A good summary, but it’s worth noting that while the death penalty for failing to fight was on the books, Byng’s execution was the only time it was ever actually carried out. It’s a bit similar to how the US military legally has the authority to execute deserters, but in the past century has only ever exercised this once out of tens of thousand of sentences (Eddie Slovak during WWII).
From reading the autobiography of Lord Cochrane, an insanely aggressive and insanely successful captain during the Napoleonic Wars, my impression is that the Royal Navy was very concerned with the allocation of credit, glory, and prestige, as well as money prizes. He describes a system where officers are writing to the Admiralty headquarters to describe the meritorious or shameful actions of their peers and subordinates after every major action, and sometimes convoked courts martial to resolve disputes, as in the case of Lord Cochrane’s rival Lord Gambier. Lord Cochrane also argues that the prize system is critical to maintaining the Royal Navy’s morale and effectiveness.
A good summary, but it’s worth noting that while the death penalty for failing to fight was on the books, Byng’s execution was the only time it was ever actually carried out. It’s a bit similar to how the US military legally has the authority to execute deserters, but in the past century has only ever exercised this once out of tens of thousand of sentences (Eddie Slovak during WWII).
From reading the autobiography of Lord Cochrane, an insanely aggressive and insanely successful captain during the Napoleonic Wars, my impression is that the Royal Navy was very concerned with the allocation of credit, glory, and prestige, as well as money prizes. He describes a system where officers are writing to the Admiralty headquarters to describe the meritorious or shameful actions of their peers and subordinates after every major action, and sometimes convoked courts martial to resolve disputes, as in the case of Lord Cochrane’s rival Lord Gambier. Lord Cochrane also argues that the prize system is critical to maintaining the Royal Navy’s morale and effectiveness.