Report expected
this week on
Ehime Maru
accident

A three-admiral panel is to
present a recommendation
on the collision

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

A panel of three senior U.S. admirals is expected to present its recommendations this week concerning the collision of the nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville and the Japanese training vessel Ehime Maru.

Navy officials, however, said no exact date has been set and that the three-week time frame set for the court of inquiry to develop its recommendations was just an estimation.

At stake are the futures of Cmdr. Scott Waddle, the Greeneville's skipper; his executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer; and Lt. j.g. Michael Coen, the sub's officer of the deck when it rammed the Ehime Maru on Feb. 9.

The findings of the Navy court of inquiry, which completed 212 weeks of testimony March 20, will play a role in deciding whether the sub's commander and other crewmen might be court-martialed or receive another form of punishment. The report goes to Adm. Thomas Fargo, Pacific Fleet commander, who will have 30 days to make the final decision.

The Greeneville rammed the Ehime Maru while demonstrating an emergency surfacing maneuver for 16 civilians who were the sole reason for the Feb. 9 mission.

The Ehime Maru now rests on the bottom of the Pacific in 2,003 feet of water nine miles south of Diamond Head. Nine people were killed and their relatives want the Navy to retrieve any personal belongings and bodies still in the vessel.

The Navy is considering the environmental hazards in raising the 750-ton vessel which is heavily loaded with diesel fuel and lube oil. The cost of a salvage from such an unprecedented depth has been placed at $40 million.

Waddle has been replaced by Capt. Tony Cortese at least until Fargo's decision. Coen and Pfeifer are still members of the sub's crew.

Testimony during the court of inquiry showed that Waddle made series of errors, including making a too brief periscope check. There also were mistakes by a sonar analyst who failed to warn Waddle that the Ehime Maru was bearing down on the sub.