The Caine Mutiny

by Herman Wouk

  “I relieved him because he definitely seemed sick during the typhoon.”

  “Don’t you think it’s illogical, or fantastically conceited, to insist on your ignorant diagnosis now against the opinion of three psychiatrists?”

  Maryk looked around unhappily at Greenwald, who was staring at the desk. The exec’s forehead was covered with wrinkles. He swung his head back and forth, like an annoyed bull. “Well, maybe it sounds that way. I don’t know.”

  “Very well. Now then. This amazing interview in which the captain offered to falsify official records. Were there any witnesses to it?”

  “No, we were alone in the captain’s cabin.”

  “Were any erasures made? Is there the slightest thread of tangible evidence to support your story?”

  “The captain knows it happened.”

  “You rely for confirmation of this insulting libel upon the very officer you are libeling?”

  “I don’t know what he’ll say.”

  “Are you predicting that Commander Queeg will perjure himself on the stand?”

  “I’m not predicting anything.”

  “Is there a possibility that you imagined this story, which can’t be confirmed or refuted except by the other interested party, to bolster your magnificent defense that you know more psychiatry than psychiatrists?”

  “I didn’t imagine it.”

  “But you still imagine your diagnosis of Captain Queeg is superior to the doctors’?”

  “Only-only about Queeg on the morning of the typhoon,” Maryk stammered. There was sweat on his brown forehead.

  “No more questions,” Challee said sarcastically.

  Maryk looked to his counsel. Greenwald shook his head slightly, and said, “No re-examination.” The exec came off the stand with a stunned expression. Blakely adjourned the court after Greenwald told him that the last defense witness, Captain Queeg, would appear in the morning.

  CHAPTER 36

  Queeg Versus Greenwald

  The defense counsel introduced as evidence photostatic copies of Maryk’s fitness reports, and then called Queeg. The ex-captain of the Caine, taking the stand, was as debonair and assured as he had been on the first day. The exec marveled again at the change wrought by sunshine, and rest, and a new blue uniform. Queeg was like a poster picture of a commanding officer of the Navy.

  Greenwald lost no time in getting to the attack. “Commander, on the morning of December 19, did you have an interview in your room with Lieutenant Maryk?”

  “Let’s see. That’s the day after the typhoon. Yes, I did.”

  “Was it at your request?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was the substance of that interview?”

  “Well, as I say, I felt sorry for him. I hated to see him ruining his life with one panicky mistake. Particularly as I knew his ambition was to make the Navy his career. I tried as hard as I could to show him what a mistake he had made. I recommended that he relinquish command to me, and I offered to be as lenient as I could in reporting what had happened.”

  “What was his response?”

  “Well, as you know, he persisted in the course that led to this court-martial.”

  “You say you felt sorry for him. Weren’t you worried about the effect of the episode on your own career?”

  “Well, after all, I knew the verdict of the doctors would turn out as it did. I can’t say I was very worried.”

  “Did you offer not to report the incident at all?”

  “Of course not. I offered to report the incident in the most extenuating way I could.”

  “How could you have extenuated it?”

  “Well, I thought there were extenuating circumstances. A rough situation where a junior officer might well lose his head. And there was the rescue, which he brought off well under my direction. I was assuming mainly that by restoring command to me he’d acknowledge the error. It was the only course at that point that might have saved him.”

  “You never offered not to report the incident?”

  “How could I? It was already recorded in the logs.”

  “Were the logs in pencil, or typed, or what?”

  “That would make no difference.”

  “Were they in pencil, Commander?”

  “Well, let’s see. Probably they were-QM log and OOD rough log always are. I doubt the yeoman would have gotten around to typing smooth logs in all the excitement.”

  “Did you offer to erase the incident from the penciled logs and make no report at all?”

  “I did not. Erasures aren’t permitted in penciled logs.”

  “Lieutenant Maryk has testified under oath, Commander, that you made such an offer. Not only that, but you begged and pleaded and even wept to get him to agree to erase those few pencil lines, in return for which you promised to hush up the incident completely and make no report.”

  “That isn’t true.” Queeg spoke calmly and pleasantly.

  “There isn’t any truth in it at all?”

  “Well, it’s a distortion of what I told you. My version is the exact truth.”

  “You deny the proposal to erase the logs and hush up the story?”

  “I deny it completely. That’s the part he made up. And the weeping and the pleading. That’s fantastic.”

  “You are accusing Mr. Maryk of perjury?”

  “I’m not accusing him. He’s accused of enough as it stands. You’re likely to hear a lot of strange things from Mr. Maryk about me, that’s all.”

  “Isn’t one of you obviously not telling the truth about that interview?”

  “It appears so.”

  “Can you prove it isn’t you?”

  “Only by citing a clean record of over eight years as a naval officer, against the word of a man on trial for a mutinous act.”

  “It’s his word against yours, then, in this matter?”’

  “Unfortunately there wasn’t anyone else in my cabin at the time.”

  “Commander, did you recommend to the commodore at Ulithi that Maryk be allowed to take the Caine to Lingayen Gulf?”

  “I thought that would come up. I did, yes.”

  “Despite the fact that, according to your story, you had seen him make a panicky mistake in a tight situation-a mistake of the most disastrous kind?”

  “Well, I wasn’t recommending him for command. The commodore put it to me that the Navy desperately needed minesweepers. He asked me to put aside personal considerations. I did put aside personal considerations. Maryk vindicated the training I had given him. And if as a result of that he gets acquitted and I carry a black mark for the rest of my naval career I’ll still say I did the right thing.”

  “How could you be sure he wouldn’t make another panicky mistake which would cost all the lives on the Caine?”

  “Well, he didn’t, did he? I took a calculated risk, and he didn’t.”

  “Commander, the Caine took a Kamikaze hit at Lingayen, and yet Maryk brought the ship back safely. Was that likely in a man given to panicky mistakes?”

  “Well, I understand it was a glancing hit, practically a miss. Anyway, for all I know, Keefer took charge in the pinch. Keefer is an outstanding officer, best on the ship. I relied more on him than on Maryk.”

  “Commander Queeg, did you ever receive a hundred ten dollars from Lieutenant Junior Grade Keith?”

  “I may have. I don’t recall offhand that I did.”

  “He testified that you did.”

  “I did? On what occasion?”

  “On the occasion of a loss of a crate of yours in San Francisco Bay. He assumed responsibility and paid for the loss.”

  “Yes. I remember now. It was over a year ago. December or thereabouts. He was responsible for the loss, and insisted on paying, and so he did.”

  “What was in the crate that cost a hundred and ten dollars?”

  “Personal belongings. I don’t recall. Probably uniforms, books, navigating instruments-the usual.”

  “You remember the figure of a hund
red and ten dollars?”

  “Something like that, I don’t recall exactly.”

  “How was Keith responsible for the loss?”

  “Well, he was boat officer and in charge of the unloading. He issued foolish and contradictory orders. The men got rattled and the crate fell into the water and sank.”

  “A wooden crate full of clothes sank?”

  “There were other things in it, I guess. I had some souvenir coral rocks.”

  “Commander, wasn’t the crate entirely full of bottles of intoxicating liquor?”

  After a barely perceptible pause-the skip of a heartbeat, no more-Queeg answered, “Certainly not.”

  “Keith has testified you charged him for thirty-one bottles of liquor.”

  “You’ll hear plenty of strange distortions about me from Keith and Maryk. They’re the two culprits here and they’re apt to make all kinds. of strange statements.”

  “Did you make this crate yourself?”

  “No. My carpenter’s mate did.”

  “What was his name?”

  “I don’t recall. It’ll be on the personnel records. He’s been gone from the ship a long time.”

  “Where is this carpenter’s mate now, Commander?”

  “I don’t know. I transferred him to the beach at Funafuti at the request of the commodore for a carpenter. This was back in May.”

  “You don’t recall his name?”

  “No.”

  “Was it Carpenter’s Mate Second Class Otis F. Langhorne?”

  “Lang, Langhorne. Sounds right.”

  “Commander, there is a Carpenter’s Mate First Class Otis F. Langhorne at present in damage-control school at Treasure Island, right here in the bay. Defense has arranged to subpoena him if necessary.”

  Queeg was obviously brought up short. His head sank between his shoulders. He shot a look at Challee. “You’re sure it’s the same one?”

  “His service record shows twenty-one months aboard the U.S.S. Caine. Your signature is in it. Would it be useful to have him subpoenaed, sir?”

  Challee said, “Objection to this entire interminable irrelevancy about the crate, and request it be stricken from the record.”

  Greenwald said, “The credibility of the witness is being established. I submit to the court that nothing could be more relevant to this trial.”

  Challee was overruled. The question was repeated. Queeg said, “Well, it’s a question which crate Langhorne nailed up. I had two crates, as I recall now.”

  “Oh?” Greenwald paused for a long time. “Well! This is a new angle, not mentioned by Keith. Did Langhorne make both crates, sir?”

  “Well, I don’t recall whether I had both crates on that occasion or two crates on two different occasions. It’s all very trivial and happened a long time ago and I’ve had a year of combat steaming in between and a typhoon and all this hospital business and I’m not too clear. As I recall now on two different occasions there were two crates.”

  “What was the other occasion?”

  “I don’t recall. It might even have been back in peacetime, for all I know.”

  “Did you lose both crates in San Francisco Bay?”

  “As I say, I’m not clear on all this, I don’t recall.”

  “Commander, there are many points in this trial which turn on the issue of credibility between yourself and other officers. If you wish I will request a five-minute recess while you clear your mind as well as you can on the matter of these crates.”

  “That won’t be necessary. Just let me think for a moment, please.” In the silence Blakely’s pencil made a thin rattling noise as he rolled it under his palm on the bench. Queeg sat staring from under his eyebrows. “Kay. I have it straight now. I made a misstatement. I lost a crate in San Diego Harbor back in ’38 or ’39 I think it was, under similar circumstances. That was the one containing clothes. The crate Keith lost did contain liquor.”

  “Thirty-one bottles?”

  “Something like that.”

  “How did you obtain thirty-one bottles of-”

  Challee said, “May it please the court, Courts and Boards requires evidence to be developed briefly, materially, and relevantly. It is useless for me to stall this trial indefinitely with objections. I question defense’s entire tactic of expanding on irrelevancies which confuse the issue.”

  Blakely said, “Court is aware of requirements of evidence and thanks the judge advocate for emphasizing them. Defense will proceed.”

  “How did you obtain thirty-one bottles of whisky, Commander, in wartime?” said Greenwald.

  “Bought up the rations of my officers at the wine mess in Pearl.”

  “You transported this liquor from Pearl to the States in your ship? Do you know the regulations-”

  Queeg broke in, “I’m aware of regulations. The crate was sealed prior to getting under way. I gave it the same locked stowage I gave the medicinal brandy. Liquor wasn’t obtainable in the States, and was at Pearl. I’d had three years of steady combat duty. I gave myself this leeway as captain of the Caine and it was a common practice and I believe rank has its privileges, as they say. I had no intention of concealing it from the court and I’m not ashamed of it. I simply mixed up the two crates in my mind.”

  “Keith testified, Commander, that you gave all the orders to the boat crew which caused the loss of the crate.”

  “That’s a lie.”

  “Also that you refused to sign his leave papers until he paid for the loss.”

  “That’s another lie.”

  “It seems to be the issue of credibility again, sir-this time your word against Keith’s. Correct?”

  “You’ll hear nothing but lies about me from Keith. He has an insane hatred for me.”

  “Do you know why, sir?”

  “I can’t say, unless it’s his resentment against fancied injuries to his crony, this sailor Stilwell. Those two were mighty affectionate.”

  “Affectionate, sir?”

  “Well, it seems to me every time Keith thought I looked cross-eyed at Stilwell there was all kinds of screeching and hollering from Keith as though I were picking on his wife or something. I don’t know how else to explain the two of them ganging up so fast to back Maryk when he relieved me unless they were pretty sweet on each other and had a sort of understanding.”

  “Commander, are you suggesting there were abnormal relations between Lieutenant Keith and the sailor Stilwell?”

  “I’m not suggesting a thing,” Queeg said with a sly grin. “I’m stating plain facts that everybody knew who had eyes to see.”

  Greenwald looked around at Blakely. “Does the court desire to caution the witness about the gravity of this insinuated charge?”

  “I’m not insinuating a thing, sir!” Queeg said nasally. “I don’t know of anything improper between those two men and I deny insinuating anything. I said Keith was always taking Stilwell’s part and it’s the easiest thing in the world to prove and that’s all I said or meant. I resent the twisting of my words.”

  Blakely, his face all wrinkled, said to Greenwald, “Are you going to pursue this topic?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Very well. Go ahead.”

  “Commander Queeg, during the period when the Caine was towing targets at Pearl Harbor did you ever steam over your own towline and cut it?”

  “Objection!” Challee was on his feet again. Blakely gave him a frankly irritated look and ordered the court cleared, motioning to the two lawyers to remain behind.

  The skin of Challee’s face was leaden gray. “I beg the court’s indulgence. I must object. This towline business is the last straw. The tactics of the defense counsel are an outrage on the dignity of these proceedings. He’s systematically turning this trial into a court-martial of Commander Queeg. He’s not bringing out any evidence bearing on the issue. He’s trying to smear and defame Queeg and nothing else.”

  Greenwald said, “Sir, the judge advocate has made it perfectly clear that he thinks he has a prima
facie case in the report of the three psychiatrists. Maybe he wants the defense to switch to a guilty plea. But I say it’s still up to the court, not to shore-bound doctors, however brilliant, to judge whether the captain of the Caine was mentally well enough to retain his self-control and his post during a typhoon. This is a direct argument to the issue. I have no way to conduct it except to review the witness’s performance of duty in critical situations prior to the typhoon.”

  “Counsel will step outside,” said Blakely.

  “I must respectfully state,” said the judge advocate, “that in my opinion, if my objection is overruled, and the reviewing authority disapproves the court’s ruling, it will be a fatal error invalidating the entire proceedings, and a miscarriage of justice will result.”

  “Very well, clear the court.”

  There was a fifteen-minute wait. Blakely and the other court members looked grim when the parties returned. “The objection is overruled. The witness will answer the question.” Challee appeared stunned, sitting down slowly. The stenographer read the question about the towline from the record.

  Queeg answered promptly, “Well, here’s the story on that particular slander. I saw some AA bursts close aboard to starboard. I was gravely concerned that my ship might be within range of somebody’s firing. We were in a gunnery area. I was watching the bursts. This same sailor Stilwell, a very dreamy and unreliable man, was at the helm. He failed to warn me that we were coming around the full 360 degrees. I saw what was happening, finally, and instantly reversed course, and I avoided passing over the towline, to my best knowledge. However, the line parted during the turn. There was a lot of vicious gossip, circulated mainly by Stilwell and Keith, to the effect that I’d cut the towline. I ascribed the mishap to a defective line in my written report to ComServPac. And he was cognizant of all this vicious gossip. And he knew all the circumstances. And he still accepted my report. It’s on file. So I say it’s conceivable that this vicious gossip was correct, but I consider it much more likely that the judgment of ComServPac in the matter can be relied on.”

  Greenwald nodded. “You were distracted, you say, by AA bursts. Did anything else distract you?”