Lower proportional American losses should not be reduced to a simple national comparison. Newer Liberty and Victory ships helped, as did accumulated anti-submarine and merchant-service experience. Women's Royal Naval Service personnel provide an example of useful knowledge bypassing institutional resistance: their advising and wargaming expertise reached naval officers through informal pub briefings. The controlled setting allowed officers to learn even when formal edicts discouraged attending those briefings. Hardware and organization worked together, making new ships more useful when institutions could absorb experience.
Notable Point · 1:32:10-1:33:48
New ships mattered, but so did moving anti-submarine knowledge
The comparison of merchant losses pairs Liberty and Victory shipbuilding with an example of WRENS anti-submarine expertise reaching officers through informal briefings.