The Circle (53 page)

Q
. Go on.

A
. We were given medical treatment and a shot of brandy. At dawn a helo took us to the carrier. That is about all I have to say.

Q
. Commander Bryce, what was
RYAN
's last port of call before the collision?

A
. It was our home port, Newport, Rhode Island.

Q
. How long had she been at sea?

A
. Sixteen days. We operated in the North Atlantic and Arctic, then west of Ireland.

Q
. Is the dispatch which you sent to the Secretary of the Navy a true statement of the loss of
RYAN?

A
. As far as it goes, but of course it's not complete. There are many facts that this Court will have to uncover, and I hope to assist it in that.

Q
. Have you any complaint to make against any of the surviving officers and crew of
RYAN?

A
. As I said, I was not on the bridge at the time. I do know many relevant facts, some of which relate to individuals who were on watch during the collision. I would like to hear their versions of what happened before I make a formal complaint.

COUNSEL FOR THE COURT
: I will have further detailed questions to ask this witness. However, in order to expedite the hearing, I ask that he be excused from the stand at the present time without cross-examination.

Neither the counsel for the Court, the Court, nor the other parties desired further to examine this witness, and he resumed his seat.

*   *   *

LIEUTENANT (jg) Aaron Reed was then called as a witness. He was sworn and examined as follows.

Q
. State your name, rank, branch of service, and duty station.

A
. Aaron Reed, lieutenant junior grade, antisubmarine officer on
RYAN.

Q
. What was your duty station on the morning of 25 December?

A
. I was off watch. I had turned over the deck to my relief, Lieutenant Norden, who I understand turned it over again shortly thereafter to Lieutenant Evlin.

Q
. You have heard the narrative by the senior survivor read. Have you any objection with regard to it?

A
. No.

Q
. Lieutenant, what was Commander Packer's condition the last time you saw him on the bridge?

A
. He seemed fatigued. He had been sick, he had a cold, and between us waking him up to ask about course changes and so on, he would nap in his chair.

COUNSEL FOR CDR PACKER
: I object. I believe that the bridge was dark at the time. The captain may have merely been silent.

THE COURT
: Does the witness have any grounds for saying that
RYAN
's commanding officer was sleeping, other than that he was silent?

A
. He snored.

THE COURT
: The counsel for the Court will continue.

Q
. Aside from his “naps,” did the captain seem alert when you woke him?

A
. Yes, sir, he would come awake and listen to you and then give a response or an order.

Q
. Were the responses consecutive and logical?

A
. I would say so.

Q
. Yet you said that he was, and I use your words, “fatigued” and “sick.” You must have based that conclusion on some evidence. What was it?

COUNSEL FOR CDR PACKER
: Sir, the counsel for the Court is attempting to lead the witness to conclusions rather than eliciting evidence.

COUNSEL FOR THE COURT
: It is obvious, I think, that establishing Commander Packer's physical and mental condition are vitally important in this investigation. I am trying only to get the witness to elaborate on a matter he does not seem too helpful with.

LIEUTENANT
(jg)
REED
: I am trying to be helpful, sir.

THE COURT
: Commander Johnstone will continue.

Q
. To return to the captain's condition: What led you to believe he was fatigued and sick?

A
. As I said, he had a cold.

Q
. And had become fatigued, I assume, by being on call or on deck almost continuously for many days?

A
. Yes, sir. During the whole time we were involved with the sonar trials, the storm, then during the—subsequent events, with the—

THE COURT
: We will not go into certain events occurring before the night of the collision. They are irrelevant. Do you understand?

A
. Yes, sir.

COUNSEL FOR THE COURT
: Go on, please.

A
. As I was saying, he had been on deck essentially nonstop for a period of four or five days, and hadn't had much sleep before then, either.

Q
. You have heard the senior survivor's narrative. Have you any objection with regard to it?

A
. No, sir.

Q
. Have you anything to lay to the charge of any officer or man with regard to the loss of USS
RYAN
?

A
. No. I was proud to serve with Commander Packer. He was a fine seaman and a fine commanding officer. Whatever happened that night, I'm sure he wasn't to blame.

Neither counsel for the Court, the Court, nor the parties desired further to examine the witness. He resumed his seat.

*   *   *

LIEUTENANT (jg) Marcus R. Silver was then called. He was sworn and examined as follows:

Q
. State your name, rank, branch of service, and duty station.

A
. Lieutenant Junior Grade Marcus Roland Silver, USNR, CIC officer on
RYAN.

Q
. Where were you on the morning of the collision?

A
. On the bridge. I was in Lieutenant Norden's section from 1945 till midnight, but since my relief was late, I stayed there until 0115.

Q
. Do you know why your relief was late?

A
. There was some kind of shakedown going on in the weapons department. For that reason, Lieutenant Evlin was standing part of Mr. Norden's OOD watch also.

Q
. So you stood several hours of watch with Evlin, ending about an hour before the collision?

A
. That is right.

Q
. What was Lieutenant Evlin's condition at the time?

A
. Condition?

Q
. Was he in proper condition to stand watch? Not tired, upset, or sick?

A
. I'm sure he was tired—we all were—but not so tired he couldn't stand watch. He seemed okay to me.

Q
. Was Commander Packer on the bridge during your watch?

A
. Yes, sir, he was on deck in my first watch—I mean before midnight—when we took station in the screen, and when we went to plane guard, and then when we went from plane guard back to screen.

Q
. We will return to that maneuver, but first, I am going to follow the same line of questioning with you as I just have with Lieutenant Reed. Do you agree with his evaluation of the captain's condition as “fatigued” and “sick”?

A
. In general, yes.

Q
. In general?

A
. I agree with what he said.

Q
. What was your opinion of Commander Packer?

A
. He was a hard-driving man, pushing himself hardest. He may have driven himself too hard in regard to staying on the bridge essentially on a 24-hour basis. I thought he was maybe too tired to immediately grasp everything we said to him. And as Aaron—Lieutenant Reed, said, he had flu or a cold.

Q
. Mr. Silver, you mentioned
RYAN
's taking plane guard station aft of
KENNEDY
in the watch previous to the collision, effectively prefiguring the maneuver that later—during which the disaster occurred. We are now going to go over that in detail with you, to add to our understanding of that situation.

A
. I'm ready.

Q
. Can you describe how the ship maneuvered at that time?

A
. Yes, sir. The formation was on a southerly heading, about one-eight-zero. The carrier corpened around—changed her course—to two-six-zero and ordered us to take station astern of her. We calculated a solution in two legs, two-five-zero at fifteen knots for eight minutes, then right to I think it was three-zero-zero at twenty knots; but by then, we could steer by eye on her stern light.

Q
. How close did you come to
KENNEDY
in this maneuver?

A
. I can't answer that, sir. We had no means of determining range.

Q
. Can you give us an estimate?

A
. On the board, we figured we would pass her outside 1,000 yards. That's about what it looked like by eye, too.

Q
. Commander Packer approved this maneuver?

A
. He didn't say anything either for or against it that I know of.

Q
. Did you consider it an unorthodox or dangerous maneuver?

A
. I've been taught that any operation close to a carrier is dangerous, sir. But this one seemed safe to me. It took us quite a while before we reported to the
KENNEDY
we were in position, though. The captain asked once how much longer it would be. I think this was in view of the message.

Q
. What message was that?

A
. The one that said to take station as quickly as possible.

Q
. To your recollection, what did the message say?

A
. As I recall, it said that screen units were taking too long to get to station—it must have meant the others; we hadn't done any yet—and that from now on to proceed to station in the fastest way possible.

Q
. You saw this message, or heard about it?

A
. I read it. It was taped to the bulkhead on the bridge. I'm sure it's in the group commander's outgoing message log.

Q
. Let me ask this again, because it's an important point: Did Commander Packer express any reservations or impatience when Lieutenant Evlin executed this maneuver on your watch?

A
. No, sir. Not that I heard or can recall of. Just asking that once how much longer it would be.

*   *   *

WHEN Dan hauled himself upright, sweat poured down his ribs beneath his blouse. The Court seemed to be proceeding chronologically, calling first Bryce for an overview, then establishing conditions on Reed's watch, then Nor-den's. Rich Norden should be up next, then. He saw the lieutenant's fresh blond crew cut in the front row, beside Bryce.

But if that was how they were going, he'd be about the last man called. If he could hold out that long. Would there be a break for lunch? He wormed his wrist around to see his watch, gasping a little as the pain, which had been growing slowly beneath it, suddenly tore through the Saran Wrap coating of the opiate.

And when were they going to get to the important questions—why it had happened, why
Ryan
had been rammed, why so many had died and so few been saved? When would they ask what had happened in
Ryan
's whaleboat after she cast off? Norden and Bryce hadn't mentioned it. The remaining officers hadn't talked at all about it while they were in Newport, just done the routine things, getting clothes and places to sleep for the men, writing the letters to the next of kin.

He sat sweating, tasting metal again, as he had on the deck of a burning destroyer.

Were they going to leave it all up to him?

*   *   *

LIEUTENANT Richard Norden was then called as a witness by the counsel for the Court. He was sworn and examined as follows.

Q
. State your name, rank, branch of service, and duty station.

A
. I am Richard N. Norden, lieutenant, U.S. Navy, weapons officer of
RYAN.

Q
. What was your duty station on the morning of 25 December?

A
. I had been called off watch to deal with matters internal to the ship, at the request of the executive officer. I notified the senior watch officer that I might be late relieving him. This was Lieutenant Evlin. He proposed that we swap watches, that I get some sleep and relieve him at 0400.

Q
. Have you any objection with regard to the narrative read by the senior survivor?

A
. No.

Q
. Have you anything to lay to the charge of any officer or man with regard to the loss of USS
RYAN?

A
. [Witness hesitated.] No.

Q
. Do you have any objections to the narrative submitted by the senior survivor, or any charges to lay to the account of any of the officers or men of
RYAN
?

A
. No, sir.

COUNSEL FOR CDR PACKER
: I would like to ask one question of this witness before he steps down.

Permission was granted. Cross-examination took place as follows.

Q
. Mr. Norden, what was your opinion of Commander Packer's professional competence?

A
. Sir, he handled the ship well, and he was always in possession of himself, though at times he would get angry when we made what he felt was a mistake. But he was fatigued and sick and quite possibly in that condition, could have made an error.

Neither the counsel for the Court, the Court, nor the parties desired further to question this witness. He took his seat.

The Court decided unanimously to adjourn till 1230, resume questioning until 1500, and then adjourn for the day.