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Sonar and
periscope will
be examined
Federal investigators are
to begin an analysis of the
USS Greeneville's systemsBy Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin
More coverage:
Survivors return home
Federal investigators will examine the sonar and periscope systems on the USS Greeneville to determine whether there was a mechanical reason the nuclear submarine did not see a Japanese fishing vessel before surfacing and colliding with it.
Investigators also will begin interviewing the crew of the Navy submarine.
The National Transportation Safety Board will begin comprehensive performance testing of all the sonar systems on the Greeneville this morning to determine whether there had been any degradation of sensitivity, said spokesman and NTSB team member John Hammerschmidt.
"We're basically doing a calibration test to see if parts of the sonar system were functioning as they should have been the day of the accident," he said.
The investigators also will examine the periscope's optics and the submarine's early warning receiver, which should sense radar.
On Sunday, Hammerschmidt said the Navy reported that the submarine crew had performed two visual periscope checks and a passive sonar sweep before beginning the "emergency main ballast blow," a drill that sent the 360-foot submarine through the air like a breaching whale and propelled it into the 180-foot Ehime Maru, sinking it in about 10 minutes.
The sophisticated testing will take about a week to complete.
Hammerschmidt said last night that the thorough internal and external check of the nuclear-powered attack submarine originally scheduled for yesterday was postponed so that NTSB could interview survivors from the training ship, Ehime Maru, before they returned home.
Hisao Onishi, the captain of the Ehime Maru, told investigators that the ship had been traveling at 11 knots, a normal cruising speed, when the ship shuddered as though it had hit something or been hit, Hammerschmidt said. He said Onishi didn't see the submarine until after the collision.
The captain activated the emergency response beacon, which should have gone off automatically once it became submerged. The vessel's life rafts detached from the ship and floated as the ship sank, Hammerschmidt said.
By time the Navy reported the incident to the U.S. Coast Guard, the ship was already submerged. The first audio call to the Coast Guard -- posted on their Web site -- reported "the vessel has sunk. People are in the water and the rough seas may prohibit the submarine from (helping)."
Although the Onishi earlier expressed anger at the crew of the Greeneville for remaining in the submarine instead of assisting survivors in the life rafts, Hammerschmidt said during his interview, the captain said "he now understands they could not go."
During a joint news conference yesterday with Adm. Dennis Blair, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command, Yoshitaka Sakurada, the parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs of Japan, said: "The submarine responded appropriately given the conditions of the sea."
He added, however, that families of nine missing people aboard the ship are frustrated, and he urged the United States to step up search and rescue missions and perform "the strongest and thorough investigation as soon as possible."
Both Blair and Sakuruda stressed that the United States and Japan continue an alliance that has spanned 50 years. "It is important for us to overcome this unfortunate event and strengthen ties," Sakuruda said.
Blair, who apologized to Sakuruda during a meeting this afternoon, said the alliance between the two countries "has really been the bedrock of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific for many years."
By yesterday afternoon, the search for the nine people still missing had covered more than 12,331 square miles -- three times the size of the Big Island -- with an extra 1,900 expected to have been completed last night during an electronic search with night vision equipment.
So far, no survivors have been spotted and the NTSB interviews with the students gave the investigators no indication of where the missing people had been at the time of the collision. Hammerschmidt said the captain reported he had seen one of the missing crew as the ship sank.