[ARC5] command set trivia

[Bill Cromwell]

On 10/11/2013 12:20 PM, Bruce Long wrote:
> It seems strange to me a naval officer in 1938-39 would move from being the inspector of an important but still very small defense contractor right into command of a capital ship.
> Not saying it is not true but what am I missing here?  I understand the US military was very small pre-war but IIRC the naval buildup preceded Pearl Harbor by a couple of years.
> Was Van Valkenburgh possibly a captain on the US Arizona but not the commanding officer?
>
> Can anybody shed any light on this?
>

Hi Bruce,

My understanding of what Gordon wrote was the good captain was in 
command of a facility that included the inspection of those radios. Of 
course a Navy Captain - a four striper - is the same rank as a full bird 
Colonel in the other branches of service. None of them would be standing 
on the assembly line or shipping dock inspecting radios.

In the Navy the commanding officer of a vessel is also titled Captain 
regardless of his actual rank. Room for some confusion there. A Navy 
Lieutenant is the same rank as a Captain in those other branches. More 
confusion. Many of you surely already knew that but some may not have 
been all that familiar with those or not known at all.

73,

Bill  KU8H