“What would be the normal time before you would be reported overdue?” a reporter asked the captain. “That is a question I would like to ask someone,” McVay shot back. “A ship that size practically runs on a train schedule. I should think by noon [on Tuesday], they would have started to call by radio to find out where we were, or if something was wrong. This is something I want to ask somebody myself—why didn’t this get out sooner?” This was as close to a public condemnation of the navy as the captain would ever allow himself to make.
