By Jean Christensen
Associated Press

PEARL HARBOR — A senior officer visiting the USS Greeneville should have realized that “corners were being cut” before the submarine collided with and sank a Japanese fishing boat, a Navy investigator testified today.

Rear. Adm. Charles Griffiths Jr., who led the preliminary investigation into the collision, told a Navy court of inquiry that the submarine had fallen behind schedule during a voyage arranged for 16 civilian guests on Feb. 9.

He described a series of missteps and painted a picture of a crew so consumed with putting on a good show for the civilians that standard procedures were ignored.

Capt. Robert Brandhuber, chief of staff of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s submarine force, accompanied the civilians on the tour. He was the highest ranking officer aboard the submarine that day and could have intervened if necessary.

Brandhuber should have “had a sense that corners were being cut” during preparations for the surfacing drill that led to the fatal collision, Griffiths said in response to questions from the panel of three admirals.

“He probably should have had some signals going off in his mind that things were being hurried,” Griffiths said.

Later, Brandhuber “brooded” about this issue when questioned by investigators, Griffiths said.

The court is investigating the collision that left nine Japanese boys and men missing. The probe could lead to courts-martial of the Greeneville’s top three officers: Cmdr. Scott Waddle; his executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer; and Lt. j.g. Michael Coen, officer of the deck during the collision.

Griffiths has detailed a number of mistakes, which ranged from the submarine rushing to get back on schedule to vital sonar data not getting to the skipper.
He said Waddle hurried through preparations for an emergency surfacing drill, perhaps because the sub was behind schedule. Waddle ordered his crew to get to periscope depth in five minutes, despite procedures that require at least 10 minutes to check for surface vessels, Griffiths said.

The Greeneville, a nuclear attack submarine, was demonstrating the surfacing drill for the guests when it knifed through the hull of the Ehime Maru. The boat was on an expedition to teach high school students from Uwajima, Japan, how to fish.

Griffiths said interviews with Brandhuber and Pfeifer indicated that both thought Waddle was rushing preparations for the surfacing drill but simply didn’t speak up.

He said Brandhuber believed things were going “too quick for the complexity of the evolutions and their importance,” but that he didn’t say anything because as a visiting officer on the ship he felt his concerns were not serious enough to bring to the captain’s attention.

On the other hand, Griffiths said that as the executive officer, it was Pfeifer’s “duty to bring up concerns he has with the way the ship’s operating. I don’t know why he didn’t bring them up.”

“The commanding officer is very directive in the way complicated operations occur, he’s directly involved ... and frequently personally directs what he wants, “Griffiths said. “The CO doesn’t get a lot of corrective input from subordinates.”

“This was not a command where people were shot when they brought things to the commanding officer. It’s more a respect for his abilities and, `If he says that’s the way, well that’s OK for me.”’

The sole reason the Greeneville was at sea that day was to give the civilians a ride, Griffiths said. The civilians were helping to raise money for a World War II naval memorial.

Griffiths said the tour had initially been scheduled to coincide with a weekend training mission, but the training was canceled prior to the voyage. Griffiths was responding to questions from Vice Adm. John Nathman, who is presiding over the court.

Griffiths said civilian tours usually coincide with other operations. But this tour went forward so as not to “derail the significant efforts by these civilians from all over the country to come to the ship and ride at a considerable cost and effort.”

“These underways should be concurrent with other operations,” he said. “This is an exception to the rule that is provided by a higher authority.”

Griffiths said the decision to continue the tour was made by someone above Waddle, but he did not say by whom.

The Greeneville carried a crew of 106 on the day of the accident, about two-thirds its normal complement of 163, Griffiths said.

That was a reasonable number of crew members for the operations that day, but “there may have been some missing ingredients in the sheer numbers they took to sea,” Griffiths said.

Earlier, the three admirals hearing the case toured the Greeneville to try to understand the crowding in the control room.

The slightly scraped Greeneville was dry-docked at Pearl Harbor as Nathman and fellow court members Rear Adm. Paul Sullivan and Rear Adm. David Stone toured the submarine.

Several U.S. groups showed their support for the relatives of the victims today, presenting them with hundreds of sympathy cards and some $100,000 in donations to be divided among the families and survivors.

“We will never forget what you did for us the rest of your lives,” said Ryosuke Terata, whose 17-year-old son is missing and presumed dead. “Thank you for your warm support.”

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On the Net:
Pacific Fleet/Greenville: www.cpf.navy.mil/greeneville.html