Court-Martial

The court-martial of Capt. Franklin D. Karns, accused of negligence in connection with the grounding of the U. S. S. Colorado on Diamond Reef, New York Harbor, April 30 (TIME, May 9, June 13), was last week completed but no verdict was announced. The lack of an announced verdict indicated that the Captain had been found guilty, since if he had been acquitted he would have been, according to court-martial procedure, notified of the findings of the court. A feature of the trial was the fact that the records of the ship's bearings just before and after the accident had disappeared and could not be located to serve as evidence. The prosecution stressed the fact that even though the Colorado was being navigated by a civilian pilot, Captain Karns still retained responsibility for the safety of the ship. If found guilty, Captain Karns's maximum penalty is loss of rank.