MovieChat Forums > The Caine Mutiny (1954) Discussion > Going to Admiral Halsey's Carrier...

Going to Admiral Halsey's Carrier...

posted 14 years ago by wpman
3 replies | jump to latest

I admit I've not read the book, so I don't know if there's a detailed explanation, but I've always wondered about Maryk, Keefer and Keith's trip to Admiral Halsey's carrier for the purpose of asking that Queeg be relieved of command for medical reasons.

You'd think that Queeg would need to authorize any launches from the Caine. At least he'd have to be told that a launch was being made.

Perhaps things were done without Queeg's knowledge, but it seems like Maryk, Keefer and Keith took a big chance. I assume that Maryk would have had to notify the carrier of their visit.

I can't realistically see three officers taking a launch to pay an unannounced visit to the "headquarters" of the fleet.

I know Hollywood takes creative license with a lot of time elements in movies, but you have to wonder just how long the excursion to Halsey's carrier took. You'd figure that Queeg would have noticed if his XO, Maryk and junior XO, Keith weren't around for an hour or two.

[–] Bernnard_Black 14 years ago

The movie fudges it a bit for time's sake. In the novel, they aren't going to see Halsey, their going to see the fleet medical officer. But, while on board the New Jersey, Maryk sees Halsey's office and decides to take it straight to him. His rational for the impromptu visit is that article 87 doesn't come up often, and that Halsey would make an exception and want to hear what they had to say because of the rarity of the event. The rest of the scene plays out like in the film, but with a bit of a rebuke by Maryk to Keefer.

As for not asking Queeg, I would assume that when in port, officers pretty much come and go as they need to and don't have to give any detailed explanation as to where they're going. Probably just requesting the launch for "ship's business" is enough; going to get supplies, picking up mail and coded dispatches (in the book, Willie does this when he gets the chance because of the labor it saves him), trading for movies, etc., are all reasons they might take the launch and go visit another ship. Obviously they couldn't tell Queeg WHY they were really going, but it probably isn't difficult for the XO to get a boat when he needs it.

[–] TorontoJediMaster 14 years ago

In the book, the fleet is at anchor at Ulithi. So, they really weren't needed on the ship at that time. And, as the previous poster said, the gig was often used to run housekeeping business like picking up the mail, exchanging movies, etc.

Also, Maryk, as Executive Officer, probably had some authority to approve its use.

In fact, I think that even if Queeg has found out they were going to speak to a superior officer on another ship, or ashore, I don't think he could have stopped them. I'm not 100% certain on this, but I believe that military personnel have the right to take a legitimate grievance or issue to a higher authority if they feel they cannot take it to the next person above them in the chain of command. I recall, from my time in the Reserves, it was called a Redress of Grievance policy. I would presume that the U.S. military has a similar policy.

[–] rwsmith29456 14 years ago

That crossed my mind too, but I believe being in port there was traffic coming and going all around and a visit to another ship was fairly routine.