Sources: Navy investigation faults sub crew, civilians a possible factor in accident

In this story: Father of missing boy blasts Navy Report: Commander knew of ship's presence Sub turned before surfacing RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sources familiar with the U.S. Navy's investigation into the collision between the USS Greeneville and a Japanese vessel say a preliminary report faults the crew of the submarine and concludes the presence of civilians on board might have been a factor in the accident.

GALLERY See images of the sunken Ehime Maru    RESOURCES Key players in the USS Greeneville investigation Names of civilians on board the USS Greeneville during collision    IN-DEPTH Collision at sea  • Key facts  • Look inside the sub  • Sub-ship size comparison  • How a submarine works  • Description of ascent maneuver     ALSO Japanese blast U.S. sub crew    INTERACTIVE Learn more about the U.S. Navy's Unmanned Vehicle Detachment (UMV) Learn more about Deep Drone    VIDEO While Japan's government says it's waiting for investigations to conclude, CNN Marina Kamimura says the Japanese people aren't so patient Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     MESSAGE BOARD Sub collision

According to one source with access to the preliminary report, it found that the Greeneville's skipper, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, was aware there was a ship in the area of his submarine just before conducting an emergency surfacing drill, but concluded it was a safe distance away, after a visual search with the sub's periscope failed to detect it.

The Navy report also concluded that the presence of 16 civilians in the submarine's cramped control room hampered communications, and may have been a factor in the crew's failure to perform up to standards, sources said.

Father of missing boy blasts Navy

Meanwhile, the father of a 17-year-old missing Japanese student said on Friday that a delay in the U.S. Navy's inquiry was evidence of "the American way of doing things."

"America is repeatedly ridiculing us," Ryosuke Terata -- whose son Yusuke is one of nine Japanese missing and presumed dead after the collision -- said at a news conference in his hometown of Uwajima with other relatives of the missing.

Thirteen of the Japanese ship's passengers were students from the Uwajima Fisheries High School on a training project. Nine people are missing and presumed dead, four of whom were students.

The Navy granted a continuance on Thursday to Cmdr. Waddle's attorneys, pushing back a court of inquiry from February 26 to March 5. At that time Waddle and two other officers will be questioned on the sub's fatal collision with the Japanese vessel Ehime Maru.

Waddle's military attorneys said they had asked for the delay to allow a civilian attorney at work on another case more time to prepare.

But Terata blasted the delay, saying that he believed the move was "a strategy to protect the commander."

"They (the United States) had hired a very good lawyer to protect the rights of the offender," he said.

"For us Japanese, this is extremely frustrating," Terata said. "It is just like putting a crying child into a closet to wait until it calms down."

Report: Commander knew of ship's presence

In other developments, two Washington newspapers reported, in Friday editions, potentially damaging information about the investigation.

The Washington Post, quoting a source familiar with the investigation, told investigators that because of a sonar sounding Waddle was aware a ship was in the area before his submarine conducted the emergency surfacing maneuver.

However, the source said, Waddle told investigators he did not see the ship when he looked though the sub's periscope nor did the sailor tasked with plotting surface ships warn him a vessel was nearby.

Pentagon sources told CNN on that Thursday the Greeneville was about 4,000 yards, or two nautical miles, away from the Japanese ship when the sub failed to detect it on its periscope search.

The Washington Times reported that a confidential Navy document describes errors made by the submarine crew, among them conducting a periscope search that was too low and too brief to detect the nearby ship.

The USS Greeneville slammed into the Ehime Maru on February 9 while performing a rapid ascent maneuver just off the coast of Hawaii. Thirteen of the Japanese ship's passengers were students from the Uwajima Fisheries High School on a training project.

Twenty-six of 35 people aboard were rescued. Missing in addition to the four students are two teachers at the school and three crew members.

After the incident, the relatives of the missing were dismayed to learn that 16 civilians had been aboard the Greeneville at the time of the accident -- and that two of them had been at key controls during the surfacing maneuver.

The Navy insisted that both civilians were closely supervised, however, and that their presence had no bearing on the accident.

Sub turned before surfacing

Pentagon sources said Thursday the Greeneville was approximately 4,000 yards, or two nautical miles, away from the Japanese ship when the sub began its ascent. The sources cited a Navy analysis performed after the fatal accident.

Navy officials said the analysis is based on a reconstruction of events after the fact, not on what the submarine crew knew at the time. And Navy sources told CNN the Greeneville did a 180-degree turn below the surface just before doing its rapid ascent, which resulted in the February 9 accident.

Navy officials theorized that the submarine may have been turning in an effort to put more distance between itself and any surface ships, and unknowingly turned toward the Ehime Maru.

The official said it's also possible that in turning, the submarine may have lost the sonar reading "in the baffles" of the submarine's propeller.

And officials caution this still does not explain whether the submarine's sonar operator knew or should have known the location of the Ehime Maru before the accident.

The three officers facing the Navy inquiry -- Waddle, executive officer Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer, and officer of the deck Lt. j. g. Michael Coen -- refused to answer questions posed by the National Transportation Safety Board, saying they wanted first to face the Navy's inquiry.

CNN Tokyo Bureau Chief Marina Kamimura, Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre, National Security Producer Chris Plante and Correspondent Martin Savidge contributed to this report.

Navy grants delay of sub court of inquiry
February 22, 2001
Civilians ordered hands off control
February 21, 2001
Sources: Sub's sonar system detected Japanese vessel
February 20, 2001
Army bars civilians from planes, vehicles
February 20, 2001
Sub skipper refuses to talk to NTSB
February 19, 2001
Letter from the Mayor of Uwajima, Japan
February 19, 2001
Civilians: We were 'innocent bystanders' in sub accident
February 18, 2001
Japanese relatives view video of ship hit by sub
February 18, 2001
Civilians barred from sub controls during probe
February 16, 2001
First report on sub collision could come this week
February 15, 2001

U.S. Coast Guard
Japanese Prime Minister
City of Uwajima's memorial site
U.S. Navy
 • CINCPACFLT statement on the USS Greeneville incident
 • Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet
 • USS Greeneville
National Transportation Safety Board

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.