Sabotage?
editVandalism, maybe not; it looked like removing a valid point without basis or explanation. Looking at Blair, it's not clear Walker's incompetent, & judging by the hostile reaction from BuOrd, I wouldn't put sabotage (maybe too strong a word) past him. If you've got better information, & can source it... Trekphiler (talk) 18:47, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
I think YOU should provide a better source if you feel there was sabotage. Blair neither implies nor states there was sabatoge. I've got the book in front of me and reading the pages you've sourced it implies incompetence, not sabotage. Why would the BuOrd sabotage their own weapon which was under heavy criticism at the time. They wouldn't. They'd do everything they can to make work correctly. The remarks on the page should be adjusted.
How about the following; ". BuOrd hampered wartime investigation into Mark VI exploder problems by assigning the mechanism "secret" status, limiting knowledge of its inner workings to a few high-ranking officers, refusing to believe word of active duty sailors,[27] laying blame for failures on these very same men,[28] even sending out an expert to investigate problems who did not understand how to assemble the exploder mechanism correctly.[29] "
Further, this part of your reference should be edited; "^ Blair, p.170. This was just one consequence of Jacobs' public humiliation of BuOrd. "
- "They'd do everything they can to make work correctly." That's not what the Bureau had been doing & would continue to do until September '43. The tone of Blair overall suggests he believes this was sabotage, tho that passage doesn't state it. Suggest you read the book again. Or at least the passages on the Mk14.
- Absent a source Walker "did not understand", his deliberate action to change the setting, which any torpedo specialist (presumably) knows, from correct to not, I call sabotage. If you want to change it to "even sending out an expert to investigate problems who deliberately changed correct setting", I'd agree (but sabotage is simpler, & the footnote could explain exactly what was done). Again, perhaps "sabotage" is too loaded a word. Trekphiler (talk) 17:51, 16 May 2008 (UTC) (post scriptum Might reply to my page, instead of your own?)
The text implies Walker did not know what he was doing. It states (ref to Rhymes quotes) "..., Walker interrupted the proceedings, made a couple of checks, then directed me to lock the gyros in place. I looked....and noted that he had turned the gyro backwards [a Mark XIV gyro could be locked in a reverse position and result in an erratic run] I turend the gyro to the correct alignment, locked in a place and told Walker we prefered to attack the enemy ships instead of our own. His face fell half a foot...." After it was all said and done Walkers report blamed Sargo for the torpedo problems.
This does not imply sabotage and I doubt Walker was the first guy to lock the gyro in place backwards. BuOrd was derilict because they did NOTHING to resolve the torpedo problems. Thats not sabotage. That's just pig headedness. Please cite other examples where Blair suggests or says BuOrd sabotaged the torpedos? SeanF1 (talk) 15:49, 19 May 2008 (UTC)