following sea in a typhoon
Shouldn't a ship be heading INTO a gale? Queeg wanted the opposite. If so why was this not brought up during the courtmartial as evidence of Queeg's incompetence as a Captain.
shareHe was following the fleet course, which was due south. Queeg was said they'd received no orders to maneuver at discretion. The fleet was heading that direction to escape from the typhoon and the fleet orders were to head for bearing 180.
So, with the ship under orders to head south, the only leeway a captain would have to deviate from those orders would be if the ship was in dire jeopardy and he had to maneuver for the safety of the ship. (Essentially, if they were in a do or die scenario).
However, the book mentions that is considered a last resort when it comes to handing a ship in a typhoon. This is the passage from the novel:
When things get reaally bad, the books say, the best idea is to turn the ship's head into the wind and sea and out the blow that way. But even on this idea the authorities are not all agreed. None of the authorities have experienced the worst of enough typhoons to make airtight generalizations. None of the authorities, morever, are anxious to acquire the experience.
So, Queeg's reluctance to alter his heading wasn't an airtight case. As captain, he was supposed to be the best judge of the situation. As well, coming right into the wind wasn't considered to be the textbook solution by everyone. It was thought to be a last gasp idea. Queeg was maintaining the ship was doing alright and that Maryk had panicked; taking command and ordering the ship on the northbound heading -back into the teeth of the storm. It was his word agains Maryk's, initially, on how bad it was.
It was only after Greenwald had gotten Queeg to go into a rant that the court could see that under stress, Queeg's decision making processes were badly affected and he clearly could not be counted on to exercise good judgement. Hence, Maryk was justified in assuming command under Article 184 and not guilty of conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline.
long after the last post, and to add complexity, while a ship is likely safest sailing bow to wind, once a course has been set stern to wind, it is not always easy or safe to turn around, as this requires the ship to take the wind and waves on the beam, which is the most dangerous condition. Queeg's action is not automatically wrong, especially given that the rest of the fleet is out there somewhere, potentially exactly where you are turning. The movie tries to shift the POV. Very often decisions made under dangerous and stressful conditions are judged under calm safe conditions.
Neither Queeg nor Maryk were obviously right or wrong. Queeg did freeze as was apparently unable to give orders, but was removing him from command the only option?
l
I was just about to say the same thing--bow to the wind is probably the safest, but in turning from stern to wind to bow to wind you force the ship to take waves abeam--which is an excellent way to capsize a boat.
It's probably a coin flip if the act of turning subjects you to more danger than maintaining stern to wind.
In the book, when Willie writes a letter to May in June of 1945, some months after he ended their relationship prior to the court martial (but after a near death experience with a kamikaze, he wants her back as he realized how much he loved her), he sums up what he thought of the typhoon. He says that he'll never be able to definitively say whether it was better to go north or south (i.e. turn into the wind or follow the fleet course). But, he is certain that the relief wasn't needed. Either Queeg would have decided to maneuver on his own if things had gotten worse, or he would've been persuaded by Maryk. He felt that if they'd been loyal to Queeg, he'd have been far more receptive to listening to the advice of his officers.
shareSomewhat late in the day . . .
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