MovieChat Forums > The Caine Mutiny (1954) Discussion > If there had been a ship's doctor on the...

If there had been a ship's doctor on the USS Caine

posted 15 years ago by Altho73
10 replies | jump to latest

Suppose that the USS Caine had been a vessel that had a ship's doctor amongst its officers. During the typhoon incident supposed that the doctor had agreed with Maryk and Keith that the captain was behaving irrationally, was likely to put the ship in danger and had to be relieved of command.

What would have happened afterwards? Would the doctor's decision have been accepted as final and the matter closed with the captain being declared unfit for command? Or would the whole incident have been swept under the carpet with all the protaganists quietly reassigned elsewhere?

I imagine it would have been far more difficult and controversial to have gone ahead and prosecuted the officers concerned with the doctor being put on trial too!!!!!!!

[–] TorontoJediMaster 15 years ago

There would likely have been an inquiry later, but probably not a court martial.

The doctor could have constituted the higher authority cited in Article 184 to give Maryk legal justification in relieving Queeg. They likely would not have court martialed the doctor for rendering a medical opinion.

Chances are, that there would have been no court martial.

[–] Altho73 15 years ago

Thanks, that's what I thought.

[–] TorontoJediMaster 15 years ago

Other doctors (i.e. psychiatrists) would have certainly examined Queeg to give a second opinion. If they didn't find him to be mentally ill, then he would likely have been restored to duty. As I said, there would have been an Court of Inquiry. However, Maryk -at the time- would have been back by medical opinion.

[–] Bernnard_Black 15 years ago

Right. The big problem with Maryk was that he misapplied article 184. He was careful to stay on legal grounds; in the book, they make it clear that the actual charge is NOT mutiny, but conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline. If a doctor had backed Maryk's actions, no court-martial would have happened.

[–] TorontoJediMaster 15 years ago

That was another part of the film that irritated me; Maryk is actually charged with mutiny. In Greenwald's first scene in the book, he tells the Judge Advocate that a mutiny charge could never be supported as Maryk was very careful to stay on legal ground: i.e. he invoked Article 184 (a valid, if obscure, part of the Regulations) and afterwards never gave any suggestion of violence, force or disrespect. (A mutiny charge had been recommended by an investigating officer who knew nothing about law. However both Greenwald and Captain Breakstone -the Judge Advocate- realized that from a legal standpoint, Maryk didn't commit mutiny.)

As I said, there would have definitely been a Court of Inquiry, where the diagnosis of the ship's doctor would have been examined -especially if he wasn't a trained psychiatrist. I mean, if his specialty was, for example, orthopedic surgery, then he might not have been fully qualified to diagnose Queeg himself either.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] tcrizzo-1 8 years ago

But in reality, given the ending, there was no mutiny (the relieving of Queeg being justified). So is "The Caine Mutiny" really an accurate title?

[–] DrakeStraw 14 years ago

Suppose that the USS Caine had been a vessel that had a ship's doctor amongst its officers.

This is precisely why the Caine was a ship too small to have a medical officer on board. The plot wouldn't have worked on a larger ship!

--
Drake

FYI

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[–] rwsmith29456 13 years ago

I'm sure the doctor would have had to be called to the bridge to observe Queeg's freezing up.

[–] liscarkat (16692) 3 years ago

A destroyer, or minesweeper conversion like the Caine, probably wouldn't have had a doctor. A ship that size would most likely have had a pharmacist's mate, roughly the equivalent of a paramedic.