A Brief History
On February 9, 2001, the U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS Greeneville (SSN 772) accidentally sank the Japanese training fishing vessel Ehime Maru on board which were some high school students.
Digging Deeper
The Greeneville had been conducting maneuvers of the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii with guests aboard, mostly big-money donors to the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Pearl Harbor. In the course of conducting an emergency main ballast tank blow and ascent, the nuclear sub came up underneath the Ehime Maru in a terrific collision that smashed the hapless fishing boat and sank it within 10 minutes. Japanese losses were 9 dead, with 4 high school students among the deceased.
Please watch the below video for a first-hand account of the incident by none other than the captain of the Greenville, Commander (Cdr.) Waddle, himself.
Japan was outraged at the carelessness of the submarine commander who, before conducting his emergency breach, should have ensured that the sea above his sub was clear. Further anger was directed at the Americans because of the failure of the submarine’s crew to immediately render assistance. Enmities continued when Cdr. Waddle was not court-martialed, although he did accept responsibility and resigned (retired) from the Navy. Cdr. Waddle was, however, at least given captain’s mast (non-judicial punishment) in which he received a reprimand and a fine suspended for 6 months after which it was waived, and the U.S. government did compensate the families of the victims and the Government of Japan.
The Greeneville suffered some damage of her own and required $2 million worth in repairs. Following the incident, U.S. Navy rules concerning guests on board their ships were modified.
The USS Greeneville is a 362-foot long, Los Angeles-class attack submarine that entered service in 1996. Powered by a nuclear reactor, she is armed with 4 torpedo tubes and 12 vertical Tomahawk cruise missile launchers that can be used for attacking ships or land targets with conventional or nuclear warheads.
In an interesting twist to this incident, when the Japanese Prime Minister was informed of the incident, he continued to play golf for another hour and a half before finishing his round and addressing the crisis. Needless to say, the Japanese public was, once again, appalled.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Bonner, Carolyn and Kit Bonner. Great Ship Disasters. MBI, 2003.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="9205 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=9205">4 Comments
It’s interesting that the prime minister didn’t even seem too concerned. I have never heard of this incident and it was interesting to read how others reacted.
I was surprised at the lack of immediate attention the Japanese Prime Minister gave to this matter by addressing it after his round of golf and also surprised on how the US was able to get passed this event because it is not something that I have ever heard talked about.
The commanders lack of attention is kind of pitiful. If he paid attention, and took precautions to see if the sea was clear before commanding the submarine up the accident would have been fine. It’s also odd that the Japan Prime Minister finished his game of golf before taking action.
I think its odd that the japanese didnt act right when they heard the news it almost seems as if they didnt care. Im also suprised by the lack of awareness that even caused the accident in the first place.