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Lieutenant Commander Chip Morton,
blond hair, blue eyes, 6’1”, Executive Officer of the SSRN Seaview.
Charles Philip 'Chip'
Morton was born in Park Ridge, Ill. His family, on the Morton side, was
descended from John Morton (1724-1777),
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. From the time he was a small boy,
'Chip' Morton had a desire to go to the sea. From a land locked town, he
dreamed of spending all his time at the ocean. As he grew, he developed a
love of electronics, and a fascination for computers that continues today.
He spent much of his young adulthood in the garage, building electronic
components for the early computers.
The eldest of five, and
only son of Joe and Clarry Morton, he
got his nickname when his younger sisters could not say Charles Philip, and the
two names blended into one, ‘Chip’, and the nickname stuck.
The young man was also an
athlete, excelling in track, basketball, and baseball, and winning his Varsity
letter in his freshman year in three sports.
Deciding on a career in
the Navy, he applied for and received an appointment to the Naval Academy.
At the Academy, he met and roomed with Lee Crane, and began what was to be seen
as a one-two punch at the Academy. If Crane was first, Morton was always
second, and they made an unbeatable duo, one that made history in many ways at
the Academy.
Upon graduation, both
young men chose different paths, with Morton's leaning to the command path,
because of his penchant for detail. Unfortunately, this proclivity made
him a rather unhappy junior officer. After two tours of duty on a ship,
and then a boat, his ability to deal with details got him a job in the Pentagon.
A nice, safe, boring job, pushing paper and doing it quite well, but not what he
truly wanted. It was here that Harriman Nelson found him. The Admiral had
been looking for the young man to make him an offer.
Nelson offered Morton a
job, a special job, the position of Executive Officer of his still-to-be-built
boat, and the land-based job of Security Chief of the newly formed Nelson
Institute. Chip Morton took all of a day to decide, and he moved to the
Institute, which was, at that time, merely a series of Quonset huts.
Chip had something of a
reputation as a 'ladies man' and unlike Crane, made no bones about his
appreciation of the opposite sex. So when he met Matty Weaver on a
mission, during which he was badly wounded, he was as surprised as anyone else
at the attraction he felt for her. Their
paths crossed several times, and while he was recovering form a severe trauma
after being tortured by Dr. Gamma, he and Matty came to the realization they
indeed loved one another, and they married. It was the only impulsive
thing that Chip Morton had done in his life, and he never regretted it a moment
of it, in all the years they have been together. They have three children,
Alexandra, Andrew, and Katherine.
He was later promoted and retired years later
with the rank of Captain. |
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