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A Tribute to the Missing
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By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
A select audience will bear witness to one of the rarest of military investigations when the Navy opens its court of inquiry Monday, examining the events that put a nuclear submarine on a deadly collision course with a Japanese fishing vessel.
The Navy courtroom is at Pearl Harbor and therefore off-limits to those without military permission to be there. It has seating for only 55 people, including 17 media seats that will be shared by an international press corps, estimated at 240.
The inquiry will help the Navy learn what caused the USS Greeneville to collide with the Ehime Maru during a surfacing drill Feb. 9 about nine miles south of Diamond Head.
Nine of the 35 people aboard the fishing vessel, which sank in 2,003 feet of water, remain missing and are presumed dead.
The Navy finished an underwater survey of the Ehime Maru and the surrounding ocean floor last Saturday. In Japan this week, Special Envoy Adm. William J. Fallon told families of the lost crew that the Navy will decide by March 12 if the ship can be raised.
Smit-Tak, a civilian salvage company, is assessing the survey results, Fallon told the Japanese.
That decision will likely come during the middle of the court of inquiry proceedings.
For three to four weeks, a stream of witnesses will give sworn testimony and be subject to cross-examination during a process similar to a civilian trial.
After the inquiry, however, the three Navy admirals in charge of the court will not render a verdict. Their role is to submit findings, opinions and recommendations to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Thomas Fargo.
Closed-circuit video will be used to expand the courtroom to an off-base "media village" where many of the journalists will view the proceedings.
As with cases tried in federal court, cameras and recording devices are not allowed inside the military court.
Only a dozen families from both vessels have asked to be present during the proceedings, said Navy spokesman Capt. Kevin Wensing. The remaining seats will be kept for legal advisers, the U.S. Coast Guard, visiting National Transportation Safety Board officials and Navy officers who are required to be there.
The public can also attend, but getting a seat won’t be easy.
"While it is open to the public, the seating is extremely limited," Wensing said. "A handful of seats will be open for the general public, and they will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis."
The proceedings will begin at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday.
Mike Gordon can be reached by phone at 525-8012, or by e-mail at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com
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