Was this admiral responsible for assigning ship’s captains and deck officers or was that the responsibility of “higher ups”. If it was his responsibility, was he subject to any pressures to assign certain percentages of certain “protected” groups?
Commanding officers are first screened for command by a board, then screened for a particular command. OODs are designated by a command’s CO and lapse when reassigned.
If this guy was on record as having submitted requests for men and material, and on record of having warned his superiors that there were serious problems with the condition and training of the fleet and its sailors under his command, asking for a court martial would be an option.
That he didn’t indicates either he let all those things stop at his desk and never informed his superiors, or...he is falling on his sword for the good of the Naval Service...which is not unheard of.
I bet the answer is yes, but we will certainly never know.