Quote:
Originally Posted by Panther Al
Nelson, in his day, started life agian, from an affluant family, but he got his start as a ordinary seaman. The utmost lowest rank you could have in the Royal Navy at the time. During his first cruise, he was appointed midshipman, and started his training to be an officer (Granted, it helped that the Captian of the ship was his uncle - but nepotism is still very much alive today). While he took full advantage of the Patronage system of the day, in every command he held, he, much like Patton, excelled above and beyond normal expectations.
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The Royal Navy was (and still is) a meritocracy. In the army of the time a comission could be bought and in the Navy a Midshipman's rank could be obtained through nepotism but it was never considered a comissioned rank but a training position.
To be comissioned a lieutenant in the Royal navy you had to pass an examination, normaly before a board of three serving captains. The system was in place to make nepotism and incompetence as hard as possible. Nelson achieved his rank and title through his own merit and actions.
It's to be noted that Britain has not fought a proper war since Korea and America has not fought a proper war since Vietnam. All conflicts have been short affairs in which one side has superior forces and the outcome was determined in months rather than years.
Even Afghanistan can not be considered a proper war in this sense, Britian has suffered less than 400 dead in TEN years of conflict. The kind of war that created men like Patton and Nelson, a war in which our very nation and way of life was in dire and direct threat has not yet (thank all that is holy) happened. If it where to arise you can guarantee all this health and safety bullsit, all this political correctness nonesense would be the first things to be forgotten.