Lt. Steve Maryck, first officer aboard the U.S.S. Caine, relieved Captain Queeg of command when he panicked and froze up on the bridge during a typhoon due to mental illness. Merrick is now on trial on the charge of making a mutiny. A team of psychiatrists has pronounced Queeg "completely sane."
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PROSECUTOR. Gentlemen, the prosecution is prepared to prove that the removal of Lt. Cmdr. Queeg was not justified by any provision of the U.S. Navy
regulations, and consequently constituted the making of a mutiny against legal authority. We will also submit qualified psychiatric testimony establishing
without a doubt that Lt. Cmdr. Queeg is a sane, intelligent officer, and should not have been relieved.
DEFENSE. No statement at this time.
PROSECUTOR: In order to establish the circumstances, the prosecution would like to call as its first witness Ensign Willis Hubert Keith.
1) Q. Mr. Keith, were you the officer of the deck on the D.M.S. Caine during the morning of the 31st of July.
A. Yes, sir.
2) Q. Was the Captain relieved of command by the executive officer during that watch?
A. Yes, sir.
3)Q. Do you know why the executive officer took the action he did?
A. I do. The captain had lost control of himself and the ship was in imminent danger of foundering.
4) Q. Have you ever been on a ship that foundered?
A. No, sir.
5) Q. Mr. Keith, how long have you been in the Navy?
A. A little over a year, sir.
6) Q. Do you know how many years Lt. Cmdr.Queeg served at sea?
A. No.
7) Q. As a matter of fact, Lt. Cmdr. Queeg has served over eight years. I ask you, which of you is better qualified to judge if a ship is foundering?
A. Myself, sir, when I am in possession of my faculties and Lt. Cmdr. Queeg is not.
8) Q. Tell me, Mr. Keith, just how would you describe this loss of faculties? Did the captain rave or make insane gestures?
A. Well, no, sir.
9) Q. After being relieved, did the captain go violently crazy?
A. Well, the captain was never wild or raving either before or after being relieved. There are other forms of mental illness.
10) Q. Thank you for your expert opinion. Are you aware that the captain has been pronounced completely rational by three qualified psychiatrists?
A. They weren't on the bridge of the Caine during that typhoon, sir.
11) Q. Did you like the captain, Mr. Keith?
A. At first I did, sir.
12) Q. And later?
A. Well, I felt that he was incompetent and unfair. He blamed the members of the crew for his own mistakes and he rode the men too hard.
13) Q. Yourself included.
A. Yes, sir.
14) Q. So you ended up hating Mr. Queeg.
A. Yes, sir.
15) Q. Now let's come to the morning of the 31st of July, Mr. Keith. Was your decision to obey Mr. Maryk based upon your judgment that the captain had gone crazy, or was it based upon your hatred of captain Queeg? Mr. Keith, it's contempt of court to refuse to answer questions, except on sufficient grounds.
A. All I can say is I believe Mr. Maryk did the right thing, sir.
Prosecutor: That's all. No further questions.
*********** cross examination ************
16) Q. Mr. Keith, I'd like to ask you if you have ever heard the expression 'old yellow-stain.'
A. Would you repeat that, please?
Q. 'Old yellow-stain.'
A. Yes, sir, I've heard it.
17) Q. Was it a nickname?
A. Yes, for Captain Queeg.
18) Q. What did it imply?
A. It implied cowardice.
PROSECUTION. I object. I move that question and answer be struck from the record, as an unnecessary attack upon the honor of a Naval officer.
JUDGE. Mr. Greenwald, the career of an officer with a 14-year unblemished record is involved here. The court understands your zeal, but I warn you that you bear full responsibility for your conduct with the case. The court will hold in advance the prosecution's motion.
19) Q. Did that nickname have anything to do with a typhoon?
A. No, sir.
JUDGE. The court has no questions. Mr. Keith, you are warned not to discuss your testimony with anyone except the parties to the trial and the accused. You are excused.
********* NEXT WITNESS -- CREWMAN WHO WAS AT THE HELM *****
DIRECT EXAM. .... The ship was rolling real bad, I couldn't hold her. The captain wanted me to come left and the exec wanted me to come right.
20) Q. Which did you do?
A. I obeyed Mr. Maryk, sir.
21) Q. Why?
A. Well, Mr. Keith told me Mr. Maryk had taken command.
22) Q. Did the captain act crazy?
A. No, sir.
23) Q. Did Mr. Maryk act crazy?
A. No, sir.
24) Q. Did the captain seem scared?
A. No, sir.
25) Q. Did Mr. Maryk seen scared?
A. No, sir.
26) Q. Did anyone?
A. Just me, I was da...I was plenty scared.
*********** NEXT WITNESS. CREWMAN *******
Direct examination.
27) Q. Did you like Captain Queeg?
A. I liked him. Not a lot, but I liked him. He acted strange.
28) Q. Was it strange he cleaned up the Caine?
A. No, sir.
29) Q. Was it strange he made the men get haircuts?
A. No, sir.
30) Q. Was it strange he was strict about Navy regulations?
A. No, sir.
31) PROSECUTOR. Evidently what you thought strange was attempts to make good sailors of his crew. That's all.
****** cross **********
32) Q. Now, what do those campaign stars represent?
A. Oh, hell.
33) Q. What do they represent?
A. Well, this silver star is the Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Tulagi...
********* Witness: Lieutenant Thomas Keefer *********.
34) Q. Mr. Keefer, when did you first learn of Captain Queeg's relief?
A. Mr. Maryk called us to the bridge. When we arrived, he told us he had assumed full command.
35) Q. Did Captain Queeg show any external signs of being sick?
A. Well, at the height of a typhoon, nobody aboard a D.M.S. looks very well.
36) Q. Lt.Keefer, didn't you realize that Captain Queeg's warning to the other officers about collusion and mutiny was well-founded?
A. Yes, I did, sir.
37) Q. Then why, as the next senior officer, did you take no action?
A. I wasn't present when the Captain was relieved, so I didn't know what he might've done in a critical moment to have convinced the executive officer he was sick. I decided, for the safety of the ship, that my best course was to obey Mr. Maryk's order until such time as higher authority either endorsed or overruled his action.
38) Q. Mr. Keefer, during all the period Captain Queeg was in command of the Caine, did you ever observe any evidence of insanity in him?
A. I'm afraid I can't answer that question intelligently, not being a psychiatrist.
39) Q. Mr. Keefer, did you ever have any reason to think Captain Queeg might be insane?
DEFENSE. Objection. The witness is not an expert. Matters of opinion are not permissible evidence.
JUDGE. Strike it from the record.
40) Q. Mr. Keefer, at any time prior to the 31st of July, did you know that Mr. Maryk suspected Captain Queeg of being mentally ill?
A. Yes, sir. Mr. Maryk showed me a medical log he had written on Captain Queeg's behavior.
41) Q. Did you believe that log justified the relief of Captain Queeg?
A. Well, sir..
42) Q. Yes or no, please.
A. No, sir. Mr. Maryk was a close friend of mine. He persuaded Mr. Keith and me to go see Admiral Halsey. When we arrived on board the flagship, I told him as forcibly as I could that the log did not justify such action, and that we would all be liable to a charge of combining to make a mutiny.
43) Q. Were you surprised later when Mr. Maryk relieved the Captain?
A. Yes, I was flabbergasted.
44) Q. Were you pleased, Mr. Keefer?
A. I've said Mr. Maryk was a close friend. I was badly disturbed, I anticipated that at best he would be involved in great difficulty.
PROSECUTION. That's all.
DEFENSE. No questions.
JUDGE. Does defense counsel intend to recall witness at a later time?
DEFENSE. No, sir.
****** NEXT WITNESS. Dr. Dickson, psychiatrist. ********
45) Q. Doctor, may I ask you, as a psychiatrist, is it possible for a sane man to perform offensive or foolish acts?
A. It happens every day.
46) Q. Assuming for a moment, this is a hypothetical question, assuming that the captain's conduct was harsh and oppressive, and often showed bad judgment, would that be inconsistent with your diagnosis of him?
A. No...no, my colleagues and I didn't find Lt. Cmdr. Queeg a perfect officer. We found an absence of mental illness.
47) Q. Then you would still say that the defendant was unjustified in relieving him.
A. From a psychiatric standpoint, completely unjustified.
******* cross examination *************
48) Q. Doctor, my background is legal, not medical. Forgive me if I ask some elementary questions.
A. That's perfectly all right.
49) Q. Now Doctor, you said in previous testimony that Lt. Cmdr. Queeg, like all adults, had problems which he handled well. Could you describe those problems?
PROSECUTION. Objection. Lt. Cmdr. Queeg is not on trial here, Lt.Maryk is. This question constitutes irrelevant probing of medical confidences.
DEFENSE. I rely on the judgment of the court. Evidence regarding Lt. Cmdr. Queeg's mental makeup is of the utmost importance of my case.
JUDGE. The question is material, objection overruled. The doctor may answer within the limits of medical discretion. Recorder, you may repeat the question.
Q. You said Lt. Cmdr. Queeg, like all adults, had problems which he handled well. Could you describe the problems?
A. The overall problem is one of inferiority feelings, arising from an unfavorable childhood and aggravated by some adult experiences.
50) Q. What were those adult experiences?
A. He'd undergone a lot of strain in long, arduous combat duty. I think that's about all I can say.
51) Q. Now, sir, would he be inclined to admit mistakes?
A. None of us are.
52) Q. Would he be a perfectionist, sir?
A. Yes.
53) Q. Inclined to hound subordinates about small details?
A. Yes.
54) Q. Would he be inclined to think that people were hostile to him?
A. Yes, that's part of the picture, yes.
55) Q. And if criticized would he feel that he was being unjustly persecuted?
A. As I say, it's all one pattern, stemming from one premise, and he must try to be perfect.
56) Q. Doctor, you have testified that the following symptoms exist in Lt. Cmdr. Queeg's behavior: rigidity of personality, feelings of persecution, unreasonable suspicion, a mania for perfection, and a neurotic certainty that he was always in the right. Doctor, isn't there one psychiatric term for this illness?
A. I never said there was any illness.
57) Q. Thank you for the correction, sir. What would you call a personality that had all these symptoms?
A. A paranoid personality. But that is not a disabling illness.
58) Q. What kind of personality, Doctor?
A. Paranoid.
DEFENSE. Thank you, sir.
WITNESS. If I may speak, sir, I would like to protest the counsel's twisting of words. There's a big difference between real mental illness and minor mental disturbances.
59) Q. Let me put it this way, Doctor. Could Captain Queeg have been disabled by the severe strain of command?
A. That's absurdly hypothetical.
60) Q. Is it? Have you ever had any sea duty, Doctor?
A. No.
61) Q. Have you ever been at sea?
A. No.
62) Q. How long have you been in the Navy?
A. Five months.
63) Q. Have you ever had any dealings with ship captains before this case?
A. No.
64) Then I suggest that you cannot set yourself up as an authority on the strain of command, and thus you may be completely wrong about Captain Queeg. Your witness.
******** REDIRECT **********
65) Q. One minute, Doctor. Esteemed counsel for defense has raised an interesting point. Now, in private practice, did you ever have patients who had to deal with complicated command decisions, men such as plant managers, industrialists, et cetera?
A. Yes, quite a few, including some fliers who have to decide questions of life and death every day. I've written a book on the subject.
66) Q. And in those cases could you detect where a neurosis might damage the ability to make decisions correctly and at the right time?
A. Absolutely.
67) Q. And in your examination of Lt. Cmdr. Queeg, you found no such damage, is that right?
A. Absolutely right.
Prosecution. Q. Thank you, Doctor, that will be all.
******* direct of defendant, Merrick ***********
.... And that's the way I saw it. I felt it was my duty as a Naval officer. Captain Queeg was sick, mentally ill, and I had to take over. And I tell you honestly, if I had to do it again, I'd do it.
DEFENSE. Thank you, Mr. Maryk. Your witness, sir.
********* CROSS ***********
68) Q. Mr. Maryk, just a few questions. Would you say your grades in high school were average?
A. Lower than average.
69) Q. And in college?
A. Lower than average.
70) Q. What training have you had in psychiatry or medicine?
A. None.
71) Q. Where did you get the idea that Captain Queeg was mentally ill?
A. Out of books.
72) Q. What books? Name the titles.
A. I can't remember them.
73) Q. Mr. Maryk, define schizophrenia.
A. I can't.
74) Q. What is a manic depressive?
A. I don't know.
75) Q. What is the difference between the words paranoid and paranoia?
A. I don't know.
76) Q. In truth, then, Mr. Maryk, you don't know what you're talking about when you discuss mental illness.
A. I didn't say I knew much about it.
77) Q. Yet you think you knew enough to commit an act that was outright mutiny.
A. I wanted to save the ship.
78) Q. But doctors, responsible doctors, Mr. Maryk, have found that the Captain wasn't mentally ill, haven't they?
A. They weren't in the ship.
79) Q. But isn't the reverse possible? Mr. Maryk, isn't it possible that under pressure you became erratic and couldn't understand the Captain's sound decision? Isn't that possible?
A. It's possible...
80) Q. Between the captain and the executive officer, who is presumed by the Navy to have the better judgment in ship-handling?
A. The captain.
81) Q. One last question, Mr. Maryk. If the diagnosis of expert doctors is correct, then you're guilty as charged, aren't you?
A. I guess maybe so.
PROSECUTOR: No more questions.
******** DIRECT OF CAPTAIN QUEEG *************
...............Um, I assumed command of an extremely sloppy, badly handled ship. I was determined to bring this ship into line. Lt. Maryk, I may say, opposed me from the very first. Maybe he thought I was crazy to keep trying.
82) Q. In your judgment, was your ship on the verge of foundering when the executive officer assumed command?
A. Well now, as you gentlemen know, a typhoon is an extreme hazard at all times, but the ship was riding well. Lt. Maryk, however, went into a panic and ran amok, he acted under the delusion that he and he alone could save the ship. Ensign Willis Keith, a totally unreliable and disloyal officer, combined with him against me at this crucial time. It was bad luck for them, really, I bear them no malice, I'm extremely sorry for them.
*********** CROSS ***********
JUDGE. A word of caution before you proceed with the examination, Mr. Greenwald. The court recognizes that the defense is compelled to try to challenge the competence of Lt. Cmdr. Queeg. Nevertheless, all the requirements of legal ethics and military respect remain in force.
83) Q. Thank you, sir. Mr. Queeg, during the period when the Caine was towing targets, did you ever steam over your own tow line and cut it?
PROSECUTOR: Objection. I beg the court's indulgence, but I must say the defense outrages the dignity of this proceeding.
DEFENSE: The judge advocate wants the defense to switch to a guilty plea. He thinks the report of the psychiatrist closes the case. But I say it is up to you Naval officers, not doctors, to judge the Captain's performance of duty, and I must review that performance of duty for the Navy to render a judgment.
JUDGE: Objection overruled.
84) Q. Now, sir, did you ever steam over your own tow line and cut it?
A. Well, I, for one, am happy to dispose of this particular slander. During the time we were towing the target, I noticed some anti-aircraft bursts close aboard, and naturally, I turned to avoid them.
85) Q. And you continued to turn in a full circle.
A. Well, my helmsman, a very unreliable man, failed to warn me that we were coming around 360 degrees. I caught it in time, and instantly reversed course. To the best of my knowledge, we didn't steam over the tow line.
86) Q. I see. Now besides the anti-aircraft bursts, did nothing else distract you?
A. No, not that I recall.
87) Q. Captain, weren't you engaged in reprimanding a seaman named Glugatch at length for having his shirttail out while the ship turned 360 degrees?
A. Well, yes, I reprimanded him, but that only took two seconds.
88) Q. Mm-hmm. Now, on the morning the Caine escorted attack boats of Marines to the beach, did your orders include dropping a yellow dye marker?
A. I don't recall.
89) Q. Did you drop a yellow dye marker?
A. I don't recall.
90) Q. Now, Captain, didn't you steam several hundred yards ahead of the attack boats, drop a yellow dye marker, and retire at high speed, leaving the boats to make the beach on their own?
PROSECUTOR: The question is abusive and flagrantly leading.
JUDGE. Mr. Greenwald, there can be no more serious charge against an officer than cowardice under fire.
DEFENSE. Sir, may I make one thing clear? It is not the defense's contention that Lt. Cmdr. Queeg is a coward; quite the contrary. The defense assumes that no man who rises to command a United States Naval ship can possibly be a coward. And that therefore, if he commits questionable acts under fire, the explanation must be elsewhere.
JUDGE. You may continue
91) Q. Captain, you seem to be the victim of constantly disloyal officers.
A. Now, I didn't say that. Only some of them are disloyal.
92) Q. Mr. Keith and Mr. Maryk, for instance.
A. Yes.
93) Q. Now, Mr. Queeg, this is a fitness report you wrote on Mr. Maryk one July 1944, one month before he relieved you. Do you recognize it?
A. Yes, I do.
94) Q. Would you mind reading your comments on Mr. Maryk?
A. [mumbling]
95) Q. I don't believe the court can hear you, Mr. Queeg.
A. This officer has improved in performance of duty since his last fitness report. He is consistently loyal, unflagging, thorough, courageous and efficient. He is recommended for transfer to the regular Navy. Now in relation to that report, I'd like to say that . . .
96) Q. Thank you, sir. Captain, did you ever turn your ship upside down in a vain search for a key that did not exist?
A. I don't know what lies have been sworn to in this court, but I'd like to set you straight in this matter right here and now, a key definitely did exist!
PROSECUTOR. May it please the court, the witness is understandably agitated by this ordeal and I request a recess to give him a brief . . .
WITNESS. I don't want a recess! I'll answer all questions here and now.
97) Q. Did you conduct such a search?
A. Yes, I did. As usual, my disloyal officers failed me and the key couldn't be found.
98) Q. As a matter of actual fact, wasn't this whole fuss over a quart of strawberries?
A. The pilfering of food, in large amounts or small, is one of the most serious occurrences on board ship.
99) Q. Yes, but didn't you learn the mess boys had eaten the strawberries and you were searching for an imaginary key?
A. I repeat, the key was not imaginary, and I don't know anything about mess boys eating strawberries.
100) Q. Captain, have you no recollection of a conversation with an Ensign Harding just prior to his leaving the Caine?
A. What about it?
101) Q. Well, didn't Ensign Harding tell you that the mess boys ate the strawberries?
A. All that I remember is that he was very grateful for his transfer. His wife was ill in the states.
102) Q. Captain, do you know where Ensign Harding is now?
A. I have no way of knowing.
103) Q. Ensign Harding is in San Diego. His wife has fully recovered. He has already been summoned and can be phoned up here in three hours if necessary. Would it serve any useful purpose to have him testify?
A. No, I don't see any need of that. Now that I recall, he might've said something about mess boys, and then again he might not. I questioned so many men, and Harding was not the most reliable officer.
104) Q. I'm afraid the defense has no other recourse than to produce Ensign Harding.
A. Now, there's no need for that! I know exactly what he'll tell you, lies. He was no different from any other officer in the ward room, they were all disloyal. I tried to run the ship properly, by the book, but they fought me at every turn. The crew wanted to walk around with their shirt tails hanging out, that's all right, let them. Take the tow line, defective equipment, no more, no less. But they encouraged the crew to go around scoffing at me, and spreading wild rumors about steaming in circles, and then old yellow-strain. I was to blame for Lt. Maryk's incompetence and poor seamanship. Lt. Maryk was the perfect officer, but not Captain Queeg. Ah, but the strawberries, that's where I had them, they laughed at me and made jokes, but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, with geometric logic, that a duplicate key to the ward room icebox did exist, and I've had produced that key if they hadn't pulled the Caine out of action. I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow officer . . . Naturally, I can only cover these things from memory. If I've left anything out, why, just ask me specific questions and I'll be glad to answer them one by one.