Decades of socialism and PC have changed both the RN and the UK. The legendary frigate Captains of the Napoleonic era wouldn’t recognize whatever that was when the Iranians kidnapped a small boat party a couple of years back and the wimpy local RN response. “What was” is fairly irrelevant compared to “what is”. We might as well yap then about Venice and Spain and Carthage. I was going to say China too, but it seems comebacks are possible. Modern US carrier design with the exception of nuclear propulsion, is based almost entirely on innovations made by the RN. So what was the RN “compensating for” back when they had real CVs? (when they still had a defence budget)