The point about the zig-zagging is correct. Apparently the Navy thought McVay should have been zig-zagging when he was cruising straight ahead but the Japanese commander explained that whether the ship zigged, zagged, or went straight ahead, it didn't matter; he was going to put a torpedo or two into her no matter what.
Yes. My memory fails me, but I honestly can’t remember if McVay’s defense brought him in, or if the Board brought him in to explain what he saw that night.
What a horrible affair. There are always some who denigrate the navy for being safe on their ships while the Marines were slugging it out on the land, and I get that.
When you were in a fox hole, you didn’t often have the possibility of being eaten alive by many creatures.
But out there, those sailors did have that possibility and it happened more than the public knew.
Apparently, nobody talked about it.
It was considered bad form. All it was going to do was lower morale, there was no upside to it, and nearly everyone understood it completely and engaged in the silence on the subject.
If someone did bring it up, someone else would tell him to talk about something else.
I think I understand that mindset completely. I think that is one subject my mind probably wishes to avoid.
I am a prolific dreamer, I dream every night, always have. When I was aboard ship, I had a dream one night.
I dreamed I was treading water, in black water, people around me doing the same. The sky above was a black vault, and there were stars, but it was so dark the stars didn’t even seem to light anything.
As I tread water, I saw a dark shape rise out of the ocean and get bigger. It was too dark to see anything but its size, and that size was only seen indirectly by the blotting out of the oddly bright yet faint stars behind it. It got bigger and bigger until I could see the black outline of the deck of an aircraft carrier.
That was it. I was in the water, and the JFK was going down by the stern.
As I gaped and treaded, the entire ship seemed to be out of the water, vertical, massive, and black.
Imperceptibly, it began to move, and I realized with a visceral terror that the whole carrier was going to come right down on me, a white wave parting in the ocean as the upraised bow and flat deck rushed towards me. I turned and swam frantically, flailing at the water to escape, I knew, in vain.
Then I woke up.
That was, oddly enough, the only ship dream I ever had.
Your post and the one about a young Nimitz reminds me of the submarine that hit an uncharted undersea mount a few years ago and sustaining extensive damage—and they blamed the sub captain for the accident. The Navy high command seem to be a bunch of cannibals that gobble up good officers and men which is a disservice to our country and the navy.
The higher leadership has a lot of power, and as Lord Acton said, Power Corrupts. And watching the asses of high officers being enthusiastically kissed I see where absolute power corrupts absolutely.