Full transcript: Convo between cruise ship captain and port authority

GIGLIO, Italy (WLS) - Audio recording of the conversation between Capt. Francesco Schettino and Port Authority officials after the doomed Italian luxury cruise liner Costa Condcordia struck rocks Friday was released Tuesday morning. At least 11 people were killed in the aftermath, according to Italian media, and dozens more are still missing.

The following is a translation of the recording, which was posted on the news website Corriere della Sera:

Port Authority: Schettino, listen to me, there are people trapped onboard, now you go back, you will go with your rescue boat under the stern of the ship, there are some steps, you climb those steps and you get onboard and you get back to me letting me know how many people are on board. Is that clear to you? I am actually recording this conversation captain.

PA: Speak in a loud voice! Put your hand by the microphone to cover it and speak up! Is that clear?

PA: I understand that. Listen to me, there are people that are getting off using the rope ladder on the stern side, you go back there and you go up that ladder the opposite way, you go onboard the ship and you tell me how many people [are there] And what they need. You tell me if there are children, women or people that need assistance and you give me a number for each one of these categories is that clear? Look Schettino, you may have saved yourself from the sea but will put you through a lot of trouble it will be very bad for you! Get back on board for [expletive]'s sake!!!

PA: There are no "pleases"! Get back on board! Please assure me that you are going back on board.

Captain: I am here on the rescue boat. I'm right here, I didn't go anywhere else, I'm here.

PA: What are you coordinating? Get back on board and coordinate rescue operations from onboard the ship.

Captain: No, I am not refusing to go back. I am not going because the other rescue boat stopped.

PA: Get back on board! This is an order! You don't need to make any other assessment. You have declared that you have abandoned ship, therefore I'm in command. Get back on board right now is that clear?

PA: Then go! And call me right away when you are on board. There's my rescuer there.

PA: My rescuer is on the stern side, go! There are already bodies, Schettino! Go!

PA: I don't know. I know about one…I've heard about one, but you must tell me! [expletive]!

PA: What do you want to do? Do you want to go home? It's dark, so you want to go home? Get on the stern of that ship climb the ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people are there and what they need. Right now!

Captain: I just wanted to tell you that the other rescue boat here with other rescuers stopped. It's just stopped. Now I've called the other rescuers.

PA: You've been telling me the same thing for an hour now get back on board! On board! And you get back to me right away telling me how many people are there.

It also explains why so many Navy Captains have their careers cut short.

I follow the Navy Times since my son is a Marine, and there was an article last year about the number of commanders being fired rising. It was something like 1% - 2%, which isn't much, but they seemed to be getting a lot more strict on folks screwing around or negligence. I was surprised at how many officers with 20+ years threw their careers away over stupid crap that they should have known better about.

The number of captains being removed is at levels that has some here wondering if there is a purge going on. It seems to be monthly if not more frequently, now.

I just looked and the average for the last 10-15 years is 12 commanders. In 2010, there were 17 fired, and 11 were for personal misconduct. That's 17 out of just over 1,600 commanding officers in the Navy - both ship and ashore, so only 1%, which is not that much.

The highest in the last 10 years was back in 2003 when 26 commanders were fired. 2003 is the year we invaded Iraq, which would have put a lot of stress and strain on commanding officers. Some incompetent officers that had made their way through the system in far less demanding times probably ran into situations that were well above their capabilities and they were found out.

The stuff many are being removed for is stuff that has always gone on.

I think you've got something here. It seems like a lot of the folks being fired, word gets out on their misdeeds and so the Navy feels pressured to respond. Thanks to videos, emails, Facebook, etc., this crap gets out, and stuff that in the past would have gotten a slap on the wrist gets turned into a public scandal that they Navy has to deal with. We're talking about stuff that would never have ended up in the public spotlight 20 years ago.

The alternative could be that it's easier to prosecute these days because of emails, Facebook, etc. leading to evidence that's hard to cover up. It seems like quite a few officers get the boot because of sexual misconduct.

As an example, in the past, if an officer was sleeping with an enlisted crew member, it could be easy to cover up and easy to deny - I had to do a few investigations in the Air Force for similar issues. If both parties clam up, unless you have direct eyewitness testimony, rumors and allegations are going to remain just that - rumors and allegations.

Now these dumbasses have their photos on their Facebook accounts or they leave an email or text message trail. You can't ignore it and they can't cover it up.

Given that for the past 10 years, we've been at war, and for several of those years at war in two countries in addition to smaller conflicts, I actually find it speaks highly of the Navy that they only have to fire on average a dozen commanding officers a year. I really would have thought the average would have been more than 12 a year.

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