The historical argument closes with a bounded counterfactual rather than a settled verdict. Cunningham believed that rapid mobilization on 14 or 15 September might have prevented sailors from organizing collectively. Rushing reluctant crews to sea could instead have made officers appear to side with the government and enlarged the mutiny. Tomkinson's actual strategy of delay, investigation, representation, and dispersal provides the comparison for judging coercion against negotiation in naval command.
Notable Point · 1:34:46-1:35:19
Tomkinson or Cunningham: would an immediate sortie have worked?
Taking the fleet to sea at once might have broken up the protest or turned a grievance against government into a larger confrontation with officers.