Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

Myself and others did question it to some degree with people you thought you could really trust.
Expressing anything like that was an offence. Most of the crew were very afraid that if they
expressed any disagreement or questioning of what was going on that they would be kicked out of
Scientology, which was to most people at that time an untenable thing - you could not consider that.
Most people were terrified of that. Hubbard ordered everyone to be put on the E-meter, asking if you
had any doubts or disagreements with use of ethics. If the meter read, the person was to be put in
a condition of doubt and possibly expelled. That was done in February '68.
The liability cruise was a couple of months later. I was transferred to the Avon River and the first
advanced org was started on the Royal Scotman in February or March '68. Before the liability cruise,
the advanced org transferred to Alicante on land. I went from the Avon River to Alicante and at some
point the liability cruise happened. It was in Alicante to May/June '68. Then the Avon River picked us
up (LRH was on the Scotman) and we went across the Med to Tunisia and met the Royal Scotman
there and then I was transferred to the Scotman.
I used to see him every day on the Scotman in February '68 when he did his daily rounds. Then he
went on to the Avon River and within a few days I was transferred to the Avon River. When we
arrived in Bizerte in Tunisia, I worked as an auditor on the Royal Scotman. In '62 he was very genial
and personable, very friendly. In '65 he was somewhat sterner. In '68 he was angry nearly all the
time. No one really knew why. I think he had gotten into a lot of trouble - though I didn't know this at
the time - he was both PTS [Potential Trouble Source - a threat] to various governments, but
primarily he had gotten himself into so much hot water with different countries, he was running out
of places to go. He'd dodged paying taxes in the US and bankrupted orgs in the US and skipped
the country; he ran afoul of the Home Office in England, I don't believe there was a shred of truth in
the persecution of Scientology; then he went off to Rhodesia and tried to overthrow Ian Smith, who
was trying to secede from the Commonwealth, and was kicked out of Rhodesia; he was told his
visa wouldn't be renewed in England; he couldn't go back to the US because he was wanted by the
IRS. He had no country he thought he could live in - that's why he started the Sea Org. We used to
check into which countries had extradition agreements with the US and UK, and those that didn't,
he didn't want to live in - they were mainly Third World.
In mid 68 I was transferred to the advanced org in Edinburgh to the end of 70 when I went back to
ships. From January 71 I was on the ships until the Sea Org came ashore.
His behaviour varied. He was really angry a lot in '68. In the early 70s it varied, he was sick a lot.
Sometimes he'd be bedridden and the place was a lot quieter. In the mid to late 70s, he started
coming out of it and got pleasant again. Then it really blew up in '81 - he regressed into irascibility.
A meeting was held in Clearwater [Florida] by a lot of mission holders at Flag [Land Base, in
Clearwater] and they started complaining and protesting about the management and were
advocating reform. When Hubbard learned of it he described it as mutiny and after that he got much
worse.
He withdrew more and more as the years progressed.
On the ship I would often be called into his office for a technical conference. I had a lot of
participation in research with him from '73 onwards. I did C-Sing [Case Supervising] his auditing
from '73 or so on.
He used to play Master Mariner and he'd make an appearance on the bridge - everyone would
shake and quiver and usually heads would roll. The helmsman would be worried he was not on
correct course, the navigator would have to know precise position, and so on.