my grandfather was on one of the ships doing the Arctic Convoy when he was my age. He once told me that some of captains were so inexperienced that all they had before the war was like a yachting licence. that true? How can it be that made more sense than just promoting the jr officers or non coms?

by grapp

no hope of an AMA in case you were wondering, he died in 2005 I'm afraid

Technonorm

Funny coincidence this. While I have no knowledge personally, the BBC have recently broadcast a show about this exact subject. [PQ17: An Arctic Convoy Disaster] ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03n3297) actually touches on your question and describes in great detail the experience of such a captain. A fascinating documentary and well worth a watch if you can stream it.