# Captain of USN Aircraft carrier begs for help as COVID19 ravages ships company. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 31, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738 "2020-03-31T13:47:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/21 "2020-04-03T10:47:10Z")
Presumably the Navy didn’t want ‘the enemy’ to know that the carrier was out of action… better to let a couple of hundred sailors die. Pretty stupid in peace time. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/22 "2020-04-03T13:45:20Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Yes. I’m sure he knew what he was doing and went ahead anyway. I’m 99.9% sure Cropzier knew that leaking the letter was a firing offense, and was willing to accept it. The Navy HAD to fire him; going public with something like that is a firing offense every time. That precedent goes back forever. Grant fired McClernand for doing that… in 1863. The Navy fucked the situation up and wasn’t responding fast enough, to Crozier sacrificed his career to expose it. The Navy’s sin wasn’t in firing him, it was in allowing the situation to deteriorate to the point Crozier had to make them fire him. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/23 "2020-04-03T14:48:04Z")
They obviously need better procedures but isn’t “let a couple of hundred sailors die” and “stacking the dead in the mess freezer.” just a tad over the top? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/24 "2020-04-03T14:59:06Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > They obviously need better procedures but isn’t “let a couple of hundred sailors die” and “stacking the dead in the mess freezer.” just a tad over the top? Considering the age group and fitness level of the sailors on board, I would agree. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/25 "2020-04-03T17:06:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > There has been [one military death](https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2020/03/30/guard-soldier-becomes-first-service-member-to-die-after-testing-positive-for-covid-19/) so far. I knew him slightly. Great guy. Had a medical career before he joined the Guard but wanted to serve. He did not contract the disease as part of his military duties. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/26 "2020-04-03T17:19:03Z")
It’s pretty fucking weird to say “one military death so far” when talking about a not deployed Army National Guardsman in this thread about problems on a Navy ship. One easily could have assumed it had something to do with the problem under discussion, when it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/27 "2020-04-03T17:32:45Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Yeah, when I first heard about his letter, I thought, “There is a great commander. He is throwing his career away for his men.” I didn’t expect it to be this fast, though. The mission, the ship, the crew, yourself, in that order. I’m guessing he felt staying within the chain of command would not yield good results. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/28 "2020-04-03T17:58:05Z")
Can’t find the article, but it’s my understanding that he TRIED to use the chain of command and it was ignored repeatedly. And he didn’t exactly “go public,” he CC’d 20 or 30 more people than he should have, knowing it would probably leak. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/29 "2020-04-03T19:15:46Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Presumably the Navy didn’t want ‘the enemy’ to know that the carrier was out of action… better to let a couple of hundred sailors die. > > Pretty stupid in peace time. That strategy worked really great in 1918, after all. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/30 "2020-04-03T19:27:22Z")
Another example of the US Navy showing its can-do spirit and coronavirus readiness: [The 1,000-Bed Comfort Was Supposed to Aid New York. It Has 20 Patients](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/ny-coronavirus-usns-comfort.html) _“It’s a joke,” said a top hospital executive, whose facilities are packed with coronavirus patients._ The USNS Comfort is refusing to accept coronavirus patients… or patients with 49 other medical conditions… … so it’s sitting almost empty, and its medical staff have almost nothing to do… …meanwhile patients are dying in hallways in NYC hospitals… Seems like cold comfort. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/31 "2020-04-03T19:39:25Z")
It was my understanding that it was rather specifically not intended for covid-19 cases. I can’t read your article but if they are sending infectious patients to a fucking boat hospital, it’s not the boat’s fault for refusing. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/32 "2020-04-03T19:54:15Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > It was my understanding that it was rather specifically not intended for covid-19 cases. I can’t read your article but if they are sending infectious patients to a fucking boat hospital, it’s not the boat’s fault for refusing. :rolleyes: Maybe you didn’t read what I said, that they are not accepting patients with 49 other medical conditions either. Maybe if you googled it, you’d find some other articles, like these: [https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/03/politics/navy-hospital-ship-comfort-new-york-coronavirus/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/03/politics/navy-hospital-ship-comfort-new-york-coronavirus/index.html) > **[Only 20 patients currently being treated on USNS Comfort in NYC](https://nypost.com/2020/04/02/only-20-patients-currently-being-treated-on-usns-comfort/)** > > Only 20 patients were being treated Thursday on the USNS Comfort hospital ship that docked in New York Harbor earlier this week to aid in the coronavirus fight. The vessel’s captain, Patrick … ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/33 "2020-04-03T19:58:10Z")
Do you find it hard to imagine that there might be a whole 50 illnesses that a hospital ship is unequipped to care for? :rolleyes: indeed ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/34 "2020-04-03T20:15:31Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > :rolleyes: > > Maybe you didn’t read what I said, that they are not accepting patients with 49 other medical conditions either. Do we know what the other 49 medical conditions are? None of the articles I have been able to read mention what the restrictions actually say. Being unable to treat infectious diseases is one thing; being unable to treat trauma patients who also have diabetes or asthma, e.g., would be something entirely different (and ridiculous). Which is closer to the real thing? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/35 "2020-04-03T20:21:47Z")
Yes. Also, “refuses to take coronavirus patients” is a pile of bullshit. It was clearly communicated in every mainstream news that I saw that these were meant as overflow for non-corona patients from the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/36 "2020-04-03T21:20:01Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > They obviously need better procedures but isn’t “let a couple of hundred sailors die” and “stacking the dead in the mess freezer.” just a tad over the top? If someone dies at sea and for whatever reason they’re not buried at sea you have to put them somewhere, and just about the only freezer available… So while they may stash the deceased on board in whatever facility is available (like the mess freezer) yes, “hundreds” would be hyperbole. “Dozens”, however, is a realistic possibility given the size of the crew. Yes, most of them are young and fit, but this virus does kill a certain number of young, fit people. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/37 "2020-04-03T21:26:54Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Another example of the US Navy showing its can-do spirit and coronavirus readiness: > > [The 1,000-Bed Comfort Was Supposed to Aid New York. It Has 20 Patients](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/ny-coronavirus-usns-comfort.html) > _“It’s a joke,” said a top hospital executive, whose facilities are packed with coronavirus patients._ > > The USNS Comfort is refusing to accept coronavirus patients… or patients with 49 other medical conditions… > > … so it’s sitting almost empty, and its medical staff have almost nothing to do… > > …meanwhile patients are dying in hallways in NYC hospitals… > > Seems like cold comfort. A ship like the _Mercy_ or _Comfort_ is optimized for wartime medical needs, mostly things like trauma, and thus is not equipped for a lot of other medical things. It would be pointless to send someone with, say, breast cancer to a Navy ship that is completely unequipped to treat that condition. If you transfer patients with covid to one of those ships then the whole ship becomes contaminated and will only be able to treat that one condition. Maybe that is the proper course here, but I’m not convinced of it. Not that I’m qualified to make that decision. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/38 "2020-04-03T21:27:08Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Yes. Also, “refuses to take coronavirus patients” is a pile of bullshit. It was clearly communicated in every mainstream news that I saw that these were meant as overflow for non-corona patients from the beginning. It sounds like part of the problem, though, is that they are refusing to take any patient not proven to be non-corona. That is, they are not saying “we refuse any patient with symptoms of covid-19,” but instead “we refuse to take trauma patients or stroke victims or people with diabetic crises until they have been tested at another hospital and received a negative result on the coronavirus test.” I’m not sure what the testing turnaround is currently in NYC, but that sounds like it could lead to situations where by the time you figure out your patient was a candidate for the hospital ship, the patient has already received all of the time-consuming treatment at your own facility, and hence it’s not particularly useful to transfer them now. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/39 "2020-04-03T21:33:46Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > It’s pretty fucking weird to say “one military death so far” when talking about a not deployed Army National Guardsman Most people would call him a civilian in that context. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738/40 "2020-04-03T21:34:57Z")
FWIW, his crew gave him a very supportive farewell: [Watch the hero’s farewell sailors gave their fired Theodore Roosevelt skipper](https://www.navytimes.com/home/left-column/2020/04/03/watch-the-heros-farewell-sailors-gave-their-fired-theodore-roosevelt-skipper/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/captain-of-usn-aircraft-carrier-begs-for-help-as-covid19-ravages-ships-company/850738.md?page=3)