“I have heard many lamentations about how the Navy officer corps does not seem like a meritocracy anymore.”
Anything, repeat - anything that becomes political ceases to be a meritocracy.
I heard an interesting story saying that the crews are routinely sleep deprived. Like hospital residents. And the old school tough guys say, “you can sleep when you’re dead” but that doesn’t sound so tough when you hear the horror stories about competent seamen falling asleep at critical times.