Lengthier Sub Search May Have Prevented Crash

Navy admirals watched a computerized simulation Friday of the periscope search conducted before a U.S. submarine struck and sank a Japanese fishing vessel.

The video showed how easy it would have been for Greeneville Cmdr. Scott Waddle and another officer to miss the boat in choppy seas and overcast skies with only 80 seconds devoted to the search.

It also showed how the 180-foot ship would have been clearly visible had Waddle conducted a standard three-minute search at a higher power and depth.

Vice Adm. John B. Nathman, who is presiding over a court of inquiry into the collision, said the court would not draw sweeping conclusions based on the reenactment. “There’s nothing absolute about this,” he said. “This is a way of finding out what we can diverge from.”

Navy Capt. Thomas Kyle, who assisted the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation, said the simulations factored in the depth of the submarine, the length of the periscope search, the weather conditions the day of the accident, and the size and coloring of the Ehime Maru.

The high school fisheries training vessel sank in 2,003 feet of water south of Oahu after the Greeneville surfaced underneath it while conducting a rapid-ascent drill on Feb. 9. Nine people died.

Kyle is the second officer to testify at the inquiry, which could lead to courts-martial of Waddle; the executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald K. Pfeifer; and the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael Coen.

Under questioning by the court, Kyle said a longer sonar search would have prevented errors that led to the sinking.

“Time would have helped tremendously,” he said. “A little bit more time . . . would have made it clear as could be” that the Ehime Maru was within 1 1/2 miles of the submarine before the collision.

Sullivan, Nathman and Rear Adm. David M. Stone will forward recommendations about possible disciplinary action and policy changes to Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Fargo will take final action.