Here's a story that hits home for you. I was the weapons office on my 3rd ship, standing tactical watch down in the combat center. We had about 30 merchant vessels in our proximity, ranging in size from small trawlers to 800 foot big boys with hundreds of cargo boxes stacked up. The Captain took a break from the bridge and went to go to the bathroom. I saw a merchant turning erratically on the radar but of course I was down below and had no visual. I spoke to the conning officer and ask what was going on and what the Captain thought about the guy. They told me the Captain had stepped off the bridge momentarily. I ran up to the bridge, I looked out into the darkness and I immediately ordered the officer of the deck to ring up a full speed bell and turn with a hard rudder. I had no time to explain and they followed my orders. We ended up passing the merchant at a 150 foot closest point of approach. That's swapping spit between 2 large ships. The Captain worked his way back out onto the bridge to see the ship pass his bridge wing close enough to see what brand of cigarettes the Filipino captain of the other ship was smoking. He looked at me and said what the Fugk??? And then he sat down happy that he still had a job.
The Captain went to the bathroom? Ships don't have bathrooms, they have heads. What navy were you in?
