Collision to be focus of Navy's inquiry

The Navy’s probe of an attack submarine’s fatal collision with a Japanese training vessel on Friday could lead to serious disciplinary action against members of the sub’s crew or even top officers on land, military legal experts said.

"The fact is, the Navy has been extremely hard in cases of casualties at sea, and continues to treat them with the utmost seriousness," said Eugene R. Fidell, president of the Washington-based National Institute of Military Justice, a civilian think tank. "The challenge is to ensure that that seriousness does not overwhelm justice."

Though it is too early to say how long the investigation will take, "it would be extraordinarily difficult for this incident to escape the most exacting scrutiny," said Fidell, a Coast Guard veteran who has taught military justice at Yale Law School. "The question is, who is going to get hammered here?"

Investigators will likely take a hard look at the fact that 16 civilians were on board the USS Greeneville when it slammed into the Ehime Maru, he said.

Even high-ranking officers at Pearl Harbor could face scrutiny, according to Fidell.

"Who were these people (the civilians)? Were they appropriate passengers? Who approved allowing them on board? They’ll certainly have to investigate whether there was a lack of care and attention to planning," Fidell said.

The Navy has steadfastly refused to reveal the identities of the civilians, citing their right to privacy and their requests that they not be publicly identified. Federal investigators confirmed Tuesday that two civilians were at key control stations of the sub as it shot to the surface while performing a "main emergency ballast blow" maneuver.

But the Navy said that the civilians had been closely monitored during the exercise and that their presence at the controls had not been a factor in the accident, which left nine people missing and presumed dead.

Retired Navy Rear Adm. J. Eugene Carroll, vice president of the Center for Defense Information in Washington, said the real question is whether the sub’s crew had properly searched for traffic above them before surfacing.

"I don’t see how they could have failed to detect this ship, but that’s what investigators will have to determine," he said. "In peacetime, safety rules require a submarine to be 100 percent responsible for safe surfacing."

Carroll said he doubted a civilian at the sub’s controls had caused the accident per se, but said civilians could have caused other problems that Navy personnel will have to answer for.

Investigators could find that the civilians had been a distraction to the sub’s crew, "but that would in no way relieve the captain of responsibility," Carroll said.

The Navy will likely convene a formal board of investigation, or a much more serious court of inquiry, to review evidence and hear testimony from witnesses, Carroll and Fidell agreed.

The Greeneville’s skipper, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, will face extreme scrutiny and is virtually certain to testify before one of those panels, though he could technically refuse, both experts said.

"The safe bet is that the actions of the commander will be scrutinized meticulously, and typically unforgivingly," Fidell said.

Carroll said he could recall no time in which the captain of a Navy vessel refused to testify before an investigating panel.

"It would be out of keeping with the sense of responsibility of the commanding officer, which is absolute — he is fully responsible for the safety of his ship and crew," Carroll said.

The board or court could agree on a range of disciplinary actions, ranging from full exoneration to a court-martial, a criminal proceeding that could lead to imprisonment.

The Navy is mandated to provide free military defense counsel to any subject of an investigation regarding an on-duty incident, and that person can also elect to hire a private attorney to assist.

"People sometimes want someone outside the military involved so there is no concern that someone in the military is pulling their punches," Fidell said.

Rear Adm. Charles Griffiths Jr. is in charge of the Navy’s investigation, and any decision to convene a board or court would be made by Adm. Thomas Fargo, the Pacific Fleet’s commander, a Navy spokesman said.

The Navy has not always meted out harsh discipline in the case of serious accidents, however.

In 1992, a Navy board of inquiry decided against court-martial for the skipper and seven officers and crew members of the aircraft carrier Saratoga, which mistakenly launched a missile attack on a Turkish destroyer in the Aegean Sea, killing five men.

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