My slightly more serious hypothesis about Sharkey:
He's one of those people who is his job. His job is gone, both in SHAR and retirement/career terms, and he can't let it go. He was an accomplished, brave, committed fighter pilot who doesn't see the bigger picture- he was a big fish in a tiny pond locally; but (like everyone else here who served) only a little cog in the big scheme of things. That's demonstrated by his one-dimensional whining about the RAF/carriers/Navy etc.
CG