Navy to open inquiry into sub accident Monday

HONOLULU, Hawaii (CNN) -- The U.S. Navy is set to open its inquiry on Monday into the sinking of a Japanese ship by a U.S. submarine as it studies how to recover the bodies of nine killed in the accident.

Navy and Coast Guard officials on Friday called off three weeks of searches for survivors of the fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru, which sank February 9 after being accidentally rammed by the nuclear-powered submarine USS Greeneville off Honolulu.

The collision occurred as the Greeneville demonstrated an emergency surfacing maneuver for a group of civilian guests. The Ehime Maru sank within minutes. Rescuers saved 26 of the 35 people aboard the Japanese ship, but nine -- including four teen-age students from a fisheries training school -- are presumed dead.

VIDEO CNN's Martin Savidge says 21-day search leaves 9 missing in wreck of Japanese fishing vessel and U.S. sub Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    GALLERY See images of the sunken Ehime Maru    RESOURCES Text of Cmdr. Waddle's statement 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     MESSAGE BOARD Sub collision

Families of the missing have asked the Navy to raise the 190-foot vessel from its resting place 1,800 feet below the surface. The Navy says a private salvage firm will determine by Thursday whether raising the vessel is possible, and the Navy will make its own determination around March 12.

Three of the Greeneville's top officers -- including its captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle -- will face questions from a court of inquiry at the Pearl Harbor naval base Monday. The Navy has stressed that its inquiry is a search for the truth and not a criminal prosecution.

Among the question senior officers want answered: Whether 16 civilian visitors on the Greeneville prevented crew members from doing their jobs. Two civilians were operating controls with crew members at two of the three stations used to perform the emergency ascent.

The court of inquiry will determine whether disciplinary action should be taken against Waddle and two other officers -- Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer, the Greeneville's executive officer, and the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael Coen.

The court will consist of three Navy officers, as well as a Japanese adviser, Rear Adm. Isamu Ozawa of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.

Also expected to face tough scrutiny are an enlisted man who reportedly detected the Ehime Maru on sonar and failed to warn his superior officers; and Capt. Bob Brandhuber, the chief of staff for the Pacific Submarine Forces, who was host of the civilian guests.

The incident has strained relations between the United States and Japan, and families of the students still missing are expected to attend the military hearing.

On Wednesday, the Navy's No. 2 officer visited the hometown of the dead, delivering a personal apology to weeping family members and classmates. Adm. William J. Fallon reportedly told family members that the United States would do its best to raise the sunken trawler to try to recover the bodies of their loved ones.

The accident has prompted U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to temporarily ban civilians from the controls of all military equipment until lingering questions about the Greeneville incident are resolved.

Some Japanese officials say the fact that teen-agers aboard the Ehime Maru were killed has been almost ignored by U.S. media and military reports.

"The image in Japan is like that of a school bus being run over by a tank," said Hiroko Hakoda, speaking for the Japanese Embassy in Washington. "That is not the image Americans have in their minds. It is not being portrayed that way here. There is resistance to that image here."

Skipper seeks immunity, sub maneuvers surface
March 2, 2001
Navy switches from search to salvage operations
March 2, 2001
Navy looks at role of escort officer in collision probe
February 24, 2001
Navy probe faults sub crew, sources say
February 23, 2001
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

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

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