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Its highest-level probe into the
Ehime Maru sinking starts next
week, led by 3 senior admirals

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

Cmdr. Scott Waddle and two other officers of the Navy's newest Los Angeles-class 688 attack submarine on Monday will face a rare Navy investigative board that will determine if they should be punished for a collision that sank a Japanese fishing training trawler three weeks ago.

Based on military tradition, the convening of such a panel is based on the 1786 Articles of War. It is used to investigate the Navy's most serious incidents.

By David Swann, Star-Bulletin
COURT TO CONVENE: A look at the room layout and
participants in the U.S. military inquiry which convenes
Monday into the Ehime Maru tragedy. Click for large view.

The local court inquiry, probably the biggest since the investigation into the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, has generated immense attention and pressure from Japan.

It is the first Navy Court of Inquiry -- the service's highest investigative forum -- since two incidents in 1992. The case which drew the most attention then involved the USS Saratoga.

The warship mistakenly fired two missiles into a nearby Turkish destroyer during a Mediterranean Sea naval exercise. The Turkish government demanded courts-martial. But a Court of Inquiry rejected the option, saying it found the firing to be accidental and lacking criminal intent.

In announcing the convening of the formal Court of Inquiry, Adm. Thomas Fargo, Pacific Fleet commander, demonstrated his seriousness with the appointment of three senior admirals. Japanese Rear Adm. Isamu Ozawa will serve as an adviser and nonvoting member.

Included in that panel is Rear Adm. Paul F. Sullivan, incoming director of submarine warfare.

"They will provide a full and open accounting to both the American and the Japanese people," said Fargo in making the announcement Feb. 17.

By David Swann, Star-Bulletin
CONTROL ROOM: Positions of key civilians at time of collision.

By David Swann, Star-Bulletin
CONTROL ROOM: Depiction with 25 people in the control room.

In his three-page instructions to Vice Adm. John B. Nathman, president of the panel, Fargo said "the court is directed to inquire into all the facts and the circumstances connecting with the collision, resulting deaths and injuries to the Japanese passengers and crew of the Japanese M/V Ehime Maru, the damages resulting therefrom, and any fault, neglect, or responsibility for the incident."

Over the next few weeks, the panel of admirals can be expected to examine every detail of the Feb. 9 accident such as the depth of the submarine when it came near the surface to search for vessels with its periscope, sonar readings leading up to the moment of impact, and the time difference from when the periscope check was made and the start of the emergency surfacing maneuver, according to Navy officials.

Also, the court has been asked to determine whether the 16 civilian guests on the submarine that day may have been a factor in the collision. Court members were also asked by Fargo to review policies and practices governing the Submarine Forces' distinguished visitor embarkation program.

Panel to report each week

Fargo wants the panel to give a status report of its inquiry on March 12 and at weekly intervals until the hearing is over. Some legal experts say that may take as long as three weeks depending on the defense raised by Waddle and the two other Greeneville officers.

The hearing will be held in Pearl Harbor's Trial Services Office courtroom, which was built in 1991 and can seat only 55.

That has placed a tremendous burden on Navy officials who not only must accommodate family of the crew, but also several hundred journalists from the mainland and Asia.

Capt. Kevin Wensing, Navy spokesman, said more than 240 journalists and technicians from 44 media organizations are seeking to be accredited. The demand was so intense that the Navy was forced to take over part of the building generally used to handle the personnel needs of sailors, converting it into a media center.

Of the 55 seats in the courtroom, 17 have been set aside for the media, Wensing said.

At the media center -- about two miles outside the gates of Pearl Harbor -- one room has been set up with two 32-inch television sets plugged into a closed-circuit line to the courthouse. There, more than 90 Japanese and American newsmen and women will follow the proceedings.

Wensing said the remote site is being treated as an extension of the Pearl Harbor courtroom and no cameras or other recording devices will be allowed. One television camera, run by a Navy technician, will give journalists a view of the court proceedings.

UNDER QUESTIONING

Lt. Cmdr. Gerald K. Pfeifer Age: 38 Hometown: Maryland Source of Commission: U.S. Naval Academy, May 1986 Career: October 1999 to present, USS Greeneville; November 1997-August 1999, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Nuclear Propulsion Examination Board; July 1994-October 1997, USS Batfish; August 1991-June 1994, Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey; March 1988-July 1991, USS Nevada; June 1986-February 1988, Submarine Officer Basic Training Cmdr. Scott Waddle Age: 41 Hometown: Texas Source of Commission: U.S. Naval Academy, May 1981 Career: Now on temporary duty to Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet; February 1999-Feb. 10, 2001, USS Greeneville; August 1997-January 1999, Perspective Commanding Officer School; February 1995-July 1997, USS San Francisco; November 1992-January 1995, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Nuclear Propulsion Examination Board; February 1992-October 1992, USS Kentucky; August 1989-February 1992, USS Kentucky; June 1988-July 1989, Submarine Officer Advanced Course; April 1986-May 1988, Commander, Submarine Group 8, Naples; February 1983-March 1986, USS Alabama; May 1981-January 1983, Submarine Officer Basic Training Lt. j.g. Michael J. Coen Age: 26 Hometown: Florida Source of Commission: Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, Florida State University, August 1997 Career: March 1999-present, USS Greeneville; September 1997-February 1999, Submarine Officer Basic Training

THE TRIBUNAL

Vice Adm. John B. Nathman Naval Academy: Graduated 1970 Career includes: Commander of Pacific Fleet's naval air force. Has been a Top Gun training officer; commander of USS LaSalle in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm; commander of Nimitz Battle Group Rear Adm. Paul F. Sullivan Naval Academy: Graduated 1970 Career includes: Director for plans and policies at U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Neb. Has served aboard numerous subs; commanded the USS Florida, USS Birmingham and Submarine Group Nine Rear Adm. David M. Stone Naval Academy: Graduated 1974 Career includes: Commander of Destroyer Group 5/Nimitz battle group. Has served on various naval vessels; was commanding officer of destroyer USS John Hancock

No live public broadcast

At one point, there was a request for 11 satellite-live trucks to be parked around the tiny courtroom. None of the proceedings, however, will be televised live.

In the courtroom, a sound-proof booth has been erected so Japanese translators can give simultaneous translations of the court proceedings to family members and other dignitaries from Japan attending the inquiry. The translations will be beamed by radio signals to anyone who has an earpiece.

On Feb. 9, the USS Greeneville, commissioned in 1996, was near the completion of a daylong cruise just off the coast of Oahu. Aboard were 16 civilians -- two of them island residents -- escorted by Capt. Robert L. Brandhuber, Pacific Fleet Submarine Forces chief of staff.

The Ehime Maru, with a crew of 13 high school students, two teachers and 20 sailors from Ehime Prefecture, was on its last leg of a fishing voyage that began Jan. 10. Its crew had taken three days of rest and shopping in Hawaii and was on its way to fishing grounds 200 miles south of Oahu.

Most of the Ehime Maru's crew was below deck following a noon meal when the 6,000-ton Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine struck the Ehime Maru's engine room from beneath the surface as it completed an emergency surfacing maneuver.

Within 10 minutes following the 1:50 p.m. collision, the 499-ton fishing vessel slipped below the waves. Nine people -- four 17-year-old students, two teachers and three crewmen -- have never been found.

On Monday, Waddle, the commanding officer; Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer, the executive officer; Lt. (j.g.) Michael Coen, the officer of the deck that day, will appear before the Court of Inquiry, which must determine whether to recommend that Fargo press criminal charges.

Feds pursue separate probe

The court is separate from the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation, which completed its preliminary Hawaii probe last week.

All three officers declined to speak to the NTSB during the Navy investigation.

The NTSB was able to determine that the Ehime Maru was one of several surface vessels the Greeneville was tracking on its sonar Feb. 9. One of the key questions is why the Greeneville's crew failed to realize how close the Japanese vessel was before the surfacing demonstration for the civilians.

A Navy preliminary report by Rear Adm. Charles Griffiths indicated that a Greeneville crewman did not continue plotting the course of the Ehime Maru because the control room was crowded with crew and the 16 civilians.

Among the 20 people expected to be called as witnesses will be Brandhuber and the Ehime Maru's captain, Hisao Onishi.

Highly regarded submarine commander Waddle, 41, has retained the services of Charles Gittins, a reserve Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who has specialized in military cases.

Gittins was responsible for the acquittal of Army Sgt. Maj. Gene McKinney on 18 of 19 charges of sexual misconduct three years ago.

Waddle, a 1981 Annapolis graduate, has issued both his "sincere regret" to the crew of the Ehime Maru, the city of Uwajima and the Japanese people and a personal apology to the families of the nine missing students and teachers of Uwajima Fisheries High School and crewmen.

Unlike an adversarial judicial proceeding, there is no prosecutor, just a counsel to the court who are under the direct supervision of Nathman, the president. The counsels -- Capt. Bruce MacDonald and Cmdr. Michael Quinn -- will present evidence and examine witnesses.

Once Fargo receives the findings of the three U.S. admirals, he will have 30 days to take action.

Not all inquiries find blame Past prominent Navy courts of inquiry: 1898: The sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. Although Spain was thought to be at fault, the Court of Inquiry could find no evidence fixing responsibility. 1941: The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The court placed blame on Rear Adm. Husband Kimmel, Navy commander, and Lt. Gen. Walter Short, Army commander, for lack of preparedness. 1963: The sinking of the USS Thresher off Cape Cod. Piping failure was affixed by the court as the probable reason why the submarine flooded and sank. 1967: The attack on the USS Liberty, an electronic intelligence ship, by Israeli jets and torpedo boats in international waters 15 miles north of the Sinai peninsula. Thirty-four crewmen were killed. Israel apologized, saying the attack was a mistake, and offered compensation. The court concluded there was insufficient information to make a judgment about reasons for attack. 1968: The North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo. The court recommended that several high-ranking officers be court-martialed for giving up the ship. Navy Secretary John Chafee overturned the recommendation. 1968: The sinking of the USS Scorpion 400 miles southwest of the Azores. No reason was determined by the court. 1992: USS Saratoga mistakenly fires two missiles into a Turkish destroyer in the Mediterranean. The court rejected Turkish demands for courts-martial, saying the firing was accidental. 1992: Crash of V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft near Quantico, Va. Engine design flaw was determined to be the cause, rather than pilot error.