ABSTRACT
Cunningham was appointed Rear-Admiral (Destroyers) (RA [D]) in the Mediterranean Fleet with effect from 1 January 1934. ‘It was’, he wrote, ‘the one appointment I would have chosen above all others.’1 Cunningham was probably the Royal Navy’s principal exponent of destroyer warfare. The RA (D), in the light cruiser Coventry, commanded three flotillas of modern destroyers, part of a substantial fleet-a battle squadron, a carrier, two cruiser squadrons, submarines and other light and auxiliary craft. Cunningham was a confirmed believer in the Mediterranean’s strategic importance but, in the event of a crisis in the Far East, the ‘main fleet’ would be despatched promptly to Singapore.
