US Marine: We are in a 'floating prison'

Marines serving on one of America's Seventh Fleet's most important warships are demoralized and are afraid of having to knock down North Korean missiles because they are unprepared, the US Navy said.

A report based on an anonymous inquiry conducted among the crew members of Shiloh's guided missile cruiser revealed that the Marines on this ship are exhausted, desperate and some of them have already thought of committing suicide due to the oppressive environment created on the ship by their commander, Captain Adam M. Aycock. Many crew members said they feel like they are in a "floating prison".

"Now I hate my ship," "we do not trust the commander," are just a few of the comments from these marines. It has been reported that the Shiloh commander is much feared by his subordinates because if anyone makes a small mistake he is punished with deck work for several days where they are fed only with bread and water.

According to the article, the Marines are overloaded and often under-trained, while some vital ship repair work remains incomplete. "It's just a matter of time before something horrible happens," "it looks like it's a race to see what breaks first, the ship or its crew," the Marines declared in the poll.

The Shiloh is a vital ship for the US in defense against ballistic missiles in the Western Pacific, whose mission is to contain North Korea and Chinese and Russian military ships.

"I simply pray that we will never have to knock down a missile from North Korea, because then our inefficiency will be discovered," said one of the Marines.

Problems in the US Navy drew the attention of the Pentagon after two recent incidents that resulted in the deaths of 17 sailors. On the morning of June 17, the American destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with the Philippine merchant ship ACX Crystal 20 kilometers off the coast of Japan. On August 21, the USS John McCain destroyer of the United States Navy collided with a nearby merchant ship of the coast of Singapore.