British ships' success in evading early air attacks offers one explanation for later confidence about surviving naval aviation. Interwar exercises reinforced that impression because pilots pursued prestigious cruisers, carriers, and capital ships instead of destroyers. An exercise offered bragging rights without exposing attacking pilots to the actual danger of being shot down. Some officers who had witnessed World War I operations later trained others or remained in service during World War II. Their remembered experience concerned aircraft and weapons far less capable than those they eventually faced.
Notable Point · 8:25-9:31
Early success evading aircraft feeds later overconfidence
Officers' memories of evading World War I aircraft combined with misleading exercise incentives to encourage confidence against later air attacks.