By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

The officers and crew of the USS Greeneville made a positive sonar contact with the Ehime Maru about an hour and 11 minutes before it struck and sunk the vessel on Feb. 9, NTSB investigators said tonight.

But what happened between the sub's initial contact at 12:32 p.m. on that day and the collision with the boat is not known, said NTSB investigators.

In addition, at least one Greeneville crew member who was involved in plotting sonar contacts told the NTSB investigators that his work was interrupted by the 16 civilian guests aboard the submarine on the day of the collision.

The crew member said he stopped plotting coordinates of the sonar contacts briefly but NTSB investigators couldn't say how critical that interruption was or how much it was a factor in causing the Greenville to surface, hitting the Japanese research vessel.

The NTSB has been investigating how the Greeneville, with operational sonar equipment, failed to avoid the Ehime Maru. Nine people remain missing from that accident and are presumed dead.

The NTSB also said tonight that two other key officers on the USS Greeneville have declined to talk about the ramming of the Japanese research vessel.

NTSB board member John Hammerschmidt said the Greeneville’s executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald K. Pfeifer, and officer of the deck, Lt. j.g. Michael J. Coen, have declined to talk about the accident.

Earlier, the Greeneville's captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, refused to answer questions about the collision.

Waddle, Pfeifer and Coen will face a military administrative inquiry convened by the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet regarding their roles in the accident. The Court of Inquiry, originally scheduled to convene on or about Thursday, has been rescheduled for Feb. 26 to give the parties more time to prepare for the proceedings.

While refusing to answer any questions or making any statement about the accident on advice of his attorney, Waddle said he would answer written questions about the search and rescue effort following the accident.

Coen — who had operational control of the ship at the time of the accident — declined to answer any questions, also on advice of his attorney. Pfeifer, who was not in the control room at the time of the collision, would also only answer questions about the events after the accident, said Hammerschmidt.

Hammerschmidt said NTSB has intervivewed 18 officers and enlisted personnel aboard the Greeneville and two other submarine force officers based at Pearl Harbor over eight days.