Three Royal Navy pay scales before Invergordon

The later Invergordon crisis grew from a pay structure unlike the Baltic disputes. The Royal Navy retained pre-World War I, wartime, and postwar service arrangements at the same time. By the late 1920s, many personnel still on the oldest terms were senior ratings or officers with long service, while others remained on wartime or newer postwar scales. Standardization looked sensible from an administrative and economic perspective, but applying one formula across unlike contracts risked unequal results. This layered system helps explain why the proposed reduction would affect sailors' household budgets so differently.