Man overboard call goes out, search gets called off after 50 hours of searching by US and Japanese ships, and he turns up a week later onboard the original ship?!?
Something seems…fishy…
I’m not a Navy man so I don’t have any firsthand experience or knowledge but isn’t a Navy ship pretty well packed full? Seems like you’d almost have to be TRYING to stay hidden for a week. I don’t get the impression from the news stories that he was found injured under a piece of equipment or something. Separate articles used the phrase “hiding out in the engine room”
I was a sub guy, so hiding things was possible, but people disappearing for long leriods while underway is something Houdini would be proud of. On a surface ship, there are much more open spaces under/above/around machinery, little, nooks, crannies etc that no one could see into without actually climbing in. A person motivated to disappear could certainly hide for an extended amount of time.
‘He was small of stature’ ‘Couldn’t wait to get out’ (paraphrases)
Could be he was hiding from someone. What better way to get the heat off then have them thinking he went overboard?
After he didn’t show for work and they held muster, all he had to do was successfully hide during a cursory search of the ship. Then just stay ahead of everyone going about the daily routine.
I read a quick article saying he was found, but it didn’t mention him hiding out. Wouldn’t he have needed some help? Or maybe he planned ahead by stashing food/water.
I spent time on three different ships for over year combined. If I, as a Marine, had wanted to hide out, I suppose it would not have been THAT hard. But, somebody would’ve had to have been bringing me chow and water…
Here I figured that this sailor was dead, and it made me very sad to think about it. Thank God he is alive, and I hope he enjoys the opportunity to hide in a small confined space while others bring you chow in a place called the Brig.
