23 The Navy Captain Blamed Me For A Disaster In Front Of The Whole Crew — He Didn't Know My Chief Still Had The Original Recording

The deck log was the second thing they pulled.

The Dunmore's deck log for the deployment was maintained by the bridge watch and entered into the ship's official record every night at midnight. It recorded every course change, every speed change, every message received, every order given.

On the day the trawler sank, the deck log said the following:

1422: Received VHF transmission, bearing 270, range 8 NM. Civilian vessel requesting assistance. Flagged to watch officer.

1423: Watch officer notified. Intelligence element (CTI1 Chen) confirmed receipt of distress call.

1447: Commodore (Raven Six) ordered ship to hold position. Do not engage.

1448: Ship acknowledged. Course change canceled.

Maya read it three times.

"Chief," she said.

Ben looked over her shoulder.

"The deck log matches the recording," he said.

"Exactly. It matches the recording. It does not match the transcript." Maya turned. "The transcript Sloane showed the room has the distress call at 14:47 — not 14:22. And the transcript doesn't mention the commodore's order at all."

"Which means the transcript was edited to remove two things at once," Ben said. "The real timestamp and the commodore's order."

"And by shifting the timestamp to 14:47," Maya said slowly, "the transcript makes it look like the distress call came in at exactly the moment the ship was already holding position. Which means the transcript makes it look like the delay was mine. Not the commodore's."

The room was quiet.

"So the question isn't whether the transcript was altered," Maya said. "It's whether the alteration was authorized. And the only person who could authorize an alteration of a classified intelligence document in a combat zone is the commodore."

"Which we can't prove."

"Not yet." Maya looked at the deck log. "But the deck log has a signature block. Somebody signed it every night. Let me see who signed it on the day the trawler sank."

She scrolled down.

The signature was Lieutenant Commander Paul Hargrove.