 |
 |
| John Hall, left, and Todd Thoman, both of Houston, two civilians who were aboard the USS Greeneville during the Feb. 9 incident, appeared on the NBC "Today" program yesterday to deliver their accounts of what happened. They said the performance of the captain and crew were examplary. Hall said he was closely supervised as he was allowed to pull the levels that blew the ballast, sending the sub to its ascent.
NBC video image via Associated Press |
 Bush may halt VIP cruises
Sinking exacerbates U.S. troubles in Japan
Crucial question could be answered today
U.S. Navy responds to questions
Fund for Ehime Maru hits $17,645
Tribute to the Missing
Previous stories
By Sally Apgar
Advertiser Staff Writer
Two civilians who were aboard the USS Greeneville yesterday gave vivid accounts of last Friday’s collision with a fishing vessel, largely supporting the actions of the submarine’s crew and commander. The only two guests from Hawai‘i said they won’t talk publicly until after they talk to investigators.
Todd Thoman and John Hall, both of Houston, appeared on NBC’s "Today" show and denied that their presence aboard, along with 14 other civilian guests, distracted the crew or contributed to the accident that sank the Ehime Maru. Thoman’s wife, Deanda, who was also aboard the Greeneville, appeared on the program but did not speak.
In contrast to Thoman and Hall, whose choice to appear on the national broadcast cast them as spokesmen for the group of guests, the others avoided publicity. And despite a mass media hunt, the identities of 11 guests, who were described generally as business and civic leaders, still remained undisclosed.
Michael "Mickey" Nolan and his wife, Susan, of Hawaii Kai, yesterday confirmed they were aboard the Greeneville.
Reached by telephone, Susan Nolan said: "Out of respect for the people who may have lost their lives and out of respect to the Navy and the ongoing investigation, we are reserving any comment until we speak to the Navy and NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) investigators."
 |
| Hawai'i Kai resident Susan Nolan and husband Michael were among 16 civilians aboard the USS Greeneville when it collided with the Ehime Maru.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser |
She added: "We will make a statement. It’s just that we want to talk to the investigators first. And we think that will happen very, very soon."
Nolan said she and her husband were the only guests from Hawai‘i on the sub and declined to identify other guests.
The Navy has declined to release the names of the civilians aboard. News organizations have been attempting to determine the identities of those who were aboard the fast-attack submarine, particularly after the Navy’s confirmation Wednesday that two civilians were handling the sub’s controls during an emergency maneuver that brought the ship rapidly to the surface.
Thoman, reached by telephone at his home late yesterday, told The Advertiser: "I’m not releasing any other information. You saw the interview on the ‘Today’ show, and that’s my story."
He also said: "This is under investigation with more than one agency. We have to let them do their jobs and set the record straight not only for the staff, the crew and the skipper but for the families of those who have lost loved ones."
Hall had his hands on two levers that blasted high-pressure air into the ballast tanks to force the sub to the surface for a maneuver called an "emergency ballast blow." When the 6,900-ton ship surfaced, it smashed through the hull of the fishing boat, sinking it in 10 minutes.
Hall said he was closely supervised by a crew member who was "right next to me, elbow-to-elbow."
Hall recalled pulling down the levers: "I counted for 10 seconds, out loud, and then put the levers back in place. The seaman that was standing next to me put his hands over my hands and made sure the levers were in and locked and he said, ‘Sit down.’"
Hall said that immediately the sub began to rise.
"Just like an airplane when it lands and the nose comes down, you can feel it start to come down," he said. As the vessel was coming down, "there was a very loud noise and the entire submarine shuddered," he said.
"Jesus, what the hell was that?" Hall quoted the captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, as saying.
Thoman also defended the crew and said the civilians did not interfere with the operation of the sub.
"Not one thing got done on that submarine that the commanding officer was not made aware of and in total control of," he said. "We went nowhere on that vessel without an escort."
Thoman also stressed that before conducting the ballast blow, the submarine came to periscope depth. "Another member of the crew took the periscope up and made two complete rotations at 360 degrees," he said.
Thoman also said "all was clear" on the video monitors that show the view through the periscope. He said Waddle then "took the periscope, went around one, if not two more times. And again, all was clear on the flat screens. We saw no vessel."
The Greeneville then dived 400 feet and exercised the emergency maneuver, in which the sub returns quickly to the surface.
Seconds after the collision with the Ehime Maru, Thoman said: "We saw the ship taking on water and the crew bringing things out. We knew it was going to be a devastating effect."
Waddle ordered the guests escorted below the control deck, first to the crew mess and then down another level to the torpedo room.
Asked about criticism that the Greeneville crew did not aid in the rescue quickly enough, Hall said, "That’s not a valid criticism."
Hall said: "I remember the captain coming over and giving instructions to the crew that they needed to relax a bit, that he felt that the adrenaline was pumping in everybody and they were trained for this and they needed to slow down and do everything proper."
Thoman said they stayed at sea for 25 hours after the accident because it was then "a search-and-rescue mission."
Asked whether Navy officials had coached them, Thoman replied, "Absolutely not."
Thoman recalled that Waddle told them: "‘I don’t know what this is going to bring · but don’t embellish, don’t fabricate, tell the truth and only the truth, what you saw and what you heard.’ And that’s what we have done."
At a Pentagon briefing yesterday, Rear Adm. Steven Pietropaoli appeared pleased with the civilian interviews. He said their explanations "were probably very helpful for many Americans in understanding what was happening inside the sub."
Pietropaoli agreed with their descriptions of close supervision. He said there is a "very interested watch-stander standing directly behind them over their shoulder, with their hands on your hands, ensuring that you don’t have a sudden spasm and do something you should not do."
Thoman said he decided to appear on television because "media sources began to speculate as to our activities on board the ship and different papers (began) offering information and financial settlements for our identities." He said he felt "it was important to get out the fact that the most important thing here is nine people are reported missing."
"Quite frankly, you have 16 middle-class Americans who thought they were getting the ride of their lifetime, and it didn’t turn out that way. It turned into a tragedy."
Hall said the "Today" show appearance was the last time he would speak about the accident to anyone other than the investigators or the families of the nine missing people.
At the Pentagon, Pietropaoli confirmed earlier reports that retired Adm. Richard Macke of Honolulu had helped arrange for "individuals for the Missouri Battleship Memorial Association" to tour the sub while on its training maneuvers. He said 14 of of the 16 guests were involved with the Missouri association.
Yesterday, retired Adm. Robert Kihune, vice chairman and president of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, said he had not seen the guest list and therefore did not know whether any of the association’s more than 3,000 members were involved.
Kihune confirmed yesterday that the Nolans, Thoman and Hall had all been involved with a charity golf tournament that was supposed to benefit the restoration of the Missouri.
Kihune said Nolan was on a tournament organizing committee and that Macke was a volunteer on the same committee. A company that Thoman and Hall worked for until last month, Fossil Bay Resources, a Canadian oil venture with an office in Houston, contributed $7,500 to the tournament. However, Kihune said the tournament, which was scheduled for last month, was canceled and the money refunded.
Kihune stressed that the Missouri group does not reward contributors with rides on Navy ships.
[back to top] |
