Captain Mills discovered the ship and the crew were so steeped in a status-quo, don’t rock the boat mentality that only a major test of skill, material and equipment would wake them out of their stupor, and that is exactly what Captain Mills did. He took them out and allowed them to fail. They learned from their failure and they took advantage of the opportunity he provided that would prepare them to meet their combat expectations. This time they succeeded, in spite of the unforeseen problem of getting out of channel. Overcoming that obstacle was another test they passed and it added to their self respect.