Why navies handle peacetime diplomacy

Peacetime missions give trained naval personnel useful work, maintain their skills, and help retain people who want to remain active. Those tasks also help justify maintaining warships that will be needed in wartime. A naval ship gives foreign governments a recognizable national presence, including during humanitarian operations when uniforms identify the country providing assistance. Dividing these missions among civilian agencies could produce separate medical, trade, and diplomatic organizations with different chains of responsibility. Naval service already requires crews to accept extended periods at sea and duty around the clock. Civilian disaster volunteers can perform demanding work too, but their availability can depend on supportive employers and arrangements outside a full-time response organization. Arming civilian vessels adds further complications, illustrated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary model.