DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Family members greeted the USS Greeneville as it entered Pearl Harbor yesterday morning. The nuclear submarine, which was involved in a collision that killed nine men and boys aboard a Japanese fishing boat a year ago, returned home after a rocky six-month deployment that included two more accidents at sea.

Greeneville
back for repairs

The submarine's crew will
undergo training and the boat
will soon go into drydock

---

Associated Press

The nuclear submarine involved in a fatal collision at sea 13 months ago returned to Pearl Harbor yesterday after a six-month deployment marked by two more accidents.

The USS Greeneville arrived around 11 a.m. and its crew received a traditional homecoming, said Lt. Cmdr. Kelly Merrell, a spokeswoman for U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Force.

The crew will get some time off and then will undergo training in preparation for the submarine's next deployment, she said.

The Greeneville soon will go into drydock for final repairs stemming from its most recent collision with a Navy transport vessel in late January.

"It will be a week or so before we get an estimate of how long that will take and what the cost will be," Merrell said.

The Greeneville made headlines on Feb. 9, 2001, when it collided with the Japanese fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru about nine miles south of Oahu. Nine of the 35 men and boys aboard the vessel from the Uwajima Fisheries School died when it sank.

The sub's captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, was reprimanded by a military court of inquiry which decided against a court-martial. He was allowed to retire at full rank and pension.

The Greeneville departed Aug. 15 on a routine deployment in the Western Pacific before heading to the Indian Ocean to serve in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Shortly after leaving, it ran aground trying to enter the Saipan seaport in rough seas. The accident prompted the Navy to replace Waddle's successor, Cmdr. David S. Bogdan.

On Jan. 28, it collided with amphibious transport ship USS Ogden off the coast of Oman during preparations to transfer two sailors. Cmdr. Lindsay Hankins has remained in command of the submarine while an investigation into the accident continues.

The Greeneville still needs repairs to its stern stabilizer plane, which helps control the angle at which the submarine glides through the water, Merrell said.