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Troubled Water: Race, Mutiny, and Bravery on the USS Kitty Hawk
The gripping account of the riot aboard the USS Kitty Hawk ―and the first mutiny in U.S. Naval history
In 1972, the United States was embroiled in an unpopular war in Vietnam, and the USS Kitty Hawk was headed to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Its five thousand men, cooped up for the longest at-sea tour of the war, rioted--or, as Troubled Water suggests, mutinied. Disturbingly, the lines were drawn racially, black against white. By the time order was restored, careers were in tatters. Although the incident became a turning point for race relations in the Navy, this story remained buried within U.S. Navy archives for decades.
With action pulled straight from a high-seas thriller, Gregory A. Freeman uses eyewitness accounts and a careful and unprecedented examination of the navy's records to refute the official story of the incident, make a convincing case for the U.S. navy's first mutiny, and shed new light on this seminal event in American history.
In 1972, the United States was embroiled in an unpopular war in Vietnam, and the USS Kitty Hawk was headed to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Its five thousand men, cooped up for the longest at-sea tour of the war, rioted--or, as Troubled Water suggests, mutinied. Disturbingly, the lines were drawn racially, black against white. By the time order was restored, careers were in tatters. Although the incident became a turning point for race relations in the Navy, this story remained buried within U.S. Navy archives for decades.
With action pulled straight from a high-seas thriller, Gregory A. Freeman uses eyewitness accounts and a careful and unprecedented examination of the navy's records to refute the official story of the incident, make a convincing case for the U.S. navy's first mutiny, and shed new light on this seminal event in American history.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
35 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 26, 2015
As an aircraft carrier flight deck veteran, I was surprised I’d never heard of this incident. However, I’m not surprised the Navy downplayed it, although I don’t condone that. Many have said an aircraft carrier is a city at sea. And like any city, it has its struggles and challenges. Freeman has captured the feel and reality of life on a carrier while telling this fascinating story. This is the second of Freeman’s books I’ve read, and I’ll be reading more.
June 14, 2010
Good exciting non-fiction. Freeman tells the story of a race riot on the USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam war. During the later stages of the war, the pentagon was getting creative in how to keep the troop strength up and lowering standards for entry into the military was one of the tactics used, along with trickery by recruiters. In 1972, when you put hundreds of these new NSM (new standards men)recruits aboard a vessel in cramped spaces, on a hectic wartime work schedule, where the anger and frustrations of racial tensions in American society at that time can fester and simmer, things might just boil over and erupt into what would be called civil disturbances in civilian terms. That's what happened on the Kitty Hawk. There were many incidents involving racial issues in all branches of the military all over the world during the Vietnam conflict in addition to antiwar protests involving whites. There were 74 incidents of sabotage aboard naval vessels in the Pacific fleet alone in 1972. Freeman carefully narrates one incident in the manner of a cinematic thriller. The captain of the aircraft carrier is primarily concerned with keeping his ship in action. The XO (executive is concerned about preventing racial violence from getting out of control. Some of the sailors are intent upon getting even for perceived and real racial injustices. A great story. And one to keep in mind when the nation clamors for war and hurries to fill the ranks with troops by any means possible. Recommended.
October 8, 2013
This was a very interesting account of a race riot on the USS Kitty Hawk in the early seventies. I found the notion hard to believe, since the military is so thoroughly integrated now. In fact the military does the nation a service, putting people from all manner of races and backgrounds shoulder-to-shoulder, without tolerating prejudice. But things weren't always so. I'm not old enough to remember, but the US was apparently going through quite a bit of turmoil in the early seventies.
This book was a well-written account of the incident. The author must have extensively interviewed several of the people involved, including the former captain and executive officer. The background to the story explaining the turmoil of the times, the Navy's post-Jim-Crow integration process, and people's efforts to avoid the Vietnam War draft, was presented well.
Roughly the second half of the book is a detailed hour-by-hour description of the incident, which made the book hard to put down. Being about a limited incident the book is fairly short, roughly 230 pages. It never bogs down, and it makes a nice easy satisfying read.
I was struck by the author's sympathy for all the people involved. He presents every story fairly, and he leaves the value judgments to the reader. I'll look for more of Mr Freeman's works. I should mention that I found a small glaring error or two that should have been found in fact-checking: I seem to remember that somewhere he called the F-4 Phantom II a three-seater. Other than one or two such small glitches, I found the book very thorough.
This book was a well-written account of the incident. The author must have extensively interviewed several of the people involved, including the former captain and executive officer. The background to the story explaining the turmoil of the times, the Navy's post-Jim-Crow integration process, and people's efforts to avoid the Vietnam War draft, was presented well.
Roughly the second half of the book is a detailed hour-by-hour description of the incident, which made the book hard to put down. Being about a limited incident the book is fairly short, roughly 230 pages. It never bogs down, and it makes a nice easy satisfying read.
I was struck by the author's sympathy for all the people involved. He presents every story fairly, and he leaves the value judgments to the reader. I'll look for more of Mr Freeman's works. I should mention that I found a small glaring error or two that should have been found in fact-checking: I seem to remember that somewhere he called the F-4 Phantom II a three-seater. Other than one or two such small glitches, I found the book very thorough.
May 9, 2015
I remember reading about the riot in our local newspaper, the La Crosse Tribune in 1972 and thinking how awful. Then I joined the Navy and a year later was assigned to the Kitty Hawk. One of the first things I noticed was the racial tension. And one of the first things I asked about was that. I was in X-Division and a friend from the Safety Office advised me that if the stuff hit the fan again, to grab a dogging wrench ( a huge open end steel wrench) or a fire extinguisher and jump in my rack, pull the curtain down and wait. If anybody were to open the curtain aggressively that I didn't recognize, to hit first and harder than I got.
It never got to that, although there were many scuffles. We did have a major explosion half-way to the Philippines from Hawaii and after that almost had a mutiny when some of the most junior snipes were afraid to go back to their work stations due numerous recurring fires.
I'm really looking forward to this boook!
Finished it at 5 AM in one setting. Outstanding piece of investigative journalism!! It changes my view of both top officers of the ship, CO Capt. Townsend and XO Capt. Ben Cloud to a much more positive one. I think it's also a case study of what happens when men are overworked and treated as cannon fodder.
I hope a lot more people read this book, especially senior people and officers in the Navy.
It never got to that, although there were many scuffles. We did have a major explosion half-way to the Philippines from Hawaii and after that almost had a mutiny when some of the most junior snipes were afraid to go back to their work stations due numerous recurring fires.
I'm really looking forward to this boook!
Finished it at 5 AM in one setting. Outstanding piece of investigative journalism!! It changes my view of both top officers of the ship, CO Capt. Townsend and XO Capt. Ben Cloud to a much more positive one. I think it's also a case study of what happens when men are overworked and treated as cannon fodder.
I hope a lot more people read this book, especially senior people and officers in the Navy.
July 29, 2011
This book details the race riot/attempted mutiny which took place on the USS Kitty Hawk between 12 and 13 October 1972. Downplayed by the US Navy, the Kitty Hawk riot was apparently just one in a string of racially charged violent incidents that plagued the US military in the early 70's. Real and perceived slights, McNamara's Project 100,000, lax disciplinary protocols, self, segregation radical agitation, disunity of command and the raw anger that came with the newly found civil rights of the African American sailors aboard the Kitty Hawk all contributed to the prolonged outbreak of violence which engulfed the ship. This is a very intense book, very compelling, very disturbing and very difficult to put down. A fine piece of journalism on an ugly incident in the Civil Rights and Vietnam War era. Highly recommended.
August 21, 2013
It is hard to believe that this actually happened. I was serving aboard a sister ship at almost this same time. There were quite a few blacks in my division, and quite a few Project 100,000 sailors. Many of the Project 100,000 sailors were in over their heads, whether they were black or white. Some were a danger to themselves and others. Most of the black sailors were really great guys, and good shipmates.
March 10, 2010
I was surprised at shocked to learn about the race riot/mutiny aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk while on combat duty at Yankee Station off the coast of Viet Nam in 1972. Bravery, particularly by the Navy's first black XO aboard an aircraft carrier, Ben Cloud, helped end the violence.
January 4, 2013
Terrifying!! As a former carrier sailor, this was a tough book to read. I could relate to both sides and I wondered how close that event came to total mutiny. Well worth the read, even if it is tough to stomach.
July 13, 2016
Interesting read about a time in our history when race relations were at their worst. This story about a near mutiny on the USS Kittyhawk is shocking. Discipline in the Navy of 1972 was lax to say the least. I'd like to think that this couldn't happen again.
March 5, 2025
This book reads like a page-turning thriller full of suspense, excitement until you remember this actually happened.
Gregory Freeman does a very good job of laying out the events that led up to this incident. But it is not just what was happening on the ship or even the Navy but across the US military as a whole with some societal background. This all lays the ground work for a racial powder keg that had an extremely short fuse just waiting to be lit.
I also believe that Freeman did a good job with laying out what happened from both perspectives as best that could be done nearly thirty years later. He does not sugar coat or attempt to absolve anyone of blame. There were plenty of missteps and missed opportunities to go around.
Overall, this book is a measure of the extreme challenges the military was facing with the winding down of the war in Vietnam and the changes in society overall. Throw in a well-meaning but ill-thought out social experiment and it became three charging bulls on a collision course.
Gregory Freeman does a very good job of laying out the events that led up to this incident. But it is not just what was happening on the ship or even the Navy but across the US military as a whole with some societal background. This all lays the ground work for a racial powder keg that had an extremely short fuse just waiting to be lit.
I also believe that Freeman did a good job with laying out what happened from both perspectives as best that could be done nearly thirty years later. He does not sugar coat or attempt to absolve anyone of blame. There were plenty of missteps and missed opportunities to go around.
Overall, this book is a measure of the extreme challenges the military was facing with the winding down of the war in Vietnam and the changes in society overall. Throw in a well-meaning but ill-thought out social experiment and it became three charging bulls on a collision course.
December 17, 2021
=-O :-P ;-) :-( :-) :-! :-$ B-) :O :-* :-D :'( O:-) :-\ :-[ :-) :-\ :-\ :-) :-) :-\ :-) :-$ 🐩🐂🐴🦁🐎:-) :-[ :-D :-\ ;-) :-! 🚺🇦🇸🇦🇺;-) :-D :-) :-* :-[ =-O :-D :-* :-[ :'( :O :-* :-! ;-) 🍓🍐🍆🍒🍑🍑🍊🍑🍉🍆🍑🏞🏕🏝🏙🇦🇺🍐:-! 🍐:-! 😐🤗😗😍🐶🐅🐆🐃🐴🐎🐄🍒🍒🍄🧀🌰🏝🏞🏠🏡🎎🎟🎍🎏🎗🎟🎎🎶🎙🎷🎙🔊🚾🛂⛔🚾🚼🇦🇽🇧🇭🇧🇪:'( :-\ :-! :-\
April 23, 2020
Excellent book on the race riot that the USN denies is a mutiny.
October 5, 2022
Gives a good take on USS Kitty Hawk tragecity
September 18, 2017
A difficult read of a true story
Unknown to many, racial distress in the social fabric of America during the 1970s also impacted the military. I served in the Navy on Yankee Station during this same period, but had absolutely no idea how bad racial anger could get. It certainly wasn't known on my ship. The book is well-sourced and very well-written, but the incident it presents is ugly. The book is therefore a difficult read.
Unknown to many, racial distress in the social fabric of America during the 1970s also impacted the military. I served in the Navy on Yankee Station during this same period, but had absolutely no idea how bad racial anger could get. It certainly wasn't known on my ship. The book is well-sourced and very well-written, but the incident it presents is ugly. The book is therefore a difficult read.
October 2, 2022
A very well written / documented story of a not to well known event. Kudos to Mr. Freeman!!
August 13, 2019
Author Greg Freeman's account begins with, "...in 1972, the USS Kitty Hawk was going through the same social upheaval that was troubling the rest of America. The stresses were especially difficult for some of the young Black sailors, many of whom were recruited under a new Navy initiative called Project 100,000."
Men recruited through this initiative were called New Standards Men or simply NSM's. Commander Peter Fey, USN-ret, Bloody Sixteen: The USS Oriskany and Air Wing 16 during the Vietnam War, told me he touched on Project 100,000 briefly in his book and, as afterthought, said to me, "If there's anything RSM (Robert S McNamara) should rot in hell for, that's on top of my list."
Designed to increase the ranks and open up more positions, Project 100,000 eased requirements for test scores, intelligence, and criminal histories. Many coming onboard were inner city youths whose attitude and worldviews were formed by their experience on the streets of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
Having enlisted October 1964 with release from active duty February 1968, I guess you could say I was "Old School Navy" because what happened in the five years between '68 and '72 absolutely blows me away. I suppose it makes sense that all the hippie and black power movements in civilian life were also infiltrating sailors of the Navy.
The pervasive illegal drug use should not surprise me. I think I was a very naïve 20-year-old Lutheran boy from Nebraska with absolutely no big city, inner city smarts. Still on my ship, USS Oriskany, CVA-34, 1967, I wasn't aware of anyone smoking pot onboard either. More of my naiveite?
In Stephen Coont's Flight of the Intruder, I was surprised to know Officers/Pilots kept liquor in their state rooms for occasional sedation after especially harrowing missions over North Vietnam. We enlisted boys did not... as far as I know. For us, being caught with booze would have meant a Captain's Mast.
With Project 100,000 came relaxed discipline and liberalization of policy. Freeman tells of the sloppiness, beards, long hair, non-regulation clothing, berthing areas off-limits to officers, no inspections, racial segregation of berthing areas and then high-ranking officers relaxing the enlistment standards. Dumbing down the Navy. Just like civilian grade schools... dumbing down. I've heard about Admiral Zumwalt's Navy and changes he instituted after becoming Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in 1970... some for the better, some for the worse.
In my Standby Reserve, G.I. Bill years between '68 and '72, I was busy being educated, taking a wife, making a baby. Thus, I wasn't paying attention to all the racial strife within bases of all the Armed Forces. Yeah, I heard about inequitable percentage of the Army's Black Infantry on the front lines of combat down in-country in South Vietnam but not racial strife at Ft. Bragg, Camp Lejeune and other homeland installations.
After I finished reading Troubled Water, I found myself thinking, surely the Navy got its act together after the Vietnam War ended. It couldn't have remained screwed up forever. I asked Commander Fey - who got his commission in the early 1990's. He told me, "I'll admit that the military I knew was 100% different... thanks largely to the fact that its now voluntary. That got rid of most of the issues... and now its truly a professional service. Duty first, and frankly woe betide someone that isn't a good shipmate."
Men recruited through this initiative were called New Standards Men or simply NSM's. Commander Peter Fey, USN-ret, Bloody Sixteen: The USS Oriskany and Air Wing 16 during the Vietnam War, told me he touched on Project 100,000 briefly in his book and, as afterthought, said to me, "If there's anything RSM (Robert S McNamara) should rot in hell for, that's on top of my list."
Designed to increase the ranks and open up more positions, Project 100,000 eased requirements for test scores, intelligence, and criminal histories. Many coming onboard were inner city youths whose attitude and worldviews were formed by their experience on the streets of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
Having enlisted October 1964 with release from active duty February 1968, I guess you could say I was "Old School Navy" because what happened in the five years between '68 and '72 absolutely blows me away. I suppose it makes sense that all the hippie and black power movements in civilian life were also infiltrating sailors of the Navy.
The pervasive illegal drug use should not surprise me. I think I was a very naïve 20-year-old Lutheran boy from Nebraska with absolutely no big city, inner city smarts. Still on my ship, USS Oriskany, CVA-34, 1967, I wasn't aware of anyone smoking pot onboard either. More of my naiveite?
In Stephen Coont's Flight of the Intruder, I was surprised to know Officers/Pilots kept liquor in their state rooms for occasional sedation after especially harrowing missions over North Vietnam. We enlisted boys did not... as far as I know. For us, being caught with booze would have meant a Captain's Mast.
With Project 100,000 came relaxed discipline and liberalization of policy. Freeman tells of the sloppiness, beards, long hair, non-regulation clothing, berthing areas off-limits to officers, no inspections, racial segregation of berthing areas and then high-ranking officers relaxing the enlistment standards. Dumbing down the Navy. Just like civilian grade schools... dumbing down. I've heard about Admiral Zumwalt's Navy and changes he instituted after becoming Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in 1970... some for the better, some for the worse.
In my Standby Reserve, G.I. Bill years between '68 and '72, I was busy being educated, taking a wife, making a baby. Thus, I wasn't paying attention to all the racial strife within bases of all the Armed Forces. Yeah, I heard about inequitable percentage of the Army's Black Infantry on the front lines of combat down in-country in South Vietnam but not racial strife at Ft. Bragg, Camp Lejeune and other homeland installations.
After I finished reading Troubled Water, I found myself thinking, surely the Navy got its act together after the Vietnam War ended. It couldn't have remained screwed up forever. I asked Commander Fey - who got his commission in the early 1990's. He told me, "I'll admit that the military I knew was 100% different... thanks largely to the fact that its now voluntary. That got rid of most of the issues... and now its truly a professional service. Duty first, and frankly woe betide someone that isn't a good shipmate."
August 12, 2012
If you've served on a ship, youknow that this is both realistic and scary......
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews