17Admiral Roland Cathcart stood on the bridge of his flagship, the battleship Massachusetts, enjoying the cool spring breezes that traversed the open bridge. With his binoculars fixed on the two buoys, he awaited the first salvo from the cruiser Philadelphia, the fourth ship to participate in the annual gunnery competition. The two boats carrying the scorers for the competition, called raking crews, had signaled their readiness so that the Philadelphia could commence firing at will. A moment later, a thunderous boom erupted from the cruiser’s eight-inch gun. The ship remained dead in the water, and it fired its second round five minutes later.
Cathcart remained miffed that afternoon as the competition progressed. He knew that the Indiana had been off on some sort of secret training missio
