Rescue effort risky, sub officer recalls
| • | Greeneville skipper offers to testify |
| • | Navy plan would tow Ehime Maru to depth of 90 feet |
| • | Graphic: Raising the Ehime Maru |
| • | A Tribute to the Missing |
| • | Previous stories |
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
From the sail of the submarine USS Greeneville, Lt. Cmdr. Tyler Meador studied the faces of the survivors as their life rafts rose and fell.
Their ship was gone, on its way to the ocean floor. The Greeneville had accidentally carved a gash in the hull of the fishery training vessel Ehime Maru during a surfacing drill. As far as Meador could tell, he was looking at the only survivors.
At a Navy court of inquiry yesterday, Meador described a search-and-rescue effort that weighed urgency against safety on that Friday afternoon, Feb. 9. It was the first eyewitness account of an often-criticized response by the Greeneville crew.
Meador was the officer of the deck during the search and the first person topside after the collision. He told a trio of admirals hearing testimony that he was surprised to see that the Ehime Maru had already sunk. Before going topside, he watched for about a minute through the Greeneville's No. 2 periscope.
Even that view was frightening.
"The initial observation was she wasn't sinking, and then in 20 to 30 seconds it was clear that she was," he said.
The Greeneville's captain joined Meador on the sail, where they watched 4-to-6 foot swells come from every direction. The air was heavy with the stench of diesel fuel.
Still, the crew maneuvered the Greeneville closer to the rafts. If necessary, rescue divers would pull people from the water, Meador testified. But the ocean wasn't doing anyone any favors.
"As we got close, the waves started surging into the raft, and we were worried they could end up on the deck and flip over, and what kind of rescue would that have been?" Meador said.
He never saw anyone in the water, Meador told the court, just debris.
That view reinforced the decision aboard the Greeneville to keep its divers in reserve. Although the crew had lowered a rope ladder from the top of the sail, Meador said the rocking seas made that a treacherous climb. Again and again, the rope ladder swayed outward and fell back against the sail with a slap.
