USS Greeneville collides with ship

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

For the third time in 12 months, the submarine USS Greeneville has run into trouble, this time colliding with another U.S. warship in the Arabian Sea.

The Greeneville collided yesterday with the amphibious transport ship USS Ogden while attempting to transfer crew. No one was injured in the accident, which happened at 9:55 a.m. local time, about 40 miles off Oman, said Lt. Cmdr. Kelly Merrell, a spokeswoman for the Navy's Pacific submarine fleet at Pearl Harbor.

"We are going to do an investigation," Merrell said.

On Feb. 9, 2001, the Greeneville collided with the Ehime Maru about nine miles south of Diamond Head. Nine people aboard the Japanese vessel were killed. Submarine captain Cmdr. Scott Waddle was relieved of his command and punished, along with several members of the crew.

In August, the submarine briefly ran aground off Saipan. Its captain at the time, Cmdr. David S. Bogdan, also was relieved of command after being found guilty of "hazarding a vessel."