Why didn they stay on their ship if the beach is crawling with Supermutants?
The shore party left the ship below the collapsed Woodrow Wilson Memorial (I-95) Bridge and headed upstream in ship’s boats. As they approached the city, their goal, the spotted the carrier wreck that is Rivet City. They saw an empty jetty entending beyond the bow and figured it was a good spot to land and scout out the area keeping their vulnerable boats out of sight. They were spotted by Supermutantants from the Jefferson Memorial who only attacked once the soldiers and sailors were ashore and vulnerable.
