The Personal and Operational Consequences of Global Forward Basing and Officer Rotation in the Interwar Royal Navy

Abstract

Royal Navy officers appointed to command warships around the world played a key role in the maintenance of the British Empire and the implementation of its foreign policy. This study will demonstrate that the personal experiences and operational consequences of how those officers were managed has long been significantly underappreciated. While functional, the Admiralty’s system for selecting, preparing and managing its commanding officers struggled to keep up with the evolving requirements of modern peacetime naval operations. By exploring the experiences of over 500 officers posted around the world, 1919-35, this article will add a new human dimension to our understanding of how naval power functioned in interwar international relations.