 Salvage would cost $40 million
Sub fleet commander blames Greeneville skipper
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A Tribute to the Missing
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By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
It was an hour of awkward and uncomfortable testimony.
In between long pauses and frequent sips of water, Capt. Robert L. Brandhuber, the chief of staff for the Pacific Fleet’s submarine force acknowledged his own mistakes on the day that the USS Greeneville crashed into the Ehime Maru fishing vessel on Feb. 9.
Brandhuber, the acting commander of the sub force at the time, admitted he failed to clearly identify who was in charge on shore while he was under water.
He also said he didn’t clearly communicate his role to the captain of the USS Greeneville when he went aboard with 16 civilians.
Brandhuber acknowledged that he went on the trip in part to visit his son-in-law, the Greeneville’s former engineering officer, and to possibly earn sea time worth higher pay.
And he testified that even though the Greeneville went deeper than it should have with visitors on board, Brandhuber said nothing to the crew about violating the limit.
Asked by Rear Adm. Paul Sullivan why the Greeneville went deeper than allowed, Brandhuber just shook his head.
"I don’t know sir," he said. "To show people we can go that deep? I don’t know."
Most importantly, Brandhuber worried that the crew of the Greeneville was moving too hastily when it searched for surface ships and decided it was safe to perform an "emergency blow" to the surface.
Instead, the Greeneville sliced through the Ehime Maru, leaving nine people dead.
"To me there was no particular concern for any rush to be anywhere," Brandhuber told the admirals. "... Was it OK? The facts obviously speak for themselves."
Brandhuber returns to the witness stand this morning. Tomorrow, the captain of the Ehime Maru, Hisao Onishi, takes the stand for the first time.
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