The Sinking of the ‘Ehime Maru’
“Disneyland on a Submarine”
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
~ o ~
ON FEBRUARY 9, 2001, THE ‘USS GREENEVILLE’ NUCLEAR ATTACK SUBMARINE COLLIDED WITH THE JAPANESE TRAINING SHIP ‘EHIME MARU’ OFF THE HAWAIIAN ISLAND OF OAHU.
NINE PERSONS ABOARD THE ‘EHIME MARU’ ARE MISSING AND PRESUMED DEAD.
SIXTEEN CIVILIANS WERE ON BOARD THE GREENEVILLE, WITH TWO OF THEM AT CRUCIAL CONTROLS.
THE NAVY INITIALLY CLAIMED THAT THE PRESENCE OF CIVILIANS DID NOT INTERFERE WITH OPERATIONS OF THE SHIP AND DID NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE ACCIDENT.
THEY LIED!
~ ~ ~
February 15, 2001
Civilian Manned Controls on Ascending Sub
Honolulu Star-Bulletin (AP)
A civilian who was on the Navy submarine that struck a Japanese fishing vessel said today that he pulled levers for the ascent drill but had a crew member right beside him. He also described how the ship “shuddered” at the impact. . . .
As the submarine surged upward, Hall said, “there was a very loud noise, and the entire submarine shuddered.”
According to him, Cmdr. Scott Waddle said, “Jesus, what the hell was that?”....
* * *
February 16, 2001
Bush May Stop VIP Cruises
The Honolulu Advertiser
The search for survivors and the quest for answers continued yesterday from Oahu to the Pentagon.
It prompted President Bush to suggest that the military review its practice of allowing civilians to ride aboard sophisticated warships like the submarine that sank a Japanese fishing vessel seven days ago. . . .
At the Pentagon, Pietropaoli confirmed earlier reports that retired Adm. Richard Macke of Honolulu had helped arrange for “individuals for the USS Missouri Battleship Memorial Association” to tour the sub while on its training maneuvers. He said 14 of the 16 guests were involved with the Missouri association.
Yesterday, retired Adm. Robert Kihune, vice chairman and president of the USS Missouri Memorial Association, said he had not seen the guest list and therefore did not know whether any of the association’s more than 3,000 members were involved. . . .
* * *
February 16, 2001
Japan Defense Chief: ‘It is outrageous’.
He says the U.S. Navy ‘is slack’ to
let civilians sit at sub controls
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Amid rising anger and distrust, Japan’s defense minister today called it “outrageous” that civilians were at the controls of a U.S. Navy submarine when it smashed into a Japanese fishing vessel off Hawaii. . . .
The Japanese public shared his anger. . . . Ietaka Horita, principal of the high school that owned the boat, said he was “enraged” to hear that civilians were at the sub’s controls and that he found out about it from media reports, not government investigators. . . .
* * *
February 16, 2001
Hawaii Couple Won’t Talk Until
Probes Over
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Susan and Mickey Nolan were on the USS Greeneville - Susan Nolan, a citizen aboard ... said she and her husband, Mickey, will comment publicly about the voyage after the Navy and a federal team have completed their investigations. . . .
Two of the 16 civilians on board the Greeneville spoke out for the first time yesterday on NBC’s Today Show and in an interview with the Houston Chronicle.
John Hall, 52, a polo pony rancher and independent energy contractor, told the Houston Chronicle the crew of the USS Greeneville closely monitored Japanese citizens as they waited for help in lifeboats.
But choppy waters up to 8 feet kept the crew from opening the hatch and providing assistance, said Hall. “The families in Japan believe that not a lot was being done for these victims in the lifeboats and for the victims who were lost,” Hall said. . . .
Hall and his wife, Leigh Ann Hall, were among the civilians who were aboard the Greeneville last Friday. Hall had been trying since last March to get a ride on the Greeneville. The Vietnam War veteran said he was ecstatic when he learned in October that his request had been accepted.
But the “opportunity of a lifetime” turned into an international incident. . . .
Because of the lack of public information, Hall and a business associate, Todd Thoman of Houston, who also was on the sub, granted NBC’s Today show an interview yesterday to explain their view of the accident. Thoman’s wife, Dianda, was also aboard the Greeneville. . . .
Hall said one misconception about him and the others is that the trip may have been a reward for supporting former Texas Gov. George W. Bush in his successful presidential campaign.
Campaign records indicate that neither Hall nor Thoman have contributed to Bush, former President Clinton or any politicians in Texas. Houston politicos say Hall and Thoman are not on the political radar screen.
“I don’t do politics,” Hall said.
Meanwhile in Hawaii, the USS Missouri Association said Hall and Thoman were with Fossil Bay Resources Ltd., an oil and gas company in Texas which was the title sponsor for a golf tournament to benefit the battleship’s restoration and educational programs.
“Fossil Bay Resources paid a fee of $7,500 to the association as part of its sponsorship, the full amount of which was reimbursed to the company on Dec. 21, 2000, once the tournament was postponed. Hall and Thoman are not members of, or donors to, the association,” the association said. . . .
The association said it was unaware of the names of any other civilians who were aboard the USS Greeneville.
“In addition, the association has had no involvement in requesting or making arrangements for any civilians to have access to the USS Greeneville.”...
* * *
February 17, 2001
A REPORT SAYS THE SURFACING MANEUVER WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DONE HAD NO CIVILIANS BEEN ON THE SUB
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
A preliminary Navy report says the submarine USS Greeneville performed the surfacing maneuver that sank the Ehime Maru only because civilians were on board....
Cmdr. Scott Waddle, the captain of the 360-foot submarine, was performing the maneuver for 16 civilian guests when the Greenville collided with the Japanese vessel a week ago....
Navy critics, including many Japanese leaders and citizens, say the drill amounted to a joy ride for 16 VIPs and resulted in the deaths of nine fishermen.
* * *
February 19, 2001
BIG OIL AT THE CONTROLS
Subs Aren't the Only Things Dubya's Donors and Oil Buddies Are Mishandling
by Tamara Baker
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA (APJP) -- Well, it sure took 'em long enough.
The Navy reports that after a "lengthy non-public investigation" the names of the 16 civilian VIPs aboard the USS Greeneville when it destroyed the Ehime Maru are finally being released.
Thanks to the work of several amateur Net sleuths, including the worthy "Delta Dart" of Salon's Table Talk message boards, a picture is beginning to emerge of these 16 VIPs.
Here's their names and their known political and financial affiliations:
#1: JAY BREHMER, OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS
#2: CAROL BREHMER, OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS
The Brehmers may not seem at first to have any oil, Texas or GOP connections -- but interestingly, we find that a Public Records: Yahoo People Search yields the following information:
Jay and Carol Brehmer...Spring, TX
Spring, Texas is a wealthy northern suburb of Houston, not far from the very tony suburb of The Woodlands (more on that later).
Also, Jay Brehmer is a Company Director of Aquila Energy as of October 2000.
Remember how Usurper Boy is a big "energy deregulation" fan? Remember the fact that Enron, the nation's biggest unregulated-energy player (and one of the entities raking in the biggest profits from the deregulation shell-game scam in California) is also George W. Bush's biggest lifetime political campaign contributor?
#3: JACK CLARY, STOW, MA
#4: PAT CLARY, STOW, MA
A 'Jack Clary' makes his living as a relatively famous sports journalist. He has written books on baseball and football, and in 1997 wrote Navy Football Gridiron Legends & Fighting Heroes, which was published by the Naval Institute Press. My guess is that this is the same fella.
Now, Bush owned the Texas Rangers as part of a scheme put together by his old buddy Richard Rainwater, part of which involved abusing the eminent-domain laws to force dozens of Arlington-area residents to sell their land and homes to Rainwater's outfit for the creation of The Ballpark at Arlington. Since a good portion of this properly never wound up as part of The Ballpark, Rainwater made a tidy sum selling the excess land for a good deal than he paid for it. But Clary and his wife Pat, so far as I can see, are among the few civilians on the USS Greeneville who weren't Texans, oil/energy people and/or a donors to George W. Bush and/or the Republican Party.
#5: HELEN CULLEN, HOUSTON, TEXAS
The Cullen Family owns Quintana Petroleum, Houston, TX. According to http://www.opensecrets.org, they are big backers of both GW Bush and the GOP .
#6: JOHN M. HALL, SEALY, TEXAS
#7: LEIGH ANNE SCHNELL HALL, SEALY, TEXAS
Note also that, as I mentioned in my last APJ piece, Todd Thoman and John
Hall (who was the guy at the buoyancy levers when the sub did its disastrous
emergency surface drill) are both employed by Fossil Bay, an oil company
based in Dallas, Texas. They were on the sub because of the contributions
they made to the USS Missouri restoration foundation ... whose 'honorary
chair' just happens to be George Herbert Walker Bush.
#8: MIKE MITCHELL, IRVING, TEXAS
For the 1999 annual meeting of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), one of the speakers listed for a talk called (ironically enough) "Show Me the Money!" is Mike Mitchell, Managing Director of EnCap Energy Advisors, Dallas.
#9: MICKEY NOLAN, HONOLULU, HI
#10: SUSAN NOLAN, HONOLULU, HI
Mickey Nolan is a local Honolulu golf tournament promoter. He probably put together a golfing event for these GOP money people.
#11: ANTHONY SCHNUR, THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS
#12: SUSAN SCHNUR, THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS
Schnur has an email address at utilicorp.com -- and Aquila Energy is a UtiliCorp United company, as noted earlier. Aquila is one of the biggest wholesalers of energy in the US, and stands to make Enron-sized profits should the GOP's deregulation scam overcome the California catastrophe.
#13: TODD THOMAN, HOUSTON, TEXAS
#14: DEANDRA THOMAN, HOUSTON, TEXAS
Todd Thoman was Vice President of Corporate Communications, Fossil Bay
Resources Ltd., working out of their Houston office until a couple weeks ago,
according to a receptionist reached by one of APJ's New York staffers.
#15: KEN WYATT, GOLDEN, COLORADO
#16: CATHERINE GRAHAM WYATT, GOLDEN, COLORADO
Golden is where Adolph Coors has set up shop. As befits its major employer, it's a very rich, very conservative Denver suburb.
Ken Wyatt works for Utilicorp. Oil and Gas Investor.com lists numbers in both Denver and Houston for Wyatt, along with an email address at Utilicorp.
There you have it: the 16 civilian VIPs that rode -- and in some cases drove -- the USS Greeneville on its date with destiny. Many of these same VIPs are driving the US' energy policy, and stand to profit greatly on blackouts and misery just as Enron is profiting in the deregged parts of California.
One wonders if these VIPs, America's secret leaders, will show more discretion and care and skill at driving the US' ship of state than they did at the helms of the USS Greeneville.
Judging from their rapaciousness, it would seem that the answer is 'no'.
* * *
February 21, 2001
CREWMAN: CIVILIANS WERE INTERFERENCE.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
A technician who plots sonar signals manually says that at one point he had to interrupt his duties.
A crew member of the nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville, who was supposed to track surface ships before the collision with the Ehime Maru occurred, said civilians aboard may have distracted him.
John Hammerschmidt, lead investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said last night that a fire control technician who plots sonar signals manually was not able to perform his duties at one point because civilians aboard the ship were in his way.
“He was not able to continue the plotting,” Hammerschmidt said. . . .
About one hour before the collision, Greeneville made contact through sonar with the Ehime Maru fishing vessel.
At 12:32 p.m. the nuclear submarine made passive contact with the fishing vessel, Hammerschmidt said. What happened between then and the time of the accident at 1:43 p.m. is not known, he said...
Hammerschmidt made several other disclosures during the briefing.
He noted that the sonar system was not staffed by two qualified sonar operators as required. “One was a trainee,” he said....
He also pointed out that two pieces of equipment were not operating on the day of the accident: a towed array sonar system ... and sonar repeaters, which allow the officer of the deck in the control room to see what is on the sonar screen....
Twenty-six men survived the impact, nine are presumed dead....
* * *
February 21, 2001
OIL TYCOONS ON THE SUBMARINE
The list of civilians aboard the USS Greeneville doesn't reveal a fundraising scandal, but it does underscore the link between money and access to power.
By Daryl Lindsey, Salon Magazine
WASHINGTON -- Texas oil money will buy you access to more than just Washington environmental policy. Apparently, it will also get you a seat on the USS Greeneville. If you're lucky, the sub's captain might even let you have a go at the controls.
Following its initial investigation of the sinking of Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru, the Navy finally released Saturday a list of civilians who were aboard the USS Greeneville the day it rammed into the Ehime Maru, killing nine passengers, including four Japanese students. As we get further away from the accident, it's becoming obvious that the press (including Salon) may have overblown the role in the incident of contributors to a nonprofit organization seeking to preserve the USS Missouri as a Pearl Harbor memorial: Only four of the submarine's civilian guests have been shown to have direct links with that organization. Still, the list does reveal much about the connections among money, politics and power.
The main criticism lodged against the Navy so far has been that it allowed civilians at the controls of a nuclear submarine -- a powerful and lethal weapon with great capacity for accidents or destruction. The purported scandal within the scandal is the presence of contributors to the USS Missouri Memorial Association, of which former President George Bush is honorary chairman. And two civilian passengers who were aboard the Greeneville seem to tie the threads together.
These two passengers, John Hall and Todd Thoman, told NBC's "Today" last week that they were allowed to participate in the emergency surfacing procedure that resulted in the accident. The New York Daily News reported Friday that Hall is a Texas oilman who has been "a player in several multimillion-dollar gas and pipeline deals."
In addition to their oil ties and their turns at the wheel, Hall and Thoman have another tie that goes to the heart of the Greeneville controversy. The Honolulu Advertiser reports that the company they run, Fossil Bay Resources, donated $7,500 to the Missouri Memorial Association, although the check was returned after the delay of a planned fundraiser.
Not coincidentally, the trip aboard the Greenville was organized by former Adm. Richard Macke, a volunteer for the Missouri Memorial Association and former commander of the Pacific region. Macke was ousted from the Navy for making an untoward remark about the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa, Japan, in 1995 by U.S. troops stationed there.
The only civilians onboard the submarine known to have contributed directly to the Missouri Memorial Association were Mickey and Susan Nolan of Honolulu. According to the Honolulu Advertiser, the Nolans were working with Thoman and Hall to organize a celebrity charity golf tournament to benefit the association.
In a statement released Sunday, Missouri Memorial Fund executive director Don Hess stated that the organization had searched the list supplied by the Navy against its records of contributors, and only the Nolans were on both lists.
Even if the links between the fund and the passenger list don't reach the level of a national scandal, there are other curious connections between the Greeneville's civilian passengers and recent scandals, corporate politics and the political money machine in general.
Passenger HELLEN CULLEN comes from a family that has business links with pardoned felon MARC RICH.
Cullen's father-in-law, Roy Cullen, is the owner of Quintana Petroleum of Houston, which, the New York Daily News reports, created a business partnership in Argentina with Rich's Suedelektra Holdings during the 1980s.
One unidentified White House source told the Daily News that there was a "tremendous amount of nervousness at the White House about who these guys are." The Cullen family has donated tens of thousands of dollars in soft money to the Republican Party.
And Roy Cullen donated $1,000 to George W. Bush's presidential campaign.
There weren't any blue-collar workers or civil servants among the civilian passengers on the USS Greeneville. Most, if not all, had political or military connections. And therein lies the rub, for it makes the Navy appear to be guilty of the same kind of influence peddling that has virtually gridlocked legislation in Washington.
"Contributing to elected officials is somewhat different, but there are some analogies you can draw," says Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, which studies the connection between financial contributions and political access. "Obviously, the analogy is that you're buying something for your contribution. With an elected official, you're buying access to the official. Here, you're allegedly buying access to a submarine.
"But there's a difference," Noble says. "I'm more concerned about buying access to an elected official than being given a ride on a submarine -- obviously putting aside the tragedy that came from it, which isn't related to the contribution."
The bigger problem, Noble argues, is the degree to which money buys access in American culture. "We live in a society where those with more money get access to more things. They get access to elected officials -- and if that's what they were using for deciding who gets rides on submarines, then you have a problem of perception that will blow up."
Whether or not the Navy's policy directly leads to accidents or other negative consequences, it has struck a nerve with many Americans. "You have a situation where people with money get access to things that are otherwise public assets," Noble says.
* * *
March 4, 2001
SUB TRIP MADE SOLELY FOR CIVILIANS
The New York Times
Just days before the Feb 9 accident that caused the sinking of a Japanese trawler off Pearl Harbor, the captain of the U.S. Navy submarine Greeneville reportedly canceled a longer training exercise scheduled for that day as unnecessary, but still took his submarine out for the ill-fated day trip to accommodate the Navy’s efforts to promote itself.
Cmdr. Scott D. Waddle used his discretion as the Greeneville’s captain to cancel the long-scheduled exercise, but his superiors in the Navy’s Pacific Fleet had seen it as a chance to give a disparate group of 16 civilians a once-in-a-lifetime ride aboard a nuclear-powered submarine and were loath to let them down....
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board and a preliminary inquiry by a Navy commander have found that the presence of the civilians on the Greeneville proved a distraction to its crew. Whether that contributed to the collision will be among the determinations made by a formal court of inquiry....
What is clear is that were it not for the civilians, the Greeneville would not have left its berth at the Pearl Harbor Naval Station in the first place....
It will also focus on the Navy’s extensive efforts to build public support by taking civilians, known in naval parlance as “DVs,” for distinguished visitors, aboard the world’s premier warships and showcasing the vessels.
* * *
March 4, 2001
Navy Seeks Answers in Deadly Collision
The Washington Post
Relatives of the missing have accused the Navy of stalling its investigation and refusing to answer questions.
Among the questions submitted to the Navy by the Japanese families were, “Did you let the civilians experience the emergency blow to let them enjoy the thrill of a roller-coaster ride?” and “Will you continue such a foolish leisure island tour in such areas with many yachts and boats?”
* * *
March 6, 2001
Inquiry Focuses on Ehime Maru
Location Data
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Something Prevented a Sailor from Providing Key Information
The actions of Cmdr. Scott Waddle and the crew of the nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville are becoming the focal point of a rare Navy investigative board that was asked for the first time to look into the reasons way a crewman changed crucial data involving the location of a Japanese fishing trawler.
Rear Adm. Charles Griffiths ... said something prevented a Greeneville crewman from giving Waddle important data pinpointing the location of the Ehime Maru minutes before the collision occurred Feb. 9, nine miles south of Diamond Head....
Yesterday, Griffiths ... said the fire control technician told Navy investigators that crowded conditions caused by the presence of 16 civilians prevented him from giving Waddle and Lt. j.g. Michael Coen, who was the officer of the deck and responsible for submarine’s operations that day . . .
Griffiths also noted the same fire control technician changed the position of the Ehime Maru from 2,000 yards to 9,000 yards after the collision occurred....
Tours Host Thousands of Civilians
Yearly; Attack-sub Tours
Average 13 Guests
In 1999, the average attack submarine trip had 13 guests and the average ballistic missile submarine trip had 30 guests. In 1999, the Pacific Fleet sponsored the following civilian tours:
1999 TOURS
>> Nuclear ballistic missile submarine civilian trips: 26
>> Number of civilians: 785
>> Los Angeles-class attack submarine civilian trips: 28
>> Number of civilians: 507
>> Aircraft carrier civilian trips: 108
>> Number of civilians: 2,155
>> Surface warfare civilian trips: 71
>> Number of civilians: 8,133
>> Total civilian trips: 233
>> Total civilian guests: 11,440
In 2000, the average attack submarine trip had 15 guests and the average ballistic missile submarine trip had 34 guests. In 2000, the Pacific Fleet sponsored the following civilian tours:
2000 TOURS
>> Ballistic missile submarine civilian trips: 29
>> Civilian guests: 980
>> Los Angeles-class attack sub civilian trips: 21
>> Civilian guests: 307
>> Carrier civilian trips: 74
>> Carrier civilian guests: 1,478
>> Surface warship civilian trips: 34
>> Surface ship civilian guests: 5,071
>> Total civilian trips: 158
>> Total civilian guests: 7,836
TOTAL COST TO US TAXPAYERS FOR ‘DISTINGUISHED VISITORS’ TRIPS
$ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . 99
* * *
March 17, 2001
USS Greenville’s Sole Mission Was
‘To Entertain Civilians’
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Two senior admirals took strong exception that the USS Greeneville’s sole mission last month was to entertain civilians on a daylong cruise – a violation of Navy regulations.
Vice Adm. John Nathman, presiding officer over a rare Navy court of inquiry, took the Pacific Forces Submarine Force to task yesterday for approving a distinguished-visitor trip, or “embark” on Feb. 9.
It was a mission to entertain 16 civilians.
Repeatedly, Nathan, a former aircraft carrier commander and current head of the Pacific Fleet’s Naval Air Forces, asked Lt Cmdr Dave Werner, Submarine Forces’ public affairs officer, if the February trip was within Navy guidelines.
That directive states that these trips must be part of a regularly scheduled operation.
Werner’s only answer was that the Greeneville’s Feb 9 trip was “within the framework of normal scheduled operations.”
Werner contends that the Greeneville was supposed to go to sea on a training trip Feb 10-11, and the civilian visit was supposed to be part of that cruise. However, after completing a successful West Coast deployment, the crew was given the weekend off, and the training was postponed to the following Monday. But the civilian part of the visit remained scheduled for Fri, Feb 9.
The bothered Nathman, who said: “In my view this doesn’t fit the criteria. It doesn’t come close.”
Nathman added: “I would never get a carrier underway to support a DV (distinguished-visitor) embark. We’re going to disagree on that.”
Rear Adm Dave Stone, another board member, also disagreed. Stone, who commands the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier battle group, said trips that only support civilians would mean another day at sea for sailors and has “quality-of-life implications.”
Stone said his other concern was that such trips did not amount to proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars or offer as much training value as a regularly scheduled mission.
During his cross-examination, Charles Gittins, Waddle’s civilian attorney, asked about e-mail in Sept sent to Werner by Capt Kevin Wensing, Pacific Fleet spokesman. Wensing said the secretary of the Navy wanted this group of civilians to be treated well. Also included in the group was NBC “Today Show” host Matt Lauer. Wensing said yesterday said the whole itinerary fell apart in November.
Other correspondence to Werner said these were going to be “10 or 12 high-rolling CEOs” finishing a golf tournament, Gittins said.
Werner said initially he was told that retired Adm. Richard Macke, former Pacific Command, was going to accompany the 16 civilians, but later Macke dropped out because of another engagement....
* * *
March 17, 2001
‘Mother, please don’t cry...’
The Honolulu Advertiser
The wife of Jun Nakata, a 33-year-old Japanese teacher who perished at sea on the Ehime Maru came forward yesterday to speak about the effect of the tragedy on her family.
After hearing Cmdr. Scott Waddle, the captain of the USS Greeneville, apologize once again for the Feb 9 accident ... Naoko Nakata released a 3-page statement.
Here is what she said:
Owing to this collision, our families’ lives have changed greatly. My 5-year-old son, who used to go to kindergarten daily, has now quit and we had to move away from Uwajima because I have no relatives there . . .
Last night, my son said, “I want to go back to kindergarten, mom.” My son, who never cried, wiped away his tears with his fists. This boy is innocent. That child of mine who loved his school is no longer there among his friends. . . .
His weak mother is crying together with her little boy. He said, “Mother, please don’t cry and I won’t cry anymore.” ... But I couldn’t stop crying ...
My daughter was born just last May. My husband was very happy to have a little girl. He pampered and loved her so much. Every day he would take a bath with his children and sing to them. Now I hear nothing.
The little girl is learning to walk and saying “bye-bye” and “good afternoon.” ... I should be happy about my daughter’s growth but instead I’m overwhelmed with an empty feeling. It’s because my husband is not here to celebrate it with me.
I watched Scott Waddle and his wife in the courtroom on television and he was laughing. Then his smile grew even bigger. Another day he made a comment saying he was proud of his sub-mates, and I was angry about that. . . .
I’d like to take my husband’s warm hands and walk with him. I’m sure he hopes to hold his children’s hands.
Dear captain, I was meant to share every sadness and suffering with my husband. Your submarine sank him. ... You said you will bring your sorrows to your grave. But my husband was sent to the grave without knowing what happened to him....
Dear captain, you blame the attorney for not coming to us sooner and not apologizing, and I suppose you think of it as a collective responsibility of your submates. I do not think you alone should be held responsible for the accident, but at least you and several others should be held responsible....
They say the submarine did not have an environment where the submates could speak up to their captain. You should let the Navy know that it was not an ideal environment, and unless you’re absolutely sure, you should tell the Navy to make reforms to the “distinguished visitors” program (that allows civilians to ride on military vehicles).
You, being the highest ranking officer of the submarine which took the lives of the nine, should make these proposals. I feel strongly that you should, dear captain.
You will leave the Navy and I think someday address the public. When you do, you should speak the truth.
You should answer all the questions and give out all the facts without making any deals, and make sure there are clear changes to prevent another incident like this one.
I’d like to tell my son and daughter someday that daddy’s accident was a sad incident but that it made the Hawaiian ocean a safe place for all people around the world and for ships like the Ehime Maru to come to Hawaii. He taught us that safety and security is very important.
We’ll go to Hawaii someday, the three of us.
* * *
March 20, 2001
‘Disneyland on a Submarine’ -
The Honolulu Advertiser
Admirals blast ‘loose’ command
Cmdr. Scott Waddle ... took the stand today and faced a barrage of criticism and blunt questions from the admirals presiding over the court.
They called Waddle’s leadership style at times “ad hoc” and “loose” and accused him of flouting Navy regulations to take civilian guests deeper and faster than Navy regulations allow.
Waddle admitted he has driven civilians beyond the 800-foot depth and 25-knot speed limits to show “our distinguished visitors what our submarines, these wonderful pieces of engineering, can do.”
On the day his submarine, the USS Greenville, sliced through the hull of the Ehime Maru fishing boat, Waddle even ordered his torpedo man to collect ocean samples and put them in commemorative bottles for the visitors. The bottles noted they had been collected at a certain depth....
The president of the court, Vice Adm. John Nathman, wasn’t satisfied with Waddle’s answers.
“You can choose that you can violate guidelines on classified material because you feel it’s important to show the DVs (distinguished visitors) ... the full envelope of a U.S. submarine?” he asked sarcastically.
“Another take would be that you’re just giving them the double-E ride, the E ride, at Disneyland on a submarine.”
Nathman seemed particularly agitated that the visitors might display their Greeneville souvenirs back home, thereby disclosing classified information.
“Then when they have it on their coffee table and other friends come over from who knows where ... they’ll tell people about the test depth capability of U.S. submarines,” Nathman said.
“You don’t feel you should safeguard that information, captain?” . . .
* * *
March 22, 2001
Interviews Recount Sub Crash Aftermath
The Honolulu Advertiser
The USS Greeneville had just smashed into the Ehime Maru fishing boat, sending dozens of Japanese fishermen into the water, when frantic sailors asked their civilian guests whether any of them spoke Chinese.
Moments later, they returned to where the guests were huddled in the torpedo room to ask whether any spoke Japanese.
“Apparently they had a language problem,” said Michael “Mickey” Nolan of Hawaii Kai, one of the 16 visitors who came aboard the Greeneville on Feb. 9 for a seven-hour demonstration of the prowess of fast-attack submarines....
The National Transportation Safety Board interviewed the civilians in the days following the crash nine miles south of Diamond Head. The NTSB released transcripts of the interviews yesterday – the day after the Navy concluded a 12-day court of inquiry into the collision...
Two hours after the crash, the Greeneville’s captain came down to the ship’s mess and told the visitors the sub was going to remain at the crash site overnight to conduct search-and-rescue operations.
Some of the passengers were already getting seasick. One woman cried. Susan Nolan, Mickey Nolan’s wife, felt a sense of panic, a fear that the collision had somehow caused a leak in the submarine’s nuclear reactor....
But Waddle or Capt. Robert Brandhuber, the chief of staff for the Pacific Fleet’s submarine force, assured the visitors that nothing was wrong with the Greeneville, Nolan said.
Crewmen gave up their bunks, which the visitors realized was a sacrifice. The crew showed them the movie “Erin Brockovich” and served them dinner.
Ever since the cruise began, the civilians said, Waddle and his crew had been both friendly and professional.
Sailors let some of the visitors crawl into a torpedo tube to write their names on the sides. That way, they said, their names would rub against any torpedoes fired by the Greeneville crew.
But everyone’s demeanor changed at the moment the Greeneville crashed into the Ehime Maru.
Waddle said: “What the hell was that?” and immediately had the guests excorted tp the ship’s mess and then to the torpedo room in case the mess needed to be used for first aid.
“There was just dead silence,” said Michael Mitchell of Irving, Texas, who was on board with his fiancee, Helen Cullen. “We were all in shock.” . . .
Susan Schnur took one look at Waddle and knew something was terribly wrong....
“His face turned white,” said Schnur of The Woodlands, Texas.
Her husband, Tony Schnur, an investment manager who formed an oil and gas company, provided a graphic description of the sound generated when the Greeneville collided with the Ehime Maru, saying “...it was like a big, old 55-gallon drum that somebody took a ball bat to and smacked the side of.”...
Schnur remembers, too, the admonition Waddle gave his crew over the submarine’s PA system several hours after the collision.
“He said, ‘I don’t know what this will bring, but you are one of the finest crews I have ever worked with. You know how we operate on this ship. Our code of conduct here is safety, honesty and integrity. You know, this incident will be fully investigated. We must tell the truth.’...”
Schnur told the NTSB he was concerned about his own legal liability as a result of having been among the group of civilians aboard the Greeneville when the accident happened.
He said he had already consulted a lawyer to ask: “‘Could a grieving Japanese parent sue civilians?’ and the answer is, ‘Yeah, anybody can sue anybody.’”
Catherine Graham Wyatt of Golden, Colo., worried that she and the other civilians may have distracted the crew in the minutes leading up to the collision.
“Were we a distraction?” Wyatt asked the NTSB interviewer. “It’s weighing on my conscience.”
Carol Brehmer of Overland Park, Kan., recalled getting seasick not long after the submarine left Pearl Harbor....
Her husband, Jay Brehmer, told investigators he did not see the Ehime Maru actually slip below the surface.
“I saw it taking on water. I watched the monitor of only maybe a minute,” Jay Brehmer said. “But within that minute ... it was going down very quickly.” ...
Civilians Took Liking to Waddle
They felt an instant bond with Scott Waddle.
Waddle lit up a cigar and began telling his life story on the morning of Feb 9 as he guided his 6,900-ton, fast-attack submarine past his home near Pearl Harbor. On shore, Cmdr. Waddle’s wife, Jill, waved goodbye to her husband and the 16 civilian visitors he carried that day....
The National Transportation Board spoke to the civilians in the days following the crash and released transcripts of the interviews yesterday....
Susan Schnur of Texas described Waddle as “classy, classy, classy” before, during and after the collision with the Ehime Maru.
He even made good on a promise to provide the tour group with a memento of what was supposed to be only a seven-hour trip, she said.
As the morning trip turned into an overnight search-and-rescue operation, Waddle told his guests: “I know you’re going to think I’m crazy for thinking about this, but I haven’t forgotten about the things that I promised you, and that’s a part of what I do.”
The next morning, as the civilians prepared to climb aboard a ship that would take them back to Pearl Harbor, Waddle appeared with autographed pictures he had promised.
Schnur remembered Waddle apologizing “profusely” to the civilians.
“It wasn’t supposed to be that way,” Waddle told the group.
“It was supposed to be a lot of fun.”
* * *
March 24, 2001
Visitors Program Faulted
by Lawyer
by Gregg Kakesako, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
“It smells rotten to me,” says Charles Gittins,
the Greeneville skipper’s attorney.
The attorney for Cmdr. Scott Waddle slammed the panel of three admirals investigating the sinking of the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru for not probing the “distinguished visitors” cruise that placed 16 civilians aboard the nuclear submarine USS Greeneville on Feb 9.
“It smells rotten to me, to have some retired admiral who brings in a bunch of people who don’t have anything to do with the Navy,” Charles Gittins said.
“They come from the mainland, and they have this admiral who is tapping in, and he is throwing the secretary of the Navy’s name around. That is something I would like to know more about,” Gittens told the Star-Bulletin before he left the islands . . .
Gittins, who represented Waddle befor a rare Navy court of inquiry, was referring to retired Adm. Richard Macke, former Pacific forces commander. Macke, as far back as September, contacted the Pacific Fleet seeking to give a group of civilians a ride on a nuclear submarine.
Vice Adm. John Nathman, president of the court of inquiry, told Gittins during the March 16 session that the panel would look into the distinguished-visitor program.
Through 2 ½ weeks of testimony before the court of inquiry, it was disclosed that the Greeneville would have never have gone out to sea Feb. 9 if it had not had to fulfill a commitment to give 16 civilians a ride.
That distinguished-visitors embarkation – “DV embark” in Navy jargon – ended with the Greeneville ramming the Ehime Maru ... That collision sank the Japanese vessel, taking with it nine high school students, teachers and crewmen.
Although the panel was charged by Adm. Thomas Fargo, Pacific Fleet commander, to examine the DV embark program, Gittins said the three admirals doing the investigation did not seem interested in pursuing the matter.
“I think what is going on is an admiral’s protective organization,” Gittins said.
Gittins said he had wanted to get Macke – who was forced to retire in 1995 after making insensitive remarks about the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three Marines – to testify, but he was never called. . . .
* * *
March 27, 2001
"The Right Thing to Do"
by Terry McCarthy, Time.com
Commander Scott Waddle was in his private hell.
His submarine, the U.S.S. Greeneville, had sunk a Japanese fishing vessel off Hawaii, killing nine people. His career in the Navy was over. H