Late-war Royal Navy command depended on a shrinking pool of experienced senior admirals who had already carried a heavy operational burden. Officers of the same rank could differ sharply in age and experience, while even the younger candidates were becoming war-weary. Philip Vian's rise from captain in 1939 to vice admiral in 1945 shows how quickly wartime demand accelerated promotion. Such advancement would have marked an extraordinary peacetime career but became necessary under wartime attrition and expansion. Mountbatten's politically assisted rise appears as a reminder that rapid promotion could have more than one cause.
Notable Point · 1:06:39-1:08:31
Wartime promotion and command depth
The Royal Navy's heavy operational tempo exhausted its senior leadership pool and pushed comparatively junior officers rapidly into flag command.