To determine the psychological effects of a maritime collision, the
authors compared the performance and health of the officers and crews of
the USS Belknap (N = 336) and the USS Yarnell (N = 387) during the 3 years
after the Belknap's collision. Significantly more of the Belknap members
were hospitalized or separated from service because of neuroses, and the
men who had the highest percentage of psychiatric hospitalizations were the
uninjured men who were evacuated, returned to the ship, then flown to the
United States. Future disaster studies should evaluate the effectiveness of
crisis intervention in reducing long-term psychological impairment.
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