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Chapter 7:
The Sea Org
L. Ron Hubbard, flanked by the
powerful, highly trained O.T. of the Sea Org, has forged through
gigantic barriers ... has identified the true enemy of Mankind on this
planet.
-- from a Scientology mailing piece{1}
Hubbard himself is
never at any of these home Orgs any more. He now lives on the mysterious
Sea Org, a trio of secret ships that sails the Mediterranean.{2} Hubbard
lives on the flagship, the Royal Scotsman (also called The Apollo),{3} a
3,330 ton 320-foot converted Irish cattle ferry with LRH (L. Ron
Hubbard) floridly painted on the funnel.{4} LRH, or Hubbard, has the
title of "Commodore"{5} and his beautiful twenty-two year old daughter
Diana, who is also on board, has been given the unlikely title of
Lieutenant-Commander.
Along with them are Hubbard's present wife, four of his seven children
from his three marriages, his dog, and two cars.{6} In addition, the Sea
Org is a training fleet for at least 200 white-uniformed Scientologists
and their children who range in age from six months to sixty years.
With the exception of the children, the rest are said to have signed a
billion-year contract{7} with Hubbard (presumably to include their
thetans in future lives) to help him help the world.
To accomplish this goal, Scientologists not only work for Hubbard
gratis, but it appears that they may even pay to be on the boat, as many
of them there are in training to become Operating Thetan VIII -- the
highest level in Scientology,{8} and to reach that level costs a few
thousand dollars more than it does to become a "clear."{9}
Their dedication is reflected not only financially. Sea Org
Scientologists work a difficult eight hour day{10} and spend their
evenings studying Scientology. Even the children on the boat work for
Scientology as messengers.{11}
Life on board is hard, and punishment is strict. It is said that someone
might be an officer one day and for punishment be sent to swab the decks
the next. The London Sunday Times carried an item about a wealthy
Californian who was wearing an officer's uniform when he first arrived
at the Sea Org, but for being late, he was given dirty blue overalls and
made to work in the galleys.{12}
Although it's hard to figure out why any country would complain about a
ship full of hard working people at her ports, at least one country was
sufficiently displeased with them to kick them out of their harbour on
twenty-four hour notice. In Corfu, Greece, where the Scientologists were
said to be spending about $1,500 a day for provisions and boat repairs,
it would seem that the government had little to complain about.{13} But
after seven months there, the Minister of the Interior kicked them out.
He gave no reason except that they were declared "undesirable."{14}
The country may have been displeased with the strange behavior of those
living on the Sea Org. Local people complained about seeing Scientology
children of eight or nine years old being made to walk the plank into
the Aegean, and one Scientology publication depicts a similar punishment
that was meted out to an older member.{15} (It is not known who saves
them, but since Scientologists have jobs for everything -- Director of
Success, Letter Registrar, etc. -- maybe they have a "Rescue
Registrar.")
On another occasion, locals reported that twenty-four Scientologists
left the ship one day and marched half a mile along the quayside in
"military step," wearing no raincoats despite the pouring rain.{16} One
outsider, Captain John Jones, reported to a London newspaper some of the
things that happened while he was sailing with one of the smaller ships.
"My crew were sixteen men and four women who wouldn't know a trawler
from a tramcar," he allegedly stated.
He complained that he was made to run the ship according to the Sea Org
Book and that electrical equipment, other than lights, radio and
direction finder, and other advanced equipment he had on board could not
be used. (Probably because the Scientologists feared it would interfere
with the functioning of their E-meters.) He reported that "using the Org
Book navigation system based on radio beams from the B.B.C., and other
stations we were soon hopelessly lost."{17}
Mystery surrounds the ship. Hubbard is said to sleep during the day,
rise at 6 P.M. and is almost never seen outside.{18} Most of the people
on the boat don't see him either, except for his personal staff and
officers.{19} The latter have meetings with him upon written request.
Outsiders are not even sure exactly where on the boat Hubbard lives,
although one reporter suspected it was in the middle of the upper part
of the deck where "a corridor leads to what few cabins there are with a
notice forbidding entry."{20}
It is said that most of the other people sleep in dormitory-like
accommodations.{21} Captain Jones, mentioned before, said the men and
women on his ship shared the same quarters with only a blanket dividing
the sections.{22}
Hubbard also keeps the purpose of the ship well hidden. Although he
initially admitted that the Sea Org was established as a mobile
headquarters for setting up new bases or correcting old ones, he now
seems to want people to think they're all there for "exploration" -- not
Scientology. The stationery used by the ship is imprinted with "The
Hubbard Exploration Company Ltd."{23} (no address given).
One spokesman for the ship said its purpose was "basically to search for
oil and gas in the Mediterranean and elsewhere,"{24} and in one
communiqué, Hubbard stated the ship was in Greece "to explore and study
the decline of ancient civilization and so [learn] how this current one
is going."{25} Hubbard has even denied to interviewers, in the earlier
days when he talked with them, that the ship or he was connected to
Scientology, although Telex reports from Saint Hill were directly in
front of him.{26}
Another mystery concerns Linda Hicks, a very beautiful
twenty-two-year-old British blond who joined the Sea Org and then
disappeared. Her father, who had a heart condition, claimed that his
only daughter had initially become involved with Scientology in Las
Palmas, and that when he saw her afterwards, "she ... dyed her fair hair
black ... she was filthy, and her mind seems to have gone off the
rails." The News of the World, which printed the story, said that Linda
allegedly sent the letter below to her boy friend at home, saying she
had been hypnotized on the Sea Org and had been married without
conscious consent to another Scientologist.{27}
Darling Oscar
So many terrible things have
happened to me since I waved good-bye to you at Las Palmas. Oh why
didn't you MAKE me leave that boat, Oscar? Did you know what was
happening to me? I honestly didn't know.
But I feel sick for you in Las
Palmas -- do you feel that way for me now? Was it holiday romance or
will you always love me, how I love you?
Darling -- what did those people
do to me. They changed me, you ... saw it, why didn't you make me leave?
They make people's minds sick,
they influenced me, they tried to make me change against you.
I became sick and hysterical and
they put me on one of those machines [probably the E-meter].... Then
someone talked for two hours to me. [The News of the World reported a
reference here to her marrying one of the boys on the boat.]
I can't remember very much about
it, except that after two days at home I began to change back to the old
"Mummy" that you loved and started to remember things -- they were evil.
Oh my darling, what a terrible
mistake I made....
After Linda's
father saw this letter, he went to the Sea Org with a News of the World
reporter to try to locate his daughter. But neither were able to board
the ship, reach Hubbard, or find Linda. A Scientologist on deck said
that Linda had had a "beautiful romance" with a fourth mate on the
414-ton Sea Org trawler, the Avon River.
The next day, the Scientologists allegedly issued a statement to the
reporter saying that Linda's parents favored another suitor and insisted
their daughter leave her husband. They also stated that the parents
wanted her removed and sent to a psychiatrist for electric shocks (a
favorite accusation of the Scientologists), and that Linda, fearing
kidnapping, left the ship and fled. They added that the parents "detest
Scientologists and tried to use Scientology as an excuse to break up the
marriage."
What happens on the Sea Org may forever remain a mystery, since those on
the ship stay for quite a while and have little or no contact with their
friends and family back home. One story did leak out, however, that adds
to the intrigue. It suggests that although joining the Sea Org may be
voluntary, leaving it may not always be.
When one of the Sea Org ships was docked in Corfu, the London Times
reported that a number of people on shore had seen a female
Scientologist and her two children attempt to run off the boat --
screaming -- and they then saw her dragged back in by uniformed
Scientologists on the ship before she could reach the roadway.{28} The
harbor master in Corfu, a friend of Scientology, said he saw "no reason
for an investigation."
_______________
Notes:
{1} initial quote [141a]
{2} ships in LA [146]
{3} Royal Scotsman is Apollo [241, 72]
{4} details of Apollo [240]
{5} Hubbard is commodore, etc. [189]
{6} Hubbard's family and cars [212a]
{7} billion year contract [187]
{8} OTs [51]
{9} may have to pay [256]
{10} 8 hour day [24]
{11} children messengers [241]
{12} discipline & story of man [241]
{13} £700 in Corfu [241]
{14} kicked out [233]
{15} walking plank [241, 50]
{16} Scientologists marching [241]
{17} Captain's story [191a]
{18} Hubbard schedule [241]
{19} who sees him on boat [240]
{20} where he lives [212a]
{21} dormitories [240]
{22} men & women same room [191a]
{23} Hubbard Exploration Company [240]
{24} search for oil & gas [191]
{25} study ancient civilization [226]
{26} (27) telex reports [174]
{27} (28) Linda Hicks story and letter [196]
{28} (31) girl who tried to get off [241]
Extraneous citation notes:
{29} (26) quote on England [226]
{30} (29) how you get on boat [177]
{31} (30) only beautiful women [177]
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