One other observation is many times Captain's hands are tied from defensive actions and it goes high up the chain of command again often to The Pentagon and even the White House. They are caught in a political game of Mother May I while someone is weighing political considerations. If the Captain is to blame if attacked as Cole was then Captain's should have full discretion to act in a defensive manner. I would give pilots the same leeway as well.
Sometimes even with the best of Captain's things can and do go wrong. We almost became the first aircraft carrier to land in Yugoslavia literally. An Alpine Express which didn't show up on radar until about a couple minutes before it struck caught us and we began dragging anchor right off Dubrovnik. The Captain was on the beach meaning ashore at the time and his boat unable to transit back and we had to cut our launches loose and send all boats to the beach as we got underway literally in seconds. IT was a very close call but the XO did his duty and gave orders to get the ^^^^ ship underway and get it underway now over the 1MC..
BTW The Captain a few months later had his star which he had very well earned in his service. If we had of grounded the Navy did not have a punishment worse than what that man endured as one of the longest held in the Hilton.
I saw the same thing happen later at NOB Norfolk. This time we were moored at pier 12 and the ship stayed put. Many of the rest were broke loose from their piers & out in the river channel after the storm hit.
.........perhaps you didn’t intend to but in a way you make my point when you say.......One other observation is many times Captain’s hands are tied from defensive actions and it goes high up the chain of command again often to The Pentagon and even the White House. They are caught in a political game of Mother May I while someone is weighing political considerations.
Of course you are absolutely correct in what you say. But my retort (respectully) is that what you say is THE WHOLE POINT!!! Time after time throughout our history military commanding officers on scene made tough decisions that they knew when they did it put their asses on the line. Today, top admirals and officers admit they are AFRAID to do that anymore because of the PRESS and politicians. Service academies need to start teaching the history of officers who put their butts on the line at critical moments.
I’m sure officers on the Bonhomme Richard wanted to please as many of their crew as they could (by giving liberty) based upon pressure from on high. THAT WAS A BIGGGG MISTAKE. Top Brass should pay for that mistake, severely. Top officers are not where they are to be “CLASS FAVORITE”. Bottom line is the damn ship was undermanned and that is SOMEBODIES fault!!! To conclude anything less is to invite further disasters in our beloved Navy.
.......a follow up........the ships crew (normally) is 983 enlisted and 98 officers PLUS up to approximately 2,000 marines.
So, including the marines, who are part of the Navy, the Navy let approximately 95% of the crew GO on leaves or Liberty.
Basically the Navy invited disaster and it got it. Now, it wants off the taxpayers hook.