John F. Kennedy ran a PT boat into a pier and he didn’t get fired.
It never ceased to amaze me that Kennedy could get his PT Boat sliced in two by a Japanese destroyer — a ship that is much bigger, slower and less maneuverable than a PT boat — and somehow come out a hero for it.
JFK ran his PT boat in to a destoryer, too.
"..While Nimitz was a 22-year-old ensign in the Philippines and conning the destroyer Decatur, his ship ran aground on a mudbank. However, he successfully rescued a man overboard when the ship ran into the mudbank. Nimitz was court-martialed and convicted of hazarding a Navy ship and received a letter of reprimand.[4].."
JFK was a Kennedy. The rules don’t apply.
Kennedy's father -- the vile, Hitler-loving, professional gangster -- fixed JFK's mistakes. He was going to be court-martialed for shutting-down his boat's engines and being rammed by a Japanese destroyer. But The Old Bastard Joe Kennedy got that changed to a medal for heroism.