Spaw, they made him a Captain because he was supposed to be good at making Exective Decisions--would you zig-zag if you couldn't see the bow from the stern? And, and the Japanese captain said, he would have shot anyway,well, anyway, as you said, the point is still valid. For you who missed the point, the point is:

Captian made decision in extremis. Ship went down. Very few survivors, because US Command REFUSED to HEAR mayday cries. US Command was afraid that would give away the fact that they had broken the Japanese Naval Code, so they let sailors die instead. Crap like this happens all the time in any country's military. Ask my brother--he is currently in US Army, Ft. Sill, OK. You people would NOT beleive (OK, maybe you Catters would, but not John Q Public)just what is "withheld" from the general populace. The government does not consider this to be "lying". Just National Security.