Navy’s Submarine Chief Says Captain to Blame for Deaths

The captain of the nuclear submarine Greeneville was to blame for its collision with a Japanese fishing boat that killed nine people because he spent too little time searching the surface with a periscope, a top U.S. Navy submarine official testified Monday.

“This is the meat of the matter,” Rear Adm. Albert Konetzni, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s submarine forces, said, adding that sub commanders “have an unbelievable obligation to make sure there’s nobody in the area. You’d better get as much pull out there as you can--periscope time--to make sure.

“That’s what caused this collision, besides the fact that the moon and the stars and a few other things weren’t going right because there’s no way in a million years you could replicate this.”

Konetzni, testifying as a naval court of inquiry into the Feb. 9 crash began its second week, prefaced his criticism of Cmdr. Scott D. Waddle with the statement, “I love this guy. I tell you he’s one of my best friends.”

Konetzni said Waddle’s decision to twice take command from the officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael J. Coen, at critical times during the “emergency blow” maneuver preceding the collision shortened the time needed to process data, disrupted the teamwork of the operation and likely precluded any of the crew from questioning his actions.

The court of inquiry, which loosely resembles a civilian trial, will determine what actions, if any, are taken against Waddle, Coen and Lt. Cmdr Gerald K. Pfeifer.