Greeneville
was battling time,
sonar supervisor
testifies

He says he had "no indication"
that there was anything
above the submarine

Admiral: Give Waddle immunity

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

The Greeneville's sonar supervisor testified today that everything was available to the crew except time, and that was the driving factor that led to the collision with a Japanese fishing trawler and the loss of nine lives.

Petty Officer Edward McGiboney, Greeneville's sonar supervisor, told a panel of senior U.S. admirals that he had "no indication that someone was on top of me" when the nuclear sub surfaced beneath the hull of the Ehime Maru.

"It didn't make sense," said McGiboney who was in charge of the sub's sonar shack before the Feb. 9 collision with the Ehime Maru.

When the collision occurred McGiboney said he thought the Greeneville had hit "something that was sitting in the water."

"We weren't tracking anything so close."

So what went wrong, asked Rear Adm. Paul Sullivan, a member of the panel investigating the accident?

"I don't think we had enough time. Everything else was available. We were doing what we needed to do."

An hour before the collision McGiboney said sonar did pick up a contact labeled Sierra 13 -- which was later identified as Ehime Maru -- but he did not have enough information at the time, except that he thought it was "distance." Both contacts were north and northwest of the Greeneville, and he classified them as merchant vessels.

Navy investigators said that despite regulations, the sonar room wasn't manned as required since a trainee was not constantly supervised.

However, just before the Greeneville went to periscope depth another qualified sonar man, Petty Officer Roberto Reyes, walked into the radar shack, so McGiboney asked him to supervise the trainee, Seaman Stuart Rhodes.

At periscope depth at 60 feet McGiboney heard the call, "no visual contacts," meaning the officer at the periscope didn't see any ships on the surface. "That made me feel better," McGiboney said. Then the Greeneville went deep to 400 feet to perform the emergency surfacing drill.

Yesterday, other Greeneville crew members told of the rescue effort after the submarine sank the fishing training vessel.

"There was nobody in the water," said Lt. Cmdr. Tyler Meador, who coordinated the search-and-rescue efforts for the Greeneville.

Meador said, he grabbed a safety harness and climbed to the bridge to coordinate operations from outside the sub.

He was joined by four other Greeneville crewmen, including two swimmers and Cmdr. Scott Waddle, the Greeneville's skipper, on the crowded bridge.

Meador said at first he tried to maneuver the 360-foot sub to the closest raft, which was off the bow and was carrying two survivors.

"When we got close, it got dangerous ... Water would wash into the raft."

---

Waddle should get
immunity to testify,
his attorney says

The Greeneville skipper
allegedly wasn't read his rights at
the initial investigative interview

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

Adm. Thomas Fargo, Pacific Fleet commander, has good reason to grant Cmdr. Scott Waddle immunity to testify in the current court of inquiry because the Navy erred when it interviewed him initially without reading him his rights, according to his defense attorney.

Charles Gittins, Waddle's civilian attorney, wants Fargo to grant the commander of the USS Greeneville immunity from anything he would say at the Navy court of inquiry that is now completing its second week of hearings at Pearl Harbor.

With 19 Greeneville crew members testifying this week, Waddle, his two junior officers and a crewman who failed to warn the Greeneville that Ehime Maru was 4,000 yards away and closing are the only major players left.

Gittins said that following the Feb. 9 collision where the Greeneville struck the Japanese fishing training ship Ehime Maru, Waddle was interviewed by Lt. Cmdr. Barry Harrison, but Gittins said Waddle, 41, was never read his rights.

That "initial statement and all evidence derived from therefrom will be inadmissible at any trial by court martial," Gittins said.

However, Jay Fidell, a Honolulu attorney and former Coast Guard investigator, said Gittins' statement is not a proffer, or a legal statement, that is supposed to lay out what Waddle would testify about to help Fargo determine whether he should be granted immunity.

"This is not a proffer," Fidell said. "It does not say what the man will testify to, but it does reveal his (Gittins') tactics."

Fidell said Gittins already has gotten Rear Adm. Albert Konetzni, Pacific Fleet Submarine Forces commander, and Rear Adm. Charles Griffiths, who conducted the preliminary investigation, to tell the court that Waddle is not criminally negligent.

Also seeking testimonial immunity is Lt. (j.g) Michael Coen, Greeneville's officer of the deck who was running the ship at the time of the mishap. Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer, the sub's second-in-command, is the third part to this rare Navy court of inquiry, but hasn't as yet requested immunity.

Gittins said "there is unfound speculation" by other witnesses that Waddle was operating under time constraints.

"Only Cmdr. Waddle is in position to provide probative evidence on this issue of real or perceived time constraints because it was solely his decision whether and when USS Greeneville would return to Pearl Harbor."

Gittins said that Waddle is the only person who can answer why he conducted periscope sweeps, which have been criticized as being too brief.

Other issues Waddle would address deal with the broken sonar monitor, his interpretation of the Navy's distinguished visitors program, and his evaluation of the sonar contacts the ship was tracking that day.