Caine Mutiny, The - Herman Wouk [255]
“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 battery?”
“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 understandably 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 eyebrows 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 testimony 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 decided 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 abandoned 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