-based decision at court martial. Officers raised in a culture of detailed orders were suddenly expected to use initiative that their service had not prepared them to exercise. A fleet needs repeated preparation before officers can exercise initiative under pressure.
Notable Point · 1:40:31-1:43:52
Why Victoria discredited the TA system
One interpretation accepts Tryon's fatal error while locating the broader doctrinal failure in officers who had never been prepared to exercise initiative.