The Writer
Robert C. Powers
Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired) · Writer of Project Extremis
Captain Robert C. Powers, USN (Ret.) is the writer of Project Extremis, and a real-world participant in the events that inspired it.
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland (Class of 1960), Capt. Powers spent his career aboard destroyers, including USS Jonas Ingram (DD-938), USS Laffey (DD-724), USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5, two tours), and USS Lawrence (DDG-4). He commanded Destroyer Squadron Seventeen in San Diego, California, and the Surface Warfare Development Group in Norfolk, Virginia.
He commanded USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) when she participated in rescue operations after the collision between USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and USS Belknap (CG-26) off the east coast of Sicily on the night of 22 November 1975.
Key assignments
- · Two combat tours in Vietnam
- · CNO Staff, TOMAHAWK / HARPOON Project Officer
- · Senior Military Assistant, Defense Science Board
In 2003, Capt. Powers began his second career as a writer and publisher. His wife Phyllis died in 2008. In 2013 he married Sarah Copeland Bennett; her son Tommy and his wife, both in police work, serve as administrators of the Powers estate.
The Book
Saving the Belknap, Capt. Powers' first-person account of the 22 November 1975 collision, was published in 2011, with a second edition in 2015. A third edition is currently in preparation, timed to coincide with the development of this site.
In his own words
It is Capt. Powers' hope that through Saving the Belknap, this account of the events of 22 November 1975 will encourage future generations to choose an adventurous life at sea in the service of our country, and that they will avoid the mistakes that led to the collision on that fateful night.
Selected screenwriting credits
- · EXTREMIS, drama, ScreenCraft True Story & Public Domain Competition, Quarterfinalist
- · LASERBLADERS, fantasy, Optioned
- · HOT, drama / thriller, Optioned (also Quarterfinalist, Miami Screenplay)
- · DENIAL, thriller, InkTip Pro Screenwriting Contest (Limited Location), Quarterfinalist
- · ALFIE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT, faith-based drama, FAITH IN FILM International Festival, Quarterfinalist
Why he is writing this
The men he served with are not abstractions to him. They are names. They are faces. They are respected friends. They are people who earned the most important title for a Sailor: Shipmate.
Project Extremis is a way of saying “thank you” to my officers and crew who loved their ship and their Shipmates. What is it that inspires men to accept the dangers of a crisis and perform heroically? I know the answer. Good training, good character, and enlightened leadership at all levels. This was on full display on board USS Claude V. Ricketts on the “night to forget that will always be remembered.” For them, it was just doing what had to be done.
Robert Carney Powers, Captain, United States Navy (Retired), Destroyerman