Authority through restraint in shipboard discipline

Could a first lieutenant realistically ignore an apparently insubordinate comment?

Yes; if it is not public or disruptive, ignoring a provocation can preserve authority better than reacting to it.

A fictional first lieutenant overlooks a comment that seems insubordinate, raising the question of whether such restraint was realistic. Private provocations could be ignored when they were neither public nor disruptive. An officer who reacts to every attempt at provocation risks surrendering control of his own response to a subordinate. The point complements the earlier explanation that discipline depended heavily on the captain and the immediate command climate.