"Just so Smokey. bubblyrat was making a comparison between the mnarchy and his aircraft carrier captain who "must be a very clever & capable man to have reached such heights". Would he have felt so "comforted & reassured by his very presence amongst us" if the man had inherited the job fromh is father?" (TheSnail)

I didn't think he was making that comparison at all; I understood Bubblyrat's point to be that some kind of a figurehead was psychologically desirable for the majority of people. He was simply making that point in terms of circumstances of which he'd had personal experience.

To answer (ish) your question, I don't think there would necessarily be anything wrong with a hereditary ship's captain if that person had been trained rigorously from birth to do exactly that job and had decades of experience to show they could. However, it's really a nonsensical comparison. My point was that the Queen is the head of the Royal Navy, and yet Bubblyrat still felt comforted and reassured - because he trusted that his Captain was capable.