Riddle of the Hobson

A board of three rear admirals last week fixed the blame for the mid-Atlantic collision between the aircraft carrier Wasp and the destroyer-minesweeper Hobson last April (TIME, May 5). The convicted culprit was not there to hear the verdict: Commanding Officer William J. Tierney went down with his ship and 175 of his men.

Lieut. Commander Tierney, concluded the board, committed a "grave error of judgment" in making a sharp left turn into the path of the onrushing Wasp. This turn was the "sole cause" of the collision, said the admirals, completely absolving the Wasp's Captain Burnham C. McCaffree of all fault. They advanced three theories to explain Tierney's disastrous maneuver: 1) he had become "completely confused," and thought that a sharp left turn would bring him to his correct position; 2) he ordered "left rudder" when he meant to say "right rudder"; 3) he thought he was on the blacked-out Wasp's right bow when actually he was on her left bow.

But the riddle of the Hobson remains unsolved. "As the commanding officer was not among the survivors," said the board, "his reasons for turning left will never be known."

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