Herman Wouk - The Caine Mutiny

by The Caine Mutiny(Lit)

  In cross-examining Harding, Greenwald brought out that Stilwell had been restricted to the ship for half a year for reading on watch, and that the whole crew had been docked five days' leave in the States because some sailors had appeared at general quarters without life jackets. He drew from Paynter a description of Stilwell's court-martial.

  Challee, in a belligerent re-examination, crowded the en-gineering officer hard. "Mr. Paynter, did Captain Queeg direct you to find Stilwell guilty?"

  "He didn't order me to, no. The way he explained the law, though, he left no doubt what verdict he wanted."

  "What verdict did you think he wanted?"

  "Guilty, and a bad-conduct discharge."

  "What verdict did the court hand down?"

  "Guilty and deprived of six liberties."

  "Did Captain Queeg attempt to have you change the sen-tence?"

  "No."

  "Did he give letters of admonition to the court?"

  "No."

  "Did he punish you in any way?"

  "Well, yes. He said there would be no sleeping after 0800 in the wardroom. And he started keeping a black book on errors we made in writing logs."

  "In other words, this cruel punishment consisted of orders to write accurate logs and not to sleep during ship's working hours, is that correct?"

  "Well, at the time we were standing a one-in-three watch, and not to be able to sleep in-"

  "Answer the question, please. Was that the extent of your so-called punishment?"

  "Yes."

  "No further questions."

  Greenwald rose. "Mr. Paynter, what was the ship doing during that period?"

  "Convoy duty in the forward area."

  "Were you at sea much?"

  "Practically constantly."

  "Who were the OOD's?"

  "Keefer, Keith, and Handing. I was mostly off the bill be-cause of engine breakdowns."

  "Were they all department heads?"

  "Yes."

  "And they were standing OOD watches, four hours on and twelve off, around the clock, week in and week out. How many hours of sleep could they average?"

  "Well, see, two nights out of three you lose four hours--either the graveyard or the morning watch. And GQ at dawn-I guess about four or five hours-assuming no night GQ's."

  "Were there many night GQ's?"

  "Maybe a couple every week."

  "Did Captain de Vriess ever restrict daytime sleeping of OOD's?"

  "No. He used to urge us to grab sleep when we could. He said he didn't want any foggy zombies conning his ship."

  The judge advocate re-examined briefly. "Mr. Paynter, did any of the OOD's die of overstrain?"

  "No."

  "Did they suffer nervous breakdowns?"

  "No."

  "As a result of this terrible persecution of not being allowed to sleep in working hours, were there any mishaps to the ship?"

  "No."

  The next witness was Urban. The little signalman's right hand trembled when he was sworn, and his voice quavered. The judge advocate led him to state that he had been the only person in the wheelhouse beside Queeg, Maryk, Keith, and Stilwell when the captain was relieved.

  "What were your duties?"

  "Kept the quartermaster's notebook, sir."

  "Describe in your own words how it happened that Lieuten-ant Maryk relieved the captain."

  "Well, he relieved him at five minutes to ten. I noted it in my book-"

  "How did he relieve him?"

  "He said, `I relieve you, sir.' "

  "Didn't he do anything else?"

  "I don't remember for sure."

  "Why did he relieve him? What was happening at the time?"

  "The ship was rolling very bad."

  Challee looked up at the court in exasperation. "Urban, describe everything that happened in the ten minutes before Captain Queeg was relieved."

  "Well, like I say, we were rolling very bad."

  Challee waited, his eyes intent on the sailor. After a long silence he burst out, "That's all? Did the exec say anything? Did the captain say anything? Did the OOD say anything? Did the ship just roll in silence for ten minutes?"

  "Well, sir, it was a typhoon. I don't remember too well."

  Blakely leaned forward, scowling over his clasped fingers at the signalman. "Urban, you're under oath. Evasive answers in a court-martial constitute contempt of court, which is a very bad business. Now think over your answer."

  Urban said desperately, "Well, I think the captain wanted to come left and the exec wanted to come right, or something like that."

  "Why did the captain want to come left?"

  "I don't know, sir."

  "Why did the exec want to come right?"

  "Sir, I'm a signalman. I was keeping the quartermaster's log. I kept a good log even though we were rolling so bad. I didn't know what it was all about and I still don't."

  "Did the captain act crazy?"

  "No, sir."

  "Did the exec?"

  "No, sir."

  "Did the exec seem scared?"

  "No, sir."

  "Did the captain?"

  "No, sir."

  "Did anyone?"

  "I was goddamn scared, sir. I beg your pardon, sir."

  A member of the court, a reserve lieutenant with an Irish face and bright red curly hair, chuckled out loud. Blakely turned on him. The lieutenant began writing busily on a yellow pad. "Urban," said Challee, "you are the only witness to this whole affair who is not directly involved. Your testimony is of the utmost importance-"

  "I wrote everything in the quartermaster's log, sir; just the way it happened."

  "Logs are not supposed to contain conversations. I am trying to find out what was said."

  "Well, sir, like I said, one wanted to come right and one wanted to come left. Then Mr. Maryk relieved the captain."

  "But the captain definitely did not act queer or crazy in , any way at any time that morning-correct?"

  "The captain was the same as always, sir." Challee yelled, "Crazy, or sane, Urban?"

  Urban shrank back in his chair, staring at Challee. "Of course he was sane, sir, so far as I knew."

  "You don't remember anything that was said by anybody the whole morning?"

  "I was busy keeping the log, sir. Except something about coming left or right, and about the storm being bad and all."

  "What about ballasting?"

  "Well, there was some talk about ballasting."

  "To what effect?"

  "Just talk about whether to ballast."

  "Who wanted to ballast?"

  "Well, the captain, or Mr. Maryk, I don't know which."

  "It's of the greatest importance that you remember which, Urban."

  "I don't know nothing about ballasting, sir. All I know is they talked about it."

  "Was the ship ever ballasted that morning?"

  "Yes, sir, because I remember I made a note in my log."

  "Who gave the order to ballast?"

  "I don't remember, sir."

  "You don't remember much!"

  "I kept a good log, sir. That was what I was there for."

  Challee turned to Blakely, exclaiming, "I do not believe this witness is heeding the admonition of the court."

  "Urban," said Blakely, "how old are you?"

  "Twenty, sir."

  "What schooling have you had?"

  "One year in high school."

  "Have you been telling the whole truth here, or haven't you?"

  "Sir, the quartermaster isn't supposed to listen to arguments between the captain and the exec. He's supposed to keep his log. I don't know why Mr. Maryk relieved the captain."

  "Did you ever see the captain do anything crazy?"

  "No, sir."

  "Did you like the captain?"

  Urban said miserably, "Sure I liked him, sir."

  "Continue your examination," said the court to Challee.

  "No further questions."

  Greenwald approached th
e witness platform, flipping the red crayon against his palm. "Urban, were you aboard when the Caine cut its own tow cable outside Pearl Harbor?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "What were you doing at the time that it happened?"

  "I was-that is, the captain was eating me out-bawling me out-on the bridge."

  "What for?"

  "My shirttail was out."

  "And while the captain was discussing your shirttail the ship steamed over its own towline?"

  Challee had been regarding the defense counsel with wrinkled brows. He jumped up. "Object to this line of questioning and request the entire cross-examination so far be stricken from the record. Counsel has tricked the witness with leading ques-tions into asserting as a fact that the Caine cut a towline, a material point that was not touched upon in direct examina-tion."

  Greenwald said, "The witness stated he had never seen the captain do anything crazy. I am attempting to refute this. Courts and Boards 282 says leading questions may be freely used on cross-examination."

  The court was cleared. When all the parties returned Blakely said, "Defense counsel will have the opportunity to originate evidence later, and can recall the witness at that time. Ob-jection sustained. Cross-examination thus far will be stricken from the record."

  During the rest of the afternoon Challee called twelve chiefs and sailors of the Caine, all of whom testified briefly and glumly that Queeg had seemed much like any other captain, and had never to their knowledge done anything insane, either before the typhoon, during it, or afterward. The first of these was Bellison. Greenwald's cross-examination of him consisted of three questions and answers.

  "Chief Bellison, what is a paranoid personality?"

  "I don't know, sir."

  "What is the difference between a psychoneurosis and a psychosis?"

  "I don't know, sir." Bellison wrinkled up his face.

  "Could you recognize a neurotic person as such if you en-countered one?"

  "No, sir."

  To each of the twelve members of the crew, Greenwald put the same three questions and received the same answers. This litany, repeated twelve times, had a cumulating effect of irritation on Challee and on the court. They glared at Green-wald and fidgeted each time he went through the formula.

  The court was adjourned after the testimony of the last sailor, Meatball. Maryk and his lawyer walked silently out of the court-martial building together. The last orange rays of a sinking sun were slanting across the bay, and the air was cool and sweet after the stale varnish-and-linoleum smell of the courtroom. They walked to Greenwald's gray Navy jeep. The gravel walk crunched loudly under their steps. "Have they got us on the run?" Maryk said quietly.

  "Who knows?" Greenwald said. "We haven't gone to bat yet. You know this town. Where can we eat good?"

  "I'll drive."

  Greenwald drank a great many highballs during dinner. He evaded any talk about the court-martial, and filled the conversa-tion with rambling dull information about Indians. He told Maryk that his real ambition had been to become an an-thropologist, but he had gone into law out of crusading fervor, figuring that Indians needed to be defended more than to be studied. He said he had regretted the choice often.

  He seemed queerer and queerer to Maryk. The exec aban-doned hope-with his mind; he was convinced that Queeg, Keefer, and Urban had finished him off in the first day. But he clung to a shred of irrational faith in his strange defender. The prospect of being convicted was so awful that he had to believe in something. The maximum penalty was dismissal and fifteen years' imprisonment.

  34

  The Court-Martial-Second Day, Morning

  "Okay, Lieutenant Keith," said an orderly, opening the door to the anteroom at two minutes past ten.

  Willie followed him blindly. They passed through several doors, and suddenly they were in the courtroom, and Willie felt the shooting tingles in his arms and legs that he had felt when the Caine approached an invasion beach. The room was a frightening blur of solemn faces; the American flag seemed gigantic, and its red, white, and blue terribly vivid, like a flag in a color movie. He found himself on the witness platform, being sworn, and could not have told how he got there. Chal-lee's face was gray and forbidding. "Mr. Keith, were you officer of the deck of the Caine during the forenoon watch on 18 December?"

  "I was."

  "Was the captain relieved of command by the executive. officer during that watch?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you know why the executive officer took the action he did?"

  "Yes. The captain had lost control of himself and the ship, and we were in imminent danger of foundering."

  "How many years have you served at sea, Lieutenant?"

  "One year and three months."

  "Have you ever been in a ship that foundered?"

  "No."

  "Do you know how many years Commander Queeg has served at sea?"

  "No."

  "As a matter of fact, Commander Queeg has served over eight years. Which of you is better qualified to judge whether a ship is foundering or not?"

  "Myself, sir, if I'm in possession of my faculties and Com-mander Queeg isn't."

  "What makes you think he isn't in possession of his facul-ties?"

  "He wasn't on the morning of December 18."

  "Have you studied medicine or psychiatry?"

  "No."

  "What qualifies you to judge whether your commanding officer was in possession of his faculties on December 18?"

  "I observed his behavior."

  "Very well, Lieutenant. Describe to the court everything about your captain's behavior which indicated loss of his facul-ties."

  "He froze to the engine-room telegraph. His face showed petrified terror. It was green. His orders were sluggish and vague, and not appropriate."

  "Is it for the officer of the deck, Mr. Keith, a junior with one year at sea, to judge whether or not his captain's orders are appropriate?"

  "Not ordinarily. But when the ship is in danger of going down and the captain's ship handling is increasing the danger instead of countering it, the OOD can't help observing it."

  "Did Captain Queeg foam, or rave, or make nonsensical statements, or insane gestures?"

  "No. He seemed to be paralyzed with terror."

  "Paralyzed, yet he issued orders?"

  "As I say, the orders were not helping matters, but making them worse."

  "Be specific, Lieutenant. In what way were his orders making things worse?"

  "Well, he kept insisting on going down-wind, when the ship was yawing so badly it was broaching to. And he refused to ballast."

  "Refused? Who asked him to ballast?"

  "Mr. Maryk."

  "Why did the captain refuse?"

  "He said he didn't want to contaminate the tanks with salt water."

  "After being relieved, did Captain Queeg go violently crazy?"

  "No."

  "Describe the captain's manner after being relieved of com-mand."

  "Well, actually, he seemed better afterward. I think he felt better as soon as he no longer had the responsibility-"

  "No opinions, Mr. Keith. Tell the court not what you think, but what you observed, please. What did the captain do?"

  "Well, he stayed in the wheelhouse. Several times he tried to resume command."

  "In an orderly, sensible way, or in a wild, raving way?"

  "The captain was never wild or raving, either before or after being relieved. There are other forms of mental illness."

  "Tell us about some others, Mr. Keith." Challee's tone was coarsely sarcastic.

  "Well, little as I know about psychiatry, I do know-well, for instance, extreme depression and vagueness, and divorce-ment from reality, and inaccessibility to reason-things like that-" Willie felt that he was stumbling badly. "Besides, I never said Captain Queeg issued rational orders that morning. They were rational only in so far as they were phrased in correct English. They showed no awareness of reality."