“Lieutenant,” said Mr. Myerscough. “You stated that you thought Lieutenant Commander Clarke was plainly upset and apologetic. Could you have been mistaken in that assumption?”
“Nossir.”
“On what do you base that assumption?”
“It’s not an assumption, sir. It’s a fact. He was upset and apologetic. I heard him saying, ‘Oh my God,’ and I heard him say, ‘I’m extremely sorry.’”
“Are you quite sure of that? Because Lieutenant Commander Clarke has a very different recollection.”
“He was probably too upset to think straight right then, sir. Anyone would have been. You make a mistake like that. Sir, I even recall what Captain Crocker said after the XO said how sorry he was.”
“I have not asked you to recount that.”
“Nossir. But I’m real happy to tell you. He said, ‘So am I, Linus. So am I.’”
“No further questions.” Mr. Myerscough shook his head in some exasperation, as if unable to cope with the ingenuous, no-lies, no-bullshit mind-set of a Navy officer accustomed to telling the truth to all higher authority. Lieutenant Warren, like everyone else, had it ingrained in him since first he entered Annapolis and was told, “The only thing they’ll throw you out for is lying. So don’t even consider telling one. They’ll forgive damn near anything, except for a lie. That’s death in the Naval Academy.”
“Call Master Chief Brad Stockton.…”
Recovered now from the battering he had taken in Xiachuan Dao, the Master Chief entered the room and walked purposefully to the front, saluted the admirals and swore to tell the truth.
Admiral Curran walked him through the first exchanges and then concentrated on the significant points.
“And when did you first realize that Lieutenant Commander Clarke was intending to conduct a maneuver with which you were personally uncomfortable?”
“Just as soon as he said he was intending to cross the stern of that destroyer, sir.”
“And what was your own judgment?”
“Sir, I knew we were uncertain about the length of the Chinese towed array. And I did tell him that, just as a kind of warning.”
“But what did he say?”
“He said he had no intention of coming in closer than a mile, which would be plenty of clearance.”
“Did you know that he was seeing the destroyer a mile off?”
“Nossir. I did not look through the periscope. I assumed he was certain of at least that fact — like we were a mile clear of the Chinese warship.”
“And was the clearance distance the biggest thing on your mind?”
“No sir. It was not.”
“What was?”
“That we were not informing the CO of our actions. I thought that was really wrong.”
“And did you inform Lieutenant Commander Clarke of your concerns?”
“Yessir. Twice. I told him that since we were groping around the backside of a six-thousand-ton destroyer in Chinese waters the captain ought to be informed.”
“And did he heed this warning from the Chief of the Boat?”
“Nossir. He did not. He said there was no need. He said the destroyer was not transmitting on anything and he was just going in closer for pictures.”
“And what then?”
“Well, sir. I was being overruled by our Executive Officer. I had no choice but to accept his order. But I did say again, I still thought the CO should be told what we were doing.”
“And was that final advice accepted?”
“Nossir. It was not. Lieutenant Commander Clarke proceeded to order the boat across the stern of the destroyer at one mile distance. At least that’s what he believed.”
“And did you believe that distance?”
“Yessir. You expect your XO to be able to handle the periscope accurately.”
“But in hindsight, you now believe he was not doing that.”
“Obviously not, sir. And when the CO finally arrived, that much became very apparent.”
“You mean you accept Captain Crocker’s version of what had gone wrong — low power on the periscope, which made the destroyer seem much farther away than it really was?”
“No question, sir. I heard the lieutenant commander apologize. That’s what happened.”
“That’s all, Master Chief,” replied Admiral Curran. “Admiral Cameron may wish to say more.”
“I don’t think so,” replied the chairman. “The evidence of the Chief of the Boat and the evidence of the Officer of the Deck are identical. Mr. Mangone? Mr. Myerscough?”
“Nothing further from me,” said Art Mangone.
And once more Philip Myerscough stood up and attempted to cast Linus Clarke in a somewhat better light than that of error-prone number two on a nuclear submarine.
“Mr. Stockton,” he said, as if trying to distance himself entirely from the military. “You stated that you were certain that Lieutenant Commander Clarke had mistakenly placed the periscope on low power, which subsequently increased the apparent distance between Seawolf and the Chinese destroyer?”
“Yessir. I did. And I am.”
“What proof is there? What proof do you have? Is this not a mere speculation?”
“Well, sir, our commanding officer looked right through the periscope within moments of the error and stated that the Xiangtan was five hundred yards away.”
“But what proof is there that it was not Mr. Crocker who was mistaken and that Linus Clarke was correct all along?”
“I guess because we then wrapped our screw around the towed array, which was a lot nearer than Lieutenant Commander Clarke believed.”
“But how do you know it was not a mile long — and that Lieutenant Commander Clarke made no mistake?”
“Well, I don’t know that for certain, sir, but I never have heard that the Chinese own a mile-long towed array. No one in the United States Navy has ever even suggested such a thing. Longest I heard was one thousand yards.”
“But with respect, Mr. Stockton, the fact that you never heard of such a thing does not preclude it from existing?”
“Nossir. I guess not.”
“Then it would be foolish to discount the possibility?”
“Nossir. It would be foolish to include it. Captain Crocker saw the submarine with his own eyes five hundred yards off our port beam.”
“For three seconds, I believe. Not very long.”
“Sir, in our trade, assessing the surface picture, three seconds is long. Like three hours to a normal untrained person.”
Philip Myerscough chuckled a deep sardonic chuckle. “But Mr. Stockton,” he said, “no one else saw it, did they, because the submarine was trimmed stern down and the periscope was under the water?”
“No one saw it right then. But we came to the surface a very few minutes later. And the destroyer was still five hundred yards away.”
“And who had the periscope then?”
“The commanding officer, sir.”
“Anyone else?”
“Yessir.”
Philip Myerscough looked temporarily uncomfortable. “And who was that?” he asked.
“Me, sir. The CO handed over the periscope for me to look at the long wire on our screw. You could see it, about fifteen feet across, a huge tangle.”
At this point Mangone arose, and requested just one question at this juncture.
Admiral Cameron said, “Please proceed.” And with some annoyance, Myerscough sat down.
“Master Chief,” said Mangone, “when you looked through that periscope on the surface, within a very few minutes of the accident, how far was the destroyer from Seawolf?”
“Five hundred yards or so, sir.”
“Thank you, Master Chief. Just checking. No further questions.”
Philip Myerscough stood again. “Mr. Stockton, how long have you served with Captain Crocker?”
“Oh, we’ve done maybe six tours of duty together.”