Michael Bruce's 'Gentlemen, Your Verdict'

“Gentlemen, Your Verdict”, by Michael Bruce tells the story of a submarine that gets hit with a mine and gets stuck at the sands of Steins Point. Because of lack of oxygen that is needed for all of his men to survive, Lt. Commander Oram must decide if he will let his crew die, or sacrifice the majority to save a few. Oram decides to kill 15 of his men and save the lives of the remaining 5 men that had families. Is Oram guilty of murder, or is he innocent? Some might argue that he is guilty because he killed his crew members, and by law—whatever the case may be—that is considered murder. However, he is innocent because he did what he had to do under those circumstances and because of that, he was able to save at least a few lives.

The story depicts a submarine that gets hit by an underwater mine. The ship gets badly damaged, and the crew is led to a predicament. Lt. Commander Oram informed his crew that help will reach them in 7 days, but they only had enough oxygen for 2 days, and because of that the whole crew was left to their doom. Oram is

then faced with a grievous decision of choosing whether to let his men die just like that, or kill in order to save. Because of how dire the situation was, Oram decides to kill 15 of his men with poisoned alcohol and save the remaining 5 married men. He then calls the shore station and says he had “arranged that lieutenant Paull, Engineers Nordin and Jenvey, Torpedoman Preece and Coxswain Peer survive” (Bruce - 25), admitting what he had done for the sake of his crew, and eventually poisoning himself as well. He is now then charged with murder, and the 5 survivors are called to court to testify and find out whether Lt. Commander Oram is guilty, or innocent.
Although he had saved lives, he is guilty because he was the sole conspirator for the death of his 15 men, he didn’t give his crew a chance to say if they wanted to live or be sacrificed, and that he poisoned more than half of his crew. This was a life-threatening decision and Oram had no right on picking who to save or not; he should have done it by lottery so that everyone gets a chance and not only the ones with families. He shouldn’t be allowed to choose their fate because he doesn’t know what everyone’s future holds for them. Murder—according to the dictionary—is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another; since he was the only one fully aware of what he’s going to do, and the fact that he got a hold of the poison fairly quickly, makes one think whether Oram planned this right from the start.
His innocence, however, rests on the following points: he was able to save 5 men when it was believed that they would all die, and because of his position, he is required to think critically in circumstances like this, thus making his decision justifiable.

This was not a quick decision that was made by a selfish man; he knew that the situation was urgent because every minute he delayed meant one less life saved. Playing god was a very crucial part in Oram’s problem. He deliberately chose the ones that were married because he knew the value of life and how their deaths will affect their families greatly. If he had not chosen those 5 men to survive, then all 20 of them would’ve died having done nothing and just accepting their fates. And if they all died, Lt. Commander Oram would be responsible for his incompetence in handling the situation; therefore he made the right decision by sacrificing 15 of his men including

himself.
Lt. Commander Oram’s decision is justified due to his position, thus making him innocent. A good commander must fulfill his obligations by making the best possible decision for his crew, and sacrificing his men was the right thing to do. Although, he could have done a better way of choosing who to survive by doing a lottery so that everyone has a chance, but nevertheless—because of his quick thinking, he was able to save 5 men.