In 1967, L. Ron Hubbard raised a private navy, appointed himself Commodore, donned a dashing uniform of his own design and set forth on an extraordinary odyssey, leading a fleet of ships across the oceans variously pursued by the CIA, the FBI, the international press and a miscellany of suspicious government and maritime agencies.
Former Scientologist and Sea Org member of 16 years, Jesse Prince was a senior executive in the Religious Technology Center, Scientology's top management and trademark organization. Jesse Prince left the Sea Org in 1992 and he now actively assists former and current Scientologists to recover from their experiences in Scientology. In his first affidavit Jesse Prince writes:
The Sea Organization is the actual nexus that controls the scientology empire. Sea Organization personnel are authorized to take over and control scientology organizations and to demote personnel, move bank accounts and run the corporation as if the SO personnel were employees or representatives of that corporation but they are not.