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Civilians’ official
escort may testify
at inquiryBy Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-BulletinThe high-ranking submarine officer who was the escort for the 16 civilians aboard the USS Greeneville on Feb. 9 is likely to be called as a witness at next week's Navy court of inquiry.
Waddle delivers apology
Capt. Robert L. Brandhuber, chief of staff for the Pacific Fleet's Submarine Force, was the senior officer on the Greeneville when it collided and sank the fisher trawler Ehime Maru.
Capt. Kevin Wensing, Pacific Fleet spokesman, said that Brandhuber, who commanded the submarine USS San Juan from May 1989 to December 1991, has not been designated as a party to the inquiry which will begin Monday in a Pearl Harbor courtroom.
However, the court of inquiry has the power to name other people, he said.
When the court of inquiry was convened earlier this month by Adm. Thomas Fargo, Pacific Fleet commander, only three of Greeneville's officers were named: Cmdr. Scott Waddle, the captain; Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer, its executive officer; and Lt. (j.g.) Michael Coen, officer of the deck the day of the accident.
Wensing said Fargo also asked the court to examine the implementation of the submarine's program that allows civilians to accompany a boat's crew on a cruise.
Also part of that review will be the "propriety" of the locations assigned to the civilians during these visits.
During the Feb. 9 accident all 16 visitors were crammed into the confined quarters of the Greeneville's control center.
One civilian sat at the helm of the submarine while another operated the switches that initiated the emergency surfacing maneuver.
A crucial Greeneville crewman said that the civilians may have prevented him from accurately updating a backup paper chart showing the locations of vessels on the surface.
Another possible witness for the Navy court of inquiry is Hisao Onishi, captain of the Ehime Maru.
Brandhuber's son-in-law was assigned to the Greeneville until his tour ended last week.
Pearl Harbor subs
unlikely to move portThe last of three Navy subs to be
homeported in Guam is not expected to
come from Pearl HarborBy Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-BulletinThe Navy, following up on plans to base three nuclear-powered submarines in Guam, has decided two will be from mainland bases. The third has not been selected, but it is not expected to be one of the 19 at Pearl Harbor.
Earlier this month, the Navy announced it would transfer three U.S. nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines to Guam by 2004.
The Navy plans to send the USS City of Corpus Christi and the USS San Francisco from mainland ports to Apra Harbor, 3,800 miles west of Hawaii.
The Corpus Christi, being refitted in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire, will arrive in Guam sometime next year.
The San Francisco, which used to be homeported at Pearl Harbor, will be moved from Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia about two years later.
From 1964 to 1981, Guam was the homeport for ballistic missile submarines, or boomers. The USS Robert E. Lee was the last boomer to call Guam home.
There are 56 attack submarines in the Navy. The Pacific Fleet maintains 25, with 19 berthed at Pearl Harbor. At one time, the Pacific Fleet maintained 40 attack boats, but despite the decrease in number, the number of missions involving intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance has increased.
A Navy study last year said it would need 68 attack submarines by 2015 and 76 by 2015 to meet Navy requirements.
Jon Yoshishige, Pacific Fleet spokesman, said the time Pacific Fleet submarines are under way has increased to an average of 78 percent in 1999 from 67 percent in 1995.
"The only way to provide additional deployed presence is to increase the number of submarines we have in the Pacific or decrease the time between deployments," he said. "This homeporting proposal significantly improves the near-term problem."
He added, "The move of these submarines to Guam is a partial, near-term measure from which demands in the Pacific can be better satisfied by positioning them further west."
Basing three subs in Guam will provide an additional two months of operation per year, Yoshishige added.
Later this summer, Pearl Harbor's Submarine Force will lose the 35-year-old USS Kamehameha because it is being inactivated. The Kamehameha was originally a Ben Franklin-class ballistic missile submarine, but was later converted to support special operations and Navy SEAL teams.