For a supposedly enlightened monarchy/nation, the Brits can be rather profligate with military personnel... but they are just subjects, eh, what? Right, then! Stiff upper lip and all.
“For a supposedly enlightened monarchy/nation, the Brits can be rather profligate with military personnel..”
The slaughter of their own troops during WWI comes to mind. The first mass murderer of the 20th century was Douglas Haig.
The MV Struma went down with 800 on board, including refugees and crew, and it wasn’t even a British ship, torpedoed after the British hauled it out to the middle of the Black Sea. Couldn’t allow anyone to disembark, for fear they might somehow make it from Turkey to Mandatory Palestine.
Britannia ruled the waves, all right.
Hint: It wasn't the US Navy
The CSS Hunley, built in Alabama, was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship (1864). The problem is that all lives on board the submarine were lost both on that mission (some say that was unrelated, some say that damage from that battle caused the sinking shortly after) and in prior missions.
Having been a submarine sailor we all knew of the possibility of not coming back up once we dove. The way we had the courage to keep doing our job was to practice, drill, drill drill. When we were in port we practiced in mock up submarine compartments with ice cold water flooding the compartment to stop the flooding, fix the leaks and pump out the water. Over and over again to make sure we could do it when it was real. We all hated it but were glad we knew how to handle emergencies.
When surface craft sailors go to sea they are responsible for a small portion of emergency procedures. Submarine sailors get qualified when they learn enough about the entire boat to help save it in an emergency. When you see a submarine with a “Dolphin” pin you know he has completed “qualifying” on at least one boat. Every time you go to a new boat you start all over qualifying for that boat, although much of what you learned on a previous boat(s) will transfer to the new one.
God bless those who continue to work below the sea, it is an unnatural job but has to be done.