As I watched the Skipper of the Teddy Roosevelt depart with what can only be described as a tumultuous cheer and chant from the standing crew who know that the Captain had sacrificed his command and likely his career to protect them from what might be thought to be a slow moving Naval command structure, I was reminded that the Russian Revolution of 1918 actually started in 1905 when the crew of the Battleship Potemkin revolted.

True, they were twelve years apart, but that was a slower age. For now, the TR will be commanded by the Executive Officer who must have been in the communications loop seeking medical help. But as quickly as possible the Navy will have to post another ranking officer to take command. Will he be able to don the robes of unfailing loyalty Captain Crozier earned from his crew?

Before going any further with that “History replicates itself” thought, let’s consider what this situation capped by dismissing the ship’s captain will send to the rest of the fleet. Is the Corvid-19 virus slowly working its way through other nuclear-powered aircraft carriers? They are, with the help of the few escorts that accompany them virtually independent of the usual fuel and food imitations of vessels in the past and could roam the seas for quite some time.

It must have dawned on some officers and crew members, not only the TR, but other navy ships, that the executive power in Washington is in the hands of the most incompetent bunch or pissants ever.

At some point the men who serve must wonder if the orders that they might receive from one of the trump toadies are valid legal orders.

And that might also be being thought about by the officers and staffs of the Army, Marine, and Air Force units at home and abroad. After all, just about everyone knows in their heart, whether they are willing to admit it openly or not, that trump was only elected through the chicanery of foreign forces which puts his legality on soft sand.

What will happen when a new skipper is assigned and takes over a crew who know that Captain Crozier was dismissed on a paperwork technicality while he was trying to protect the crew.  Should the orders be to take the ship out to sea, or another ship’s orders be to remain at sea while the virus needlessly decimates shipmates one after another?  War is one thing, but incompetence is another.

I hope the Navy moves fast and prevents things from getting out of control. Still, I wonder if history’s fickle finger of fate is not at work once again.

Charlie Jensen

Copyright 2020, Foc’sle Chatter, All Rights Reserved