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TITLE: America 'Ridiculing' Japan by Delay of Collision Inquiry |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: CNN |
DATE: February 23, 2001 |
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TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- The father of a 17-year-old student missing after a U.S. submarine rammed and sunk a Japanese ship said on Friday that a delay in the U.S. Navy's inquiry was evidence of "the American way of doing things." "America is repeatedly ridiculing us," Ryosuke Terata -- whose son Yusuke is one of nine Japanese missing and presumed dead after the collision -- said at a news conference in his hometown of Uwajima with other relatives the missing. Thirteen of the Japanese ship's passengers were students from the Uwajima Fisheries High School on a training project. Nine people are missing and presumed dead, four of whom were students. The Navy granted a continuance on Thursday to attorneys for USS Greeneville Cmdr. Scott Waddle, pushing back a court of inquiry from February 26 to March 5. At that time Waddle and two other officers will be questioned on the sub's fatal collision with the Japanese vessel Ehime Maru. Waddle's military attorneys said they had asked for the delay to allow a civilian attorney at work on another case more time to prepare. But Terata blasted the delay, saying that he believed the move was "a strategy to protect the commander." "They (the United States) had hired a very good lawyer to protect the rights of the offender," he said. "For us Japanese, this is extremely frustrating," Terata said. "It is just like putting a crying child into a closet to wait until it calms down." Report: Commander knew of ship's presence In other developments, two Washington newspapers reported, in Friday editions, potentially damaging information about the investigation. The Washington Post, quoting a source familiar with the investigation, told investigators that because of a sonar sounding he was aware a ship was in the area before his submarine conducted the emergency surfacing maneuver. However, the source said, Waddle told investigators he did not see the ship when he looked though the sub's periscope nor did the sailor tasked with plotting surface ships warn him a vessel was nearby. Pentagon sources told CNN on that Thursday the Greeneville was about 4,000 yards, or two nautical miles, away from the Japanese ship when the sub failed to detect it on its periscope search. The Washington Times reported that a confidential Navy document describes errors made by the submarine crew, among them conducting a periscope search that was too low and too brief to detect the nearby ship. The USS Greeneville slammed into the Ehime Maru on February 9 while performing a rapid ascent maneuver just off the coast of Hawaii. Thirteen of the Japanese ship's passengers were students from the Uwajima Fisheries High School on a training project. Twenty-six of 35 people aboard were rescued. Missing in addition to the four students are two teachers at the school and three crew members. After the incident, the relatives of the missing were dismayed to learn that 16 civilians had been aboard the Greeneville at the time of the accident -- and that two of them had been at key controls during the surfacing maneuver. The Navy insisted that both civilians were closely supervised, however, and that their presence had no bearing on the accident. Sub Turned Before Surfacing Pentagon sources said Thursday the Greeneville was approximately 4,000 yards, or two nautical miles, away from the Japanese ship when the sub began its ascent. The sources cited a Navy analysis performed after the fatal accident. Navy officials said the analysis is based on a reconstruction of events after the fact, not on what the submarine crew knew at the time. And Navy sources told CNN the Greeneville did a 180-degree turn below the surface just before doing its rapid ascent, which resulted in the February 9 accident. Navy officials theorized that the submarine may have been turning in an effort to put more distance between itself and any surface ships, and unknowingly turned toward the Ehime Maru. The official said it's also possible that in turning, the submarine may have lost the sonar reading "in the baffles" of the submarine's propeller. And officials caution this still does not explain whether the submarine's sonar operator knew or should have known the location of the Ehime Maru before the accident. The three officers facing the Navy inquiry -- Waddle, executive officer Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer, and officer of the deck Lt. j. g. Michael Coen -- refused to answer questions posed by the National Transportation Safety Board, saying they wanted first to face the Navy's inquiry.
CNN Tokyo Bureau Chief Marina Kamimura, Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre, National Security Producer Chris Plante and Correspondent Martin Savidge contributed to this report. END |