This Australian policy followed the 1918 amalgamation in the UK of the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps into the new RAF.
Naval and aviation historians now agree that this loss of naval control of RN flying at sea until the mid 1930’s resulted in underfunding and a stifling of innovation.
In particular the development of modern, fast, well armed all metal torpedo bombers was neglected in the late 1930s. This resulted in the RN’s FAA, in which Australian and New Zealand pilots flew, being equipped with semi-obsolete aircraft when war broke out.
Courageous use of these aircraft could achieve great tactical success but was also a costly failure to provide the best aircraft for strike missions vital to the war at sea.
