Herman Wouk - The Caine Mutiny

by The Caine Mutiny(Lit)

  Queeg paused. "As I recall now Lieutenant Maryk did, and I now recall I had to caution him for opening the gap too wide."

  "How wide?"

  "I can't say, but at one point there was definitely too much open water and I called him aside and admonished him not to run away from the boats."

  "Why did your executive officer have the conn?"

  "Well, he was navigator and for split-second precision in-stead of repeating a lot of orders back and forth- And it's all coming back to me now. As I recall I dropped the marker because Maryk had opened the gap so wide and I wanted to be sure the boats knew exactly where the line of departure was."

  "Didn't you direct him to slow down when you saw the gap widening?"

  "Well, but it was all happening very fast and I may have been watching the beach for a few seconds and then I saw we were running away. And so that's why I dropped the marker, to compensate for Maryk's running away from the boats."

  "These are your factual recollections, Commander?" Blakely's face was grave.

  "Those are the facts, sir."

  Blakely said to Greenwald, "You may resume your examina-tion."

  The lawyer, leaning against his desk, said at once, "Com-mander Queeg, did you make it a practice, during invasions, to station yourself on the side of the bridge that was sheltered from the beach?"

  Queeg said angrily, "That's an insulting question, and the answer is no, I had to be on all sides of the bridge at once, constantly running from one side to the other because Maryk was navigator and Keith was my OOD at general quarters and both of them were invariably scurrying to the safe side of the bridge so I was captain and navigator and OOD all rolled in one and that's why I had to move constantly from one side of the bridge to the other. And that's the truth, whatever lies may have been said about me in this court."

  Greenwald, slack-mouthed, his face expressionless, kept his eyes on the court members, who stirred in their chairs. "Com-mander," he said, as soon as Queeg subsided, "do you recall an incident during the Saipan invasion when the U.S.S. Stan-field was fired on by a shore battery?"

  "I most certainly do." The ex-captain glowered at Green-wald, breathing heavily. "I don't know what lies have been sworn to in this court about that little matter, but I'll be glad to set the record straight on that, too. This same Mr. Keith we're talking about went hollering and screaming all over the bridge making a big grandstand play about wanting to fire on the shore battery when the Stan field was in my line of fire and it was absolutely impossible to fire. And so I returned to my patrol station because that was my assigned duty, patrol-ling, not interdicting fire on shore batteries, and the plane was sunk without a trace and as for the Stanfield it was taking mighty good care of itself."

  "What is the turning circle of the Caine, sir?"

  "A thousand yards, but-"

  "Sir, in swinging a thousand yards didn't the Stanfield move out of your line of fire to give a clear shot at the shore bat-tery?"

  "For all I know the Stan field paralleled my course. I never had a clear shot, that's all I know."

  "Court desires to question the witness," said Blakely.

  Challee stood. "Sir, the witness is obviously and understand-ably agitated by this ordeal, and I request a recess to give him a breathing space-"

  "I am not in the least agitated," exclaimed Queeg, "and I'm glad to answer any and all questions here and in fact I demand a chance to set the record straight on anything derogatory to me in the testimony that's gone before. I did not make a single mistake in fifteen months aboard the Caine and I can prove it and my record has been spotless until now and I don't want it smirched by a whole lot of lies and distortions by disloyal officers."

  "Commander, would you like a recess?" said Blakely. "Definitely not, sir. I request there be no recess if it's up to me."

  "Very well. Was the Stanfield hit during this incident?"

  "No it was not, sir."

  "Was it straddled?"

  "It was straddled, yes, sir."

  "And there was no way you could maneuver to lend it fire support? Did you try?"

  "As I say, sir, it was in my line of fire and my estimate of the situation was that in the circumstances my duty was to get back on anti-sub station and not run around trying to make a grandstand play with pot shots at the beach and that was my command decision and I will stand on it as being in accordance with every existing doctrine, sir. It's a question of mission. My mission was patrol."

  "Commander, wouldn't you consider returning enemy fire, directed at yourself or at a nearby unit, an overriding mission?"

  "Definitely, sir, if the range was clear. The Stanfield was in my line of fire, however."

  Blakely glanced around at the other court members, his eye-brows puckered, and then nodded shortly to Greenwald. The lawyer said, "Commander, on the morning of 18 December, at the moment you were relieved, was the Caine in the last extremity?"

  "It certainly was not!"

  "Was it in grave danger at that moment?"

  "Absolutely not. I had that ship under complete control."

  "Did you tell the other officers that you had intended to come north, as Maryk did, at ten o'clock-that is, about fifteen minutes after the relief took place?"

  Queeg plunged his hand into his coat pocket and brought out two glistening steel balls. "Yes, I did make that statement, and such had been my intention."

  "Why did you intend to abandon fleet course, Commander, if the ship wasn't in danger?"

  There was a long silence. Then Queeg said, "Well, I don't see any inconsistency there. I've repeatedly stated in my testi-mony that my rule is safety first. As I say the ship wasn't in danger but a typhoon is still a typhoon and I'd just about de-cided that we'd do as well riding it out head to sea. I might have executed my intention at ten o'clock and then again I might not have. I was still weighing all the factors but as I say I had that ship under control and even after Maryk relieved me I saw to it that it remained under control. I never aban-doned my post."

  "Then Maryk's decision to come north was not a panicky, irrational blunder?"

  "His panicky blunder was relieving me. I kept him from making any disastrous mistakes thereafter. I didn't intend to vindicate myself at the cost of all the lives on the Caine."

  "Commander Queeg, have you read Lieutenant Maryk's medical log?"

  "I have read that interesting document, yes sir, I have. It is the biggest conglomeration of lies and distortions and half--truths I've ever seen and I'm extremely glad you asked me because I want to get my side of it all on the record."

  "Please state your version, or any factual comments on the episodes in the log, sir."

  "Well, now, starting right with that strawberry business the real truth is that I was betrayed and thrown and double--crossed by my executive officer and this precious gentleman Mr. Keith who between them corrupted my wardroom so that I was one man against a whole ship without any support from my officers- Now, you take that strawberry business-why, if that wasn't a case of outright conspiracy to protect a male-factor from justice-Maryk carefully leaves out the little fact that I had conclusively proved by a process of elimination that someone had a key to the icebox. He says it was the steward's mates who ate the strawberries but if I wanted to take the trouble I could prove to this court geometrically that they couldn't have. It's the water business all over again, like when the crew was taking baths seven times a day and our evaps were definitely on the fritz half the time and I was try-ing to inculcate the simplest principles of water conservation, but no, Mr. Maryk the hero of the crew wanted to go right on mollycoddling them and-or you take the coffee business-no, well, the strawberry thing first-it all hinged on a thorough search for the key and that was where Mr. Maryk as usual with the help of Mr. Keith fudged it. Just went through a lot of phony motions that proved nothing and-like thinking the incessant burning out of Silexes which were government prop-erty was a joke, which was the attitude of everybody from Maryk down, no sense of responsibility th
ough I emphasized over and over that the war wouldn't last forever, that all these things would have to be accounted for. It was a constant bat-tle, always the same thing, Maryk and Keith undermining my authority, always arguments, though I personally liked Keith and kept trying to train him up only to get stabbed in the back when- I think I've covered the strawberry business and-oh, yes, Stilwell's court-martial. That was a disgraceful business, quite typical-"

  Commander Queeg passed to a review of the court-martial, which was also, he said, a conspiracy of Keith and Maryk to discredit him. Then he discussed the failures of the laundry, the sloppiness of the mess statements and ship's service inven-tories, and went on from subject to subject in this way, cata-loguing his grievances against his officers, mainly Maryk and Keith. He hardly paused for breath. He seemed unable to pause. His narrative became less distinct as he talked, his jumps in time and place more sudden and harder to follow. He talked on and on, rolling the balls, his face glowing with satisfaction as he scored all these successive points in his vin-dication. Greenwald strolled to his desk and leaned against it, listening respectfully. The court members stared at the witness. Challee slouched, biting his nails. The sentences became longer and more meandering. Blakely began to glance at the clock.

  Queeg went on for eight or nine minutes in this way, and ended up, "Well, naturally, I can only cover these things roughly from memory but if I've left anything out why you just ask me specific questions and I'll tackle them one by one, but I believe I've hit the main points."

  "It was a very thorough and complete answer, thank you," Greenwald said. He drew two glossy black photostats from a folder on his desk. "Commander, I show you authenticated copies of two fitness reports you wrote on Lieutenant Maryk. Do you recognize them as such?"

  Queeg took the papers and said grumpily, glancing at them, "Yes, I do."

  "Please read to the court your comment on Maryk of Jan-uary 1944."

  "I've already stated," Queeg said, "that at first he put on the act of a red-hot but cooled off in time-"

  "We have that testimony, Commander. Please read the com-ment."

  Queeg read in a choked voice a highly laudatory description of Maryk.

  "Thank you, Commander. That was January. Now by July, six months later, had the Caine already been through the Kwajalein and Saipan invasions?"

  "Yes."

  "Had the following incidents already occurred: the water shortage, the coffee investigation, the Stilwell court-martial, and the suspension of movies, among others?"

  Queeg hesitated. "Well, by then, yes, I think."

  "Please read your comment of 1 July on Lieutenant Maryk."

  Queeg stared at the photostat for a long time, hunched over, and began mumbling, " `This officer has if anything improved in his performance of duty since the last fitness report. He is consistently loyal, unflagging, thorough, courageous, and effi-cient. He is considered at present fully qualified for command of a 1200-ton DMS. His professional zeal and integrity set him apart as an outstanding example for other officers, re-serve and regular alike. He cannot be too highly commended. He is recommended for transfer to the regular Navy.' "

  "Thank you, Commander. No further questions."

  Greenwald walked to his desk and sat. The witness looked toward the judge advocate appealingly. Challee stood slowly, like an old man with rheumatism. He approached the witness stand, and seemed about to speak. Then he turned to Blakely. "No cross-examination."

  "You are excused, Commander," Blakely said. Queeg went out of the courtroom in the same way that Maryk had seen him pass through the wheelhouse a thousand times-shoulders hunched, head down, feet scurrying, the balls rolling in his fingers.

  Greenwald said, "Defense has finished its presentation."

  "Recess until one o'clock," said Blakely.

  37

  The Verdict

  Challee had the face of a man sailing into a fist fight when he rose for his opening argument.

  "If it please the court, I am almost at a loss to discuss the case the defense has presented. I have nothing to refute. It's no case at all. It has nothing to do with the charge or the speci-fication. It has nothing whatever to do with the accused, or the acts for which he is undergoing a general court-martial.

  "The defense counsel's very first question in this trial was, `Commander, have you ever heard the expression "Old Yellow-stain"?' I objected then, I object now to the entire strategy and tactics of the defense counsel before this court. His one idea has been to twist the proceedings around so that the accused would become not Maryk but Commander Queeg. To a cer-tain extent he has succeeded. He has dragged out every possible vicious and malicious criticism of the commander from the other witnesses, and forced Queeg to defend himself against them in open court, on the spur of the moment, without prep-aration, without advice of counsel, without any of the normal privileges and safeguards of an accused man under naval law.

  "All right. What has defense counsel proved in this orgy of mudslinging, insults, trick questions, and defamation? Let's as-sume that everything he tried to prove against Commander Queeg is true-which I don't for a moment concede-even so, what has he proved, I say, except that Queeg was not a good officer? What has he tried to bring out except that the com-mander's term aboard the Caine was an unhappy mess of bad judgment and poor administration? Did that give Lieutenant Maryk the right of summary relief of command? Can this court possibly endorse the precedent that a captain who seems to be making mistakes can be deposed by underlings? And that his only recourse after that is to be placed on the witness stand at a general court-martial to answer every petty gripe and justify all his command decisions to a hostile lawyer taking the part of his insubordinate inferiors? Such a precedent is noth-ing but a blank check for mutiny. It is the absolute destruction of the chain of command.

  "The one issue in this trial was the insanity of Commander Queeg-the insanity, not the mistakes or misdeeds or poor judg-ment. The language of Articles 184, 185, and 186 excludes every possibility except the complete, utter, and unmistakable madness of the captain. The defense made no effort to estab-lish such a justification for the simple reason that it never ex-isted. Captain Queeg always was and still is as sane as any of us, whatever his errors may have been, and defense counsel knows it.

  "Has any officer of this court ever sailed with a captain who committed no errors of judgment? Has any officer who has been in the Navy more than a few years failed to find himself under a captain with marked personal and emotional eccentric-ities? Naval command is the greatest strain that can be brought to bear on a person. The captain is a god-in theory. Some lapse more, some less, from that ideal. But the procurement policies of the Navy are rigid. That is why the presumption is always overwhelmingly on the side of the commanding offi-cer in any dispute. He's a man who has been tried in the fire. Whatever his weaknesses-and they may even be grave weak-nesses-he's a man who can command a combatant ship.

  "In proof of this I need only cite the recorded fact that this case is the first in thirty years impugning the captain of a Navy ship under those articles. And even in this case the scientific findings of psychiatrists are forcibly and unanimously on the side of the Navy's system of command appointments. The doc-tors say that the Navy did know what it was doing in giving the Caine to Commander Queeg.

  "With the leeway the court gave him, defense counsel brought out every single mistake, every single lapse of judg-ment that the captain of the Caine made or that some under-ling thought he made. The court knows that it all adds up to pulling complaints against strictness and meticulousness-all but one point. That point is the imputation that this officer of the Navy was a coward under fire. I shall not discuss that point. I leave it to this court to determine whether a coward could rise to command of a combatant ship and remain undetected by his superiors through fifteen months of battle service. I count on the court to see the difference between bad judgment and poltroonery. I leave it to the court to reject this smear on the Navy.

&nbs
p; "Let's look at the facts. Commander Queeg was given com-mand of an obsolete, decaying, run-down ship. He brought it through fifteen months of combat unscathed, and carried out a multitude of assignments to the satisfaction of his superiors. There's no complaint against him on the record by his superiors-only by his underlings. He achieved this record of satisfactory battle service despite the hostility and disloyalty of his officers. He achieved it despite personal inner tensions, which the doc-tors have described-and which the defense viciously hammered at in a vain attempt to exaggerate them into insanity. Com-mander Queeg's achievement in the face of his own emotional difficulties and the disloyalty of his wardroom adds up, not to a bad record, but to a fine one, to an impressive one. He emerges as a loyal, hard-working, terribly conscientious officer who has been unjustly forced through a harrowing ordeal.

  "The accused emerges without any justification. The defense counsel brought no psychiatrists to refute the findings of the medical board. He didn't because he couldn't have found any. Once the cloud of mudslinging settles down, the facts remain as they were at the outset. A commanding officer of a United States Navy ship was relieved of his command willfully and without authority. The claimed authority of Articles 184, 185, and 186 was voided by the medical board. No justifiable cause, either mental illness or any other, has been brought forward by the defense. It has been proved by expert testimony that Commander Queeg's ship-handling decisions in the ty-phoon up to the moment he was relieved were not only sen-sible and sound, but the best possible in the circumstances.