Admiral's Oaths

The glittering pageant of an Admiralty Court-martial unfolded, last week, upon His Majesty's aircraft carrier Eagle as she rode at anchor, huge, grim and ominous, in the harbor of Gibraltar.

From the shore came eight pinnaces, carrying eight captains, all in full dress uniform, who were piped aboard the Eagle with traditional honor. They were the Court. They sat down to give judgment, without removing their imposing cocked hats. With portentous gravity they took into custody the sword of the accused. . . .

And what was all this about? What high crime or mighty treason loomed? A man from Mars would have laughed to learn that the whole impressive pother sprang from a few oaths and reprimands uttered by peppery Rear Admiral Bernard St. George Collard (TIME, March 26).

The accused was Commander Henry Martin Daniel. As a subordinate of Rear Admiral Collard aboard the flagship Royal Oak, he is charged with making known to brother officers complaints against the conduct of Rear Admiral Collard which were embodied in a letter written by Captain K. G. B. Dewar of the Royal Oak to superior naval officials. The act of making known the contents of this secret letter laid open Commander Daniel to the grave, technical charge of "subverting discipline by bringing a superior officer into contempt."

The chief sensation of the trial, last week, was the reading of the fatal letter. Captain Dewar had written:

"On January 12 Admiral Collard threatened me in the presence of several guests, that if I did not make Commander Daniel do his duty in introducing people to each other at a dance he would make him do it. I thought his complaint unjustified and his manner of address improper.

"Later in the evening Admiral Collard sent for Commander Daniel and ordered him to clear the Marine Band off the quarter deck. Rear Admiral Collard abused the bandmaster in front of the whole band.

"The Admiral said he never heard such a bloody noise in his life, and the bandmaster must be sent to him, as he would not have a 'b--' like that on his ship. These remarks were heard by several guests.

"Despite the unreasonableness of Admiral Collard's request, the band was dismissed and a jazz band summoned. The attack on the bandmaster caused great dissatisfaction among the lower deck and intense indignation among the officers organizing the dance."

When Rear Admiral Collard was called upon to give his version of the incidents described he gruffed: ". . . Commander Daniel should have made proper introductions at the dance . . . disgraceful to have so many ladies sitting out the dances without partners. . . .

"The band was playing abominably. ... I spoke to the bandmaster in the sight of other persons but not in their hearing. . . ."

Citizens of the U. S. learned with interest that the defense of Commander Daniel would be carried out by onetime Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts Day Kimball. Last week he, not yet accustomed to the heavy wig worn by British barristers, sweated excessively in the balmy air of Gibraltar.