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Unofficial transcript: Day 3, Session 4

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FOURTH SESSION   MARCH 7, 2001         10:10 a.m.

BY MR. GITTINS: 

Q     And you just answered my next question, was it 
reasonable not to repair the "as do" while underway on the 9th 
of February?  

A     Yes.  

Q     Sir, the policy memo, you discussed the role of the 
Chief of Staff on board the Greeneville, and you talked about 
policy memorandum, I think it was postured in one of the 
members questions that may or may not have been followed on 9 
February when Captain Brandhubber embarked on the Greeneville.  
Do you recall your testimony about that?  

A     I recall the Court brought that policy memo up, and I 
responded to questions on it.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      On 9 February, sir, are you aware that Admiral 
(inaudible) was in Japan and the Chief of Staff would be the 
acting commander submarine force Pacific?  

A     Yes.

Q     That would have changed his role on board the 
Greeneville, would it not, sir?  

A     Instead of being the Chief of Staff he was the acting 
force commander, in other words.  

Q     And an acting force commander is an officer who is 
eligible in command and who in fact is in command, do you 
remember that, sir?  

A     Yes.  

Q     Under those circumstances, on 9 February, Captain 
Brandhubber was then the senior officer present pursuant to 
the United States Navy regulations, correct?  

A     For submarines, I believe he was.  But I'm not sure -- I 
think the question needs to be more fully evaluated in terms 
of the Pearl Harbor area for SOPA.  That's generally an area 
connotation, not just on a single vessel.  And so when the 
vessel Greeneville is in local operations, I don't think the 
general Pearl Harbor region would consider Brandhubber SOPA.  

Q     He would have been the senior officer present though, 
correct?  

A     Yes, on the Greeneville that's the case.  

Q     Okay.   

A     My guess is that SOPA translated between the Admiral 
Conway -- to Admiral Conway from Admiral Konetzni when Admiral 
Konetzni went on travel.  But I'm not sure of that.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      As the senior officer present, Captain Brandhubber would 
have a duty to monitor the safe operation of the vessel, 
correct, sir?  

A     Certainly.  

Q     To your knowledge Captain Brandhubber never raised any 
issue of safety during the course of this operation, correct?  

A     Prior to the collision that's correct.  After the 
collision he was worried about the sar and involved in helping 
the ship and that, so safety is part of that and --  

Q     Yes, sir.  My focus is -- as was your direct testimony 
on the point to the collision, up to the collision, sir, --  

A     Correct.  

Q     Reframing the question to from the time he walked to the 
point of the collision would be Ehime-Maru, to your knowledge 
Captain Brandhubber raised no issues of safe operation of the 
vessel with the Captain or any other member of the boat, is 
that correct?  

A     That's correct.  As far as I know he did not.  And based 
on my interviews with him he never felt that a safety problem 
had arisen that he needed to interact with Commander Waddle 
before the collision.  

Q     In fact, in your interviews Captain Brandhubber 
indicated he was impressed with the professionalism of the 
crew and the way they operated the vessel, correct?  

A     That's correct.  

Q     They appeared to have done this before?  

A     That's correct.  I heard that statement from Captain 
Brandhubber and others in the crew, that this seemed to be 
going as before.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Sir, you indicated during your testimony yesterday that 
there was some longkeeping weaknesses on board the 
Greeneville?  

A     Yes.  

Q     You indicated that there was no acoustic work tape 
maintained in the sonar room?  

A     Yes.  I don't know if it was maintained and then later 
destroyed or not -- or inadvertently lost.  It was not able to 
be provided to me, and through our interview process the ship 
said that it did not have one.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      The acoustic work tape is a system that is more -- is 
usually used for mission related events, correct, sir?  

A     Well, when you say usually, you mean is that the fleet's 
practice?   

Q     Let me rephrase the question, sir.   
      The purpose of that acoustic work tape is not -- is 
generally for identifying contacts and reconstructing what 
sonar observed in a particular situation, is that accurate, 
sir?  

A     That's probably its most important purpose, but not its 
only one.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     For example, the ship may have a transient that's 
created by ownership, and you would use this work tape to go 
back and try and analyze what caused that transient and how 
you can eliminate it so you're not a noisy submarine.  So 
there are ownership and other contact reasons why you would 
always want to operate that tape at sea.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      The non operation of the acoustic work tape had no 
impact on this collision, did it, sir?  

A     That's correct.  I think in general I can make a broader 
statement than that, that the data collection problems and 
challenges I faced, none of them were a cause for this 
collision.  It just made my ability to reconstruct afterwards 
more difficult.  

Q     Yes, sir.  But the day -- that was the point I was 
getting at.  (Inaudible) you observed cause (inaudible)... you 
some difficulties in reconstruct, it did not have any impact 
on whether this collision occurred in the first instance, did 
it?  

A     With one exception, the contact evaluations plot is a 
good tactical device for the Officer of the Deck and others to 
use to manage the contact picture and avoid collision, and 
that -- the real useful information on that plot for the last 
hour before the collision would have been a contributor to a 
ship eventually getting into a collision that it would want to 
avoid, but otherwise the answer is yes.  

Q     The fire control technician of the watch is the 
individual who's responsible for maintaining that contact 
evaluation plot, sir?  

A     That's correct.  Directly.  

Q     And you did as part of your evidence gathering process 
obtain the CEP, correct, sir?  

A     Yes.  

Q     And that plot shows the plot of the own vessel, correct, 
sir?  

A     Correct.  

Q     So, the CEP was being maintained at least with respect 
to the own vessel changes in course, correct, sir?  

A     Yes.  There was some information on the CEP.  It was not 
a zero piece of -- a blank piece of paper.  The quality of the 
information on the CEP and the amount of information was the 
area of criticism.  

Q     Yes, sir.  The fact that the sonar contacts in specific 
were not?  

A     Yes.  

Q     Sir, -- 
              CAPT. MACDONALD:  This is actually already part 
of enclosure one.  We'll mark all of these Court exhibit next 
in order.  We don't have to separate between different kinds 
of exhibits.  If you want this marked, Mr. Gittins, we'll mark 
this next order.   

              THE CLERK:  Court Exhibit 21.  
              
              CAPT. MACDONALD:  Thank you.  
              
              THE CLERK:  Can I ask you what this is?   
              
              MR. GITTINS:  CEP.   

Q     Sir, I'm going to hand you what's now been marked 
investigative Exhibit 21.  Court Exhibit 21.  Ask you to have 
a look at it and tell me what it appears to be.   

A     It appears to be is the CEP plot, an excerpt.  
              VADM. NATHMAN:  Admiral, this is an important 
point for Mr. Gittins and CDR Waddle -- let's just get the 
microphones squared away.  I think there's some confusion 
behind you.  When we take a break, bailiff, make sure the 
mikes are working right, okay?  I apologize.  Go ahead.  

              MR. GITTINS:  No problem, sir.   

Q     That appears to be a copy of the CEP from the USS 
Greeneville on 9 February (inaudible)?  

A     It appears to be a copy of the CEP plot from the 9th of 
February, correct.  

Q     And the -- it does indicate that the ship's movements 
are plotted through the point of collision, correct, sir?  Or 
at least very near in time to the collision.   

A     Bear with me while I study it in some detail.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     You can see the horizon.  There we go.  Here's my 
problem in looking at the data.  The hour in question, I 
believe, is this general area where we don't have the data 
plotted.  We have kind of a -- in other words, there is data 
on here, but from the last hour leading up to the collision I 
don't see the contact data on here.  

Q     Right, sir.  I'm talking about the ship's data is on --  

A     Oh, I'm sorry.  I've been looking diligently to find the 
contacts on here for that last hour.  I didn't think they were 
there and I still don't see 'em, but certainly the ship's -- 
the ship's course is on here.  

Q     I wasn't trying to --  

A     Okay.  
      And again I just want to emphasize the plot was being 
maintained, but the amount of time put into maintaining it 
appears to have not been adequate to keep the continuous 
contact picture on there for that hour before the collision.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     In fact, I have testimony from the FT of the watch that 
he gave up at some point maintaining it, because of the number 
of people in control.  

Q     Yes, sir.  But it appears that he wasn't able to get to 
the plot to plot ownership position for that -- some period of 
time, correct, sir?  

A     Correct.  

Q     Sir, what is slogger?  

A     Slogger is the term used for the automatic digital 
recording system of the sonar and fire control on the busy 1 
ARCI phase two system that the Greeneville has.  

Q     The use that was made of slogger in this case, would it 
be fair to say that it was like, not exactly like, but similar 
to the use made of an aircraft's black box after an aircraft 
accident?  

A     That is sort of the sense of how we used it after this 
accident, yes.  

Q     It provided data points from which you could reconstruct 
the accident in some ways, correct, sir?  

A     That's correct.  

Q     So, in addition to the CEP plot, with the ownership's 
data on it, there was also an electronic system that served as 
a back up that you were able to use to reconstruct its 
movements and contact data, correct, sir?  

A     Yes, that's correct.   

Q     To maintain the CEP ownership's plot, the fire 
technician of the watch would have had to maneuver himself 
from his console to the front of the control room presumably 
through the distinguished visitors that you described and 
their positions earlier in your testimony, correct, sir?   

A     Yes, that's correct.   
      Of course there were alternatives if other people were 
to maintain that plot.  And, as I mentioned in my testimony 
earlier, the ship has the option of stationing additional 
watchstanders in order to meet their requirements when the 
pace of events or other situations such as the location of 
people in control prevent the normal manner of accomplishing 
it.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Well, during the course of your investigation, sir, did 
you ascertain why, if the fire technician of the watch was 
able to plot ownership's position he did not plot sonar 
contact data?  

A     I think that he felt the pace of events had increased, 
plus the people that were between him and the plot had 
increased in number to the point where he was not able to do 
that when he looked at the other things that he had also to 
do.  So, I think the FT of the watch made a judgment that he 
was going to shut that duty to do higher priority missions in 
that period of time.  

Q     Those higher priority missions would have included 
classifying and obtaining solutions for sonar targets; 
correct, sir?  

A     Correct.  And I agree, that's a high priority mission.  

Q     Would you agree that to the extent that the fire 
technician officer -- of the watch did not maintain the CEP 
but was engaged in working solutions for contacts, that that 
was an appropriate use of his time?  

A     Focusing on that one individual alone, yes.  But I 
hasten to add, the Officer of the Deck is required to make 
sure that plot is maintained.  It has a tactical value to him 
and to the Captain, and the standard isn't just maintain it 
when it's convenient for the FT of the watch to do so.  The 
standard is maintain it.   
      And so you add in resources as needed to keep the 
standard met is the expectation I would have.   

Q     Yes, sir.   
      The information that is displayed on that CEP with 
respect to contacts is also available to the Officer of the 
Deck and the Commanding Officer by looking at the fire control 
panels on the starboard side of the vessel; correct, sir?  

A     Yes.  In general the same basic information perhaps in a 
different format of display is available by using fire 
control.  

Q     Given the experience of the Officer of the Deck and the 
Commanding Officer, the format of the presentation of data 
would not have been an impediment to those officers 
understanding what was presented; correct, sir?  

A     I think that's a reasonable assessment.   
      Can I add something here?   

Q     Certainly, sir.   

A     Some of the submarines in the fleet have the new version 
of the CEP plot, which is electronic and computer-aided, and 
much more user friendly than the paper CEP plots we've been 
laboring under all these years and the Greeneville still has.  
 
      And the fleet's experience that has the advantage of 
this new electronic version is it's extremely valuable as an 
additional display augmenting the displays on fire control.  
So I think the submarine force as a whole is looking ahead and 
investing in technology to make the plot more user friendly, 
to take less of the fire control time up, fire control 
technician's time up, but still is a value to the ship of a 
safety and tactical mission.   

      So, we're looking at a plot that's being overtaken by 
IT technology and upgraded to be easier to use and less time 
consuming to use.   

      Nevertheless, the point I'm trying to make is there's an 
enduring value to this device of displaying the contact 
information in the CEP format.  

Q     Sir, contacts must be reported to the Officer of the 
Deck via the 27M C by sonar watch; correct, sir?  

A     That's correct.  

Q     And the management of those contacts is the primary duty 
of the fire technician -- fire control technician of the 
watch; correct, sir?  

A     Let me make sure I understand what you mean by 
management.  The --  

Q     I'll define it for you, sir.   

A     Okay.  

Q     When I say management, I mean taking the sonar data that 
is obtained and obtaining a solution for range and bearing to 
the ship.  To the Greeneville.   

A     Range bearing course and speed, that's right.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     Yes, that's true.  

Q     That is the primary duty the FTOW, correct, sir?  

A     That's correct.  

Q     And it would be a reasonable thing for the FTOW to not 
maintain that plot while he was working solutions for 
contacts, would you agree with that, sir?  In managing his 
time.   

A     The CEP paper plot is very distracting to the FT of the 
watch's manipulation of the electronic fire control system, 
and many ships have found it necessary when contact management 
is particularly important, such as going to periscope depth to 
augment the person who maintains that CEP plot to be a 
different person so that the standards are met while you're 
not distracting the FT of the watch from efficient 
manipulation of the electronic fire control system.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      But as you previously testified, two or three contacts 
would not be considered to be a difficult workload for the 
normal run of the mil FT 1 qualified fire technician of the 
watch, would you agree with that, sir?  

A     I would agree that two or three contacts should be able 
to be manipulated on the fire control system, and kept up 
adequately on the CEP plot by the FT of the watch, yes.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      The Officer of the Deck and the Commanding Officer, if 
he's in the control room would be aware of contacts reported 
because of the announcement over the 27MC; correct, sir?  

A     Absolutely.  I think in general it's fair to say the 
Officer of the Deck and the Captain in control would be fully 
aware of the sonar contacts and their parameters by frequent 
looking at the fire control system and listening to the sonar 
reports, and if they're using that as well.  

Q     During the course of your investigation you did not from 
any source determine that the Commanding Officer or the 
Officer of the Deck failed to review the contact picture as it 
was displayed on the fire control panels; correct, sir?  

A     I don't know how to answer that because I wasn't able to 
interview those people, and the existing interviews did not 
fully elaborate in that area.   

      So, that would be grounds for the Court to consider 
under further testimony.  

Q     That would be a reason to have benefit of the testimony 
of the Commanding Officer, the XO and the Officer of the Deck?  

A     That would be one of many reasons.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      I'm going to come back to the contact picture a little 
bit later on, sir.  I just wanted to jump in there a little 
bit because you talked about it in a several places in your 
testimony.   

      Right now I'd like to turn to the training of the 
vessel, and the issue of what training was conducted or might 
have been conducted while Greeneville was at sea with DVs 
embarked.   

      During the course of your interviews of ship's 
witnesses, sir, and review of those interviews that you did 
not conduct, did you determine that approximately 20 members 
of the crew went with the sonar and weapons chiefs and the 
weapons officer for training at the attack trainer on the 9th 
of February?  

A     No, I did not.  I had no investigation into why anybody 
was left in.  

Q     Would you agree that it would be appropriate training 
for members of the crew to be taken to the attack trainer 
under the supervision of the sonar and weapons chiefs and 
weapons officer for training, even if the ship is at sea?  

A     Taken out of context that could be very reasonable.   

Q     Well, in the context of this case there was no 
overriding mission requirement for the uh USS Greeneville on 
the 9th of February, correct, sir?  

A     There was -- would you repeat the question?   

Q     On the 9th of February, other than embarking 
distinguished visitors and taking them for a demonstration of 
the capabilities of the Greeneville, there was no other 
mission that would have required a full crew compliment; would 
you agree with that, sir?  

A     Yes.  I think it would have been reasonable to leave 
crew members in for training, as well as liberty.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Well, -- liberty would be appropriate, but it would be 
even more appropriate and beneficial to the Navy and the crew 
to conduct training at the attack trainer; would you agree 
with that, sir?  

A     I -- I think that's a very reasonable thing to do.  My 
only caution is that those that do go to sea need to be as 
efficient flavors and numbers to fully man the watch bill.  

Q     Yes, sir.  And one of the -- one of the judgments that 
is reposed in a Commanding Officer of a nuclear submarine is 
making those decisions about who would be appropriate to leave 
for training and who would be appropriate to take to sea on 
any given evolution; would you agree with that, sir?  

A     Certainly.  

Q     You testified earlier that even with the members of the 
crew who were missing; it was your opinion based on your 
investigation that Commander Waddle took a highly qualified 
crew to sea on the 9th of February, 2001; correct, sir?  

A     Absolutely.   

Q     Did you at any -- during the course of your 
investigation, sir, determine whether or not PQS qualification 
cards were signed off during the course of this evolution with 
distinguished visitors?  

A     I did not look in that area.  I didn't have time, and I 
don't know the answer.  

Q     Would you agree that that would be a valid training -- 
that would provide valid training to have sailors PQS cards 
signed off during the course of this DV embarkation?  

A     I'm a proponent of using every underway for training and 
qualification.  I'm sure the Greeneville is adhering to that.  
I think that's always going to be a subsidiary reason to go to 
sea on a ship, so their primary mission that day was embarking 
visitors, but I think they got value out of the training 
qualification opportunity and going to sea for their crew.  I 
grant you that.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Sir, in your discussion about the training of the 
vessel, you indicated that the Greeneville had been in a 
maintenance period for some period of time prior to going to 
sea.   

A     Yes.  And to be honest, I don't know the direct 
sequence.  For example, they may have had substantive sea time 
after that maintenance and before this underway.  I just don't 
know.  I think the maintenance occurred in the end of the  
calendar year, preceding -- the end of 2000 for roughly a two 
month period, and in a period called selective restricted 
availability and they've gone beyond that maintenance period.  
Obviously it had some sea time as you would give a ship at the 
end of maintenance period to regain proficiency.  This is I'm 
not implying the first underway.  

Q     You're not implying that the 9th of February was its 
first underway following a two month maintenance period, is 
it?  

A     Absolutely not.  I'm assuming it was not.  

Q     Yes, sir.  Did you know, sir, that on January 4th the 
Greeneville left Pearl Harbor -- I'm sorry, January 6th 
Greeneville left Pearl Harbor for Alaska to conduct acoustic 
trials?  

A     I didn't know that, and I -- I'm not surprised to know 
that.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Were you aware that after those acoustic trials the 
Greeneville moved from the Alaska area to the east -- I'm 
sorry, the west coast of the United States for an eastern 
Pacific training cruise?  

A     Vaguely was aware that they had some eastern Pacific 
time earlier this calendar year.  I didn't pursue that in 
interviews, but I heard that in peripheral conversations from 
the people working with me in the investigation.  

Q     Sir, the records indicate that the Greeneville was in 
port from 22 to 26 January, that would suggest that the 
Greeneville was not in port the other days of the month of 
January.  Would you consider that to be a substantial period 
without at sea time?  

A     Yes.  

Q     And would that be the type of at sea time that would 
enable you to -- enable accrue to come back up to proficiency?  

A     Yes.  

Q     And the operations of the vessel on the 9th of February, 
at least with respect to high speed, high angle maneuvers 
indicate that the ship was proficient and the crew was 
proficient in operating the vessel, correct, sir?  

A     Correct.  

Q     You interviewed Fire Technician Third Class Brown, sir.  
Did Fire Technician Third Class Brown indicate to you that he 
was the fire technician of the watch during the lunch break?  

A     I -- it was either a lunch break or a, quote, smoke 
break where he allowed the on-watch Petty Officer to get a 
cigarette off watch.  It was one of those two reasons that he 
assumed the watch briefly.  

Q     When you interviewed Fire Technician Third Class Brown, 
I'm sorry, Fire Control Technician Third Class Brown, did he 
inform you that when he relieved the fire technician of the 
watch, the OOD told him specifically to provide forceful 
reports on contact picture?  

A     My recollection is that that was provided by an 
interview I did not conduct, but was the source -- the source 
was either the Officer of the Deck or Petty Officer Brown or 
somebody.  I remember that statement, though, but I don't 
think I personally developed it in an interview.  But I do 
remember that statement.   

Q     The OOD making that statement to the oncoming fire 
control technician would be an indication of additional 
compensation for the as do casualty; would you agree, sir?  

A     I would give more credit than that from the Officer of 
the Deck for making that statement.  I would say it would 
always be appropriate because it shows an emphasis on concern 
for ship's safety, regardless of whether the "as do" is working 
or not.  I think it's a good type of statement the Officer of 
the Deck is making to watchstanders.  

Q     That would indicate the safety of the ship was a 
significant consideration by the OD and possibly the whole 
crew, correct?  

A     I'm sure safety was a significant consideration to the 
entire crew.  I'm not questioning that.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      During the course of the interviews that were conducted 
during your investigation, sir, did you ascertain whether or 
not Fire Technician Third Class -- Fire Control Technician 
Third Class Brown provided that pass down when he was told by 
the OD to his relief following his period on watch?  

A     I would assume he did, but I do not know personally 
whether he did or not.  I don't think I developed that in 
interview.  

Q     After a Fire Control Technician Third Class Brown was 
relieved by the incident Fire Control Technician, he remained 
in the control room area, correct, sir?  

A     Possibly.  I don't remember.  Or -- or if I ever knew.  
But it is possible.   

Q     He was one of the people you interviewed and --  

A     He may have been the individual who then assumed the new 
duty of routine correction of charts.  If that's my 
recollection, there was a person who went to the control and 
was conducting chart correction.  I may be that I'm 
recollecting that was Petty Officer Brown.  

Q     Correcting charts would not be a normal duty for a Fire 
Control Technician, would it, sir?  

A     No.  No.   
      There was somebody, not on watch, perhaps an off watch 
Quarter Master is who I'm thinking of and I may be 
inadvertently throwing out a red herring here.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Your interview would probably reflect better what Fire 
Control Technician Third Class Brown told you, would you agree 
with that, sir, than your recall at this time?  

A     Yeah, I don't recall exactly the interview, but 
certainly what I transcribed would be accurate to what he told 

Q     You spent some time discussing distinguished visitor 
embarks, sir.  Did you ascertain when Greeneville had last 
conducted a distinguished visitor embark at sea before 9 
February, 2001?  

A     I don't know when their most recent one was.  I know 
they did one in the summer of 2000, as I recollect.  And there 
may have been one more recently than that.  I got the 
impression that Greeneville is frequently tapped to do this, 
when she's available, because she's good at it.   

Q     On that point, sir, one of the purposes for 
distinguished visitor embark is to show off the Navy and 
submarines, would you agree with that, sir?  

A     Yes.  

Q     And if Greeneville was frequently selected for that 
duty, that would suggest that Greeneville had something to 
show off; would you agree with that?  

A     I certainly would.  

Q     And that would also be indicated by the fact that the 
competence of the vessel would also be indicated by the fact 
that Admiral Konetzni, prior to 9 February had decided to 
whole his change of command on board the USS Greeneville; 
would you agree with that, sir?  

A     No.  I would say that he had a lot of confidence in the 
competency of Greeneville.  The reason he picked the 
Greeneville for change of command was probably a little more 
incidental to her being available, a modern ship to be a 
backdrop.  I don't think that when principals pick ships for 
change of command to occur it isn't always because they're 
elevating that ship to a level of esteem that's made that 
choice.  You'll have to ask Admiral Konetzni that.  

Q     Yes, sir.  But in your testimony two days ago isn't that 
one of the things that you said about the competence of the 
Greeneville, it was selected to be the -- the platform, I 
think you used the word platform for the change in command for 
Admiral Konetzni, Commander Submarine Forces Pacific?  

A     If I did say that I would like to change that answer, 
and I would like to say that first of all you'll need to 
really ask Admiral Konetzni why he chose Greeneville, but I 
think it's immaterial.  I would like to get the point across, 
I think Admiral Konetzni thought very highly of Greeneville, 
independent of whether they were going to do a change of 
command of her.  
              RADM SULLIVAN:  Mr. Gittins, I believe I was the 
one during the first day of mentioned the Greeneville 
selection as a platform was the change of command.  I don't 
believe it was Admiral Griffiths.  That I mentioned it.  

              MR. GITTINS:  My recollection was that if you 
asked the question, sir, he agreed with it.  I think that's a 
fair characterization of his testimony.  

              THE WITNESS:  I'm trying to say Admiral Konetzni 
thought highly of Greeneville.   

              RADM SULLIVAN:  That's what I'm trying to say.  
BY MR. GITTINS:  

Q     You spent a little bit of time, sir, discussing the 
submarine test area on the chart.  I don't think we need to 
pull the chart out.  Do you have a recall?  

A     Yes, I do.  

Q     Of that little submarine box, test area?  

A     Yes, I do.  

Q     You made reference to it as something maybe back from 
the '50s.  In fact, that was a test area for Thresher class 
vessels; were you aware of that, sir?  

A     No.  But I am certainly a believe.  I mean, it's -- if 
your point is nuclear submarines have also used that area, I'm 
not surprised.  But I think our emphasize on that type of 
approach is diminished now.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      In fact, it's on the chart because it's an area that 
allows a submarine to be operated, tested in a place that has 
a sandy bottom, that is above crust depth so that the 
submarine could be recovered, does that sound like an 
appropriate use of that area?  

A     It does.  And, you know, I certainly I am not 
comfortable I fully understand why that area was ever created, 
I know it's not emphasized in use right now, but that 
certainly rings true.  That was a general lesson submarine 
force took after the loss of the Thresher to choose sea trial 
areas wisely so that should she be stricken and go to the 
bottom she'd still be intact.  

Q     Yes, sir.  And possibly be able to rescue the crew?  

A     Right.  

Q     In that area as well, when you talked about the sea area 
in which Greeneville was operating, were you aware that the 
Honolulu maritime shipping office has characterized traffic in 
the area in which Greeneville was operating as a very height 
traffic area?  

A     That's consistent with the type of information I 
obtained from the Coast Guard, although I didn't have it in 
that vernacular, but that's very consistent with what I 
uncovered.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Would you agree that commanding officers and crews were 
operating submarines in those areas on a day in/day out basis 
outside of Pearl Harbor would probably be aware of the likely 
shipping that they might encounter in that area?  

A     Yes, I would.  

Q     And that would be a -- one of those considerations that 
a Commanding Officer would take into consideration when he is 
exercising his inherent judgment as a Commanding Officer?  

A     Absolutely.  
      As I've stated in testimony, I don't believe that the 
area that the ship was operating in, per se, was a contributor 
to making the collision more likely.  I think it was a 
reasonable area to operate in.  

Q     Yes, sir.  Sir, do you know what penguin banks is?  

A     In general, yes.  

Q     I'm sorry, penguin bank.  What is penguin bank?  

A     It is a shoaled area, which means it's shallower than 
for example the test depth of the submarine to operate in, 
that's in the upper right-hand corner, if you look at the 
chart of the area assigned to Greeneville, it did intrude into 
some of the area and Greeneville needed to operate prudently 
to avoid inadvertently going into those shallow areas.  

Q     From the point of the collision, or from the point where 
Greeneville began its left-hand turn, a left-hand turn at the 
time Greeneville made it would avoid penguin bank, would you 
agree with that?  

A     I would go farther.  I would say that all of her 
operations submerged were deliberate to avoid penguin bank.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      In your testimony you indicated that the left-hand turn 
the Greeneville made just prior to the collision was to get 
back to Pearl Harbor.  Is it -- do you think it's also likely 
that that left-hand turn may have been made to avoid the 
shallow water of penguin bank.  That could have been added 
beyond reasons than just getting back to Pearl Harbor.  I 
think she could have turned right as well as left, but perhaps 
there was more conservatives in turning left from a safety 
standpoint.  I would certainly be willing to grant the skipper 
that.  I didn't know that was a consideration at the time, but 
I could see that as a reasonable one now.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      The considerations that as to why Commander Waddle may 
have made the decision to turn left rather than right, or to 
continue straight ahead would be matters that would be of 
benefit to your investigation; would you agree with that, sir?  
Or would have been?  

A     Actually, I was never suspicious of why left and not 
right.  Obviously left resulted in a collision, but that's 
hindsight.  The ship didn't think it was in the proximity of 
any other vessels, so because of that I was not suspicious of 
whether left was a bad decision or not.  I looked at that as 
an incidental decision influenced by the direction they were 
turned towards home port.

      In fact, the course was more significant to me than the 
turning left versus turning right to get to that course.  It 
would have been a longer turn to turn right to steady up from 
that course, but these ships turn pretty quickly, so I looked 
at it as almost an incidental decision in the way I viewed the 
investigation.  There may be more to it than that, but the 
Court can examine the testimony.  

Q     I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, the suggestion 
was that Commander Waddle may have been in a hurry to get back 
to Pearl Harbor, and you suggested that he turned left because 
that was the quickest way to get back to Pearl Harbor.  Would 
you agree that there may have been other reasons why he turned 
at that time?  

A     For of all to answer the second part of that question, 
the real question is yes.  But I want to elaborate, I was 
never critical of his assuming the course ordered 340, I 
thought that was a reasonable course, and I thought it was a 
reasonable thing to want to get heading back towards Pearl 
Harbor.  I don't look at that decision as related to the 
urgency issue.  I look at that as a reasonable decision.   
      The urgency issue has to do with some of the duration of 
the steps preparatory to the emergency blow that allow you to 
develop a contact picture.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     So actually I am not critical at all of the decision to 
go to course 340, I think that's what I would probably have 
done.

Q     With respect to the positions of distinguished visitors 
in the control room in the moments, in the time before the 
collision, other than your statement, your earlier testimony 
that they were passive barriers, that distinguished visitors 
in no way contributed to this accident.  Would you agree with 
that, sir?  

A     Yes.  
      Well, let me add one thing, though.  They're just one 
more factor to the crew, XO on down, to consider when 
determining whether to provide advice to the Commanding 
Officer in that public forum.  And does it make an 
infinitesimal amount of difference to the XO for example to 
advise the CO of a recommendation, or does it make a large 
amount of difference to the XO that the distinguished visitors 
are there, I don't know.  Maybe there's no difference, maybe 
it's some.  So they may have had a factor in the decision that 
the crew went through routinely on whether they should provide 
advice to the Captain.   

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     So that might be the other role in play and that's hard 
to judge.  

Q     And because you had not had the opportunity to 
personally interview the XO, Officer of the Deck and 
Commanding Officer, you were not able to fully explore that 
issue; correct, sir?  

A     That's correct.   

Q     And it would -- would you agree that it would be 
beneficial to -- it would have been beneficial to your 
investigation, and probably would be beneficial to this 
investigation to have the Commanding Officer, Executive 
Officers and Officer of the Deck's testimony about those 
issues?  

A     I think that would be very helpful.   

Q     I want to go back two days now, sir.  Although I haven't 
covered everything in your testimony yesterday, I'm going to 
try to incorporate all of the issues about the contact 
management, periscope depth, those issues all at one time so 
we don't have to go back and forth, sir.   

      The Papa hotel time, you indicated that that was a time 
when, for administrative purposes, related to the operation of 
the harbor, a ship should be at the entrance of the harbor so 
the assets of the harbor can be utilized appropriately.  Is 
that fair?  

A     Yes.  

Q     It's not a time written in stone, correct?  

A     It can be changed through effort, so it is not written 
in stone.  

Q     In -- on the 9th of February, 2001, how many other 
vessels were at sea at the time Greeneville was?  If you know, 
in the local operating area.  

A     I have honestly no idea.  

Q     The flexibility of the Papa hotel time would be 
dependent in a large measure as to the expected shipping and 
traffic at Pearl Harbor on that day, around that time?  

A     That's a reasonable assessment.  

Q     If there was no other significant shipping or vessels at 
sea, it would have been reasonable for Commander Waddle to 
believe he could slide his Papa hotel time to make best use of 
his time at sea; would you agree?  

A     I'm -- not necessarily.  Let me answer the way I truly 
feel about this.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     That when you're talking about issues, fundamental to 
ship's safety, Papa hotel time is way down in the grass.  No 
matter how many ships are at sea that day and no matter how 
much effort is required to change it.  Obviously there may be 
a longer delay for the ship if there are a lot of ships at sea 
and it's disruptive to find a slot for Greeneville to come in, 
but I'm sure the skipper would not be deterred changing it if 
he felt he needed to, for safety.   

Q     I think you answered my next question too, sir.  Thank 
you.   

A     I know the skipper and all skippers have an ability to 
change their ship's schedule when they need to.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      The conversations about time that you uncovered during 
your investigation, the XO bringing to the attention of the 
Captain that -- that they weren't going to make Papa hotel 
time, that suggested --  

A     I didn't say they weren't going to make it.  I said that 
they need to get on with things in order to be able to make 
it.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Well, at the time of the collision could they have made 
their Papa hotel time, sir?  

A     No.  

Q     So, even if they had surfaced without incident, they 
would not have made Papa hotel time?  

A     That's true.  

Q     About how much would they have missed it by, sir?  

A     I'm estimating about 45 minutes.  But that's a rough 
order of magnitude because that's about how far behind their 
schedule they were.  

Q     Yes, sir.  The Commanding Officer's conversation with 
the XO indicated that Commanding Officer had it under control, 
he wasn't -- that that was not a concern to him.  Would you 
agree with that, sir?  

A     I -- you know, it's very hard for me to know what the CO 
really meant when he said that.  But my -- my true feeling is 
that the CO was saying I am aware of the influence of time on 
what we're doing with our ship, and I'm not trying to say he 
was going to make it all catch up.  I think he was just saying 
I appreciate the input that we're behind our schedule, and 
I'll take that into account with my subsequent actions.  And 
that's my assessment of what he meant.  

Q     Okay.   
      And that's based on the fact that you've not had the 
opportunity to question the Captain?  

A     He could very well have already decided he was going to 
come in later and make the subsequent arrangements to come in 
later.   

      On the other hand, I see this kind of hurriedness on 
some of these key steps, and so my logical connection to being 
generally behind schedule and trying to catch up was my 
assumption.  Maybe that's not the case and interviews would be 
helpful to find out further.  

Q     Yes, sir.  If your assumption is wrong, that that places 
the Commanding Officer's action in a different light, doesn't 
it?  

A     Perhaps a less understandable light, because I still 
feel some of these steps were abbreviated, and I thought I 
understood the reason, and if that reason has gone away then I 
understand even less why he would have done that.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     But yes, it would place them in a new light.  

Q     Thank you, sir.   
      And sir, you would agree that because there may be other 
considerations it would be beneficial for this inquiry to have 
the benefit of the Commanding Officer's testimony, would you 
agree?  

A     As I've said before, yes.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      You indicated that the schedule may have been delayed in 
part while they were at sea with the distinguished visitors, 
that they got behind schedule?  

A     Yes.  

Q     You would agree that the Commanding Officer's personal 
touch was important with these DVs?  

A     I think that was the most important thing of the whole 
trip.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      So, not making -- not keeping to a schedule is a less 
important consideration than the overall view that the 
civilians would have of the operation of the vessel and the 
hospitality of the crew and their competence in operating the 
vessel, would you agree with that, sir?  

A     Yes, absolutely.  

Q     And based on your knowledge of Commander Waddle through 
your investigation, do you have a sense of why Commander 
Waddle would have been aware that that was the primary goal 
for this distinguished visitors embarkation?  

A     I would have made that assumption before I ever arrived 
on the island.  I still feel that way.  He knows how to 
prioritize.  That's why he's a Captain.  He would never be 
where he is if he didn't understand how to prioritize.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Sir, do you know if -- I'm going to start discussing the 
reconstruction a little, starting with the Ehime-Maru, sir.   

      The Ehime-Maru, do you know if it was actually radiating 
radar missions?  

A     The master said that they were radiating at a 12 mile 
scale which is their maximum scale on their radar.  And this 
was in an interview with the master through the NTSB, so 
that's how I know it.  I know it by no other means.  But I 
assume the master was very knowledgeable of that issue.  

Q     Are you aware if the master was on the bridge at the 
time?  

A     I believe he was on the bridge is my understanding, yes, 
from his interactions with the NTSB.  

Q     Are you aware whether or not the Ehime-Maru was -- had 
its fish finder operating?  

A     The master reported it was not operating.  

Q     Did he say why?  

A     No.   

Q     What's the --  

A     I mean, I'm not aware of whether he said why or not.  I 
don't know if he said why.  

Q     I understand.   
      What would the significance of operating a fish finder 
be on detection of an if you are says vessel by a nuclear 
submarine of the Greeneville class?  

A     Well, it's a fedometer, its dual purpose finding fish 
and acting to determine the water depth, and its a source of 
energy that would aid the Greeneville in detecting the 
Ehime-Maru and would also aid in classifying the Ehime-Maru if 
it -- the characteristics that are unique to fish finding son 
arrest as opposed to generic fedometers, it would aid in 
classifying it as a commercial fishing vessel as well as a 
surface vessel.  

Q     Isn't it a fact, sir, that if the Greeneville had 
intercepted, I guess would be the word, detected --  

A     Detected.   

Q     Detected a fish finder an alarm would go off in the 
control room?  

A     Well, there would be no -- well, actually there might 
have been the alarm literally in the -- WLRI system.  But even 
if the alarm had not gone off, the sonar system and operators 
would have reported it as a significant tactical input of 
value to the OOD and the CO.  So, whether the alarm occurred 
or not, I think it would have been an important team event in 
the minds of the operators of the ship.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      The FAA radar that you indicated was used in part to 
reconstruct the Ehime-Maru's track, that didn't have any time 
or bearing data on it, did it?  

A     I don't have a lot of facts and understanding of how the 
FAA radar played into the current status of the reconstructed 
track.  My general understanding is that it came into the game 
after I completed my investigation and tended to confirm our 
other sources of data on the last three miles of the track of 
the Ehime-Maru.   

Q     Okay, sir.   

A     I'm not sure it changed the track, just confirmed it is 
my understanding.  

Q     Use is made to back up the data you have from other 
sources?  

A     That's my understanding.  Although further testimony may 
bring more clarification in that area.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      With respect to the operation of the USS Greeneville, a 
watch bill was -- would have been in the normal course 
produced for an at sea evolution, would you agree with that, 
sir?  

A     Yes.  

Q     That would be pretty much standard throughout the fleet?  

A     Yes.  

Q     And that watch bill was not included in your preliminary 
inquiry?  

A     No.  

Q     Were you aware that the USS Greeneville sent the watch 
bill over to Captain buys's office?  

A     No.  I was under the opposite impression, and I didn't 
know that.  It may be it got lost, but my understanding was 
that of all the records that Captain buys had requested from 
the ship, that was one that had not been provided.  That's my 
understanding.  It may be an error.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      You --  

A     I might add, if that exists it would be important for 
the Court to know that and to review it in testimony.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     I was not able to.   

Q     Understand, sir.  And I think we'll provide it to the 
Court, at least in the unsigned version.  The problem is we've 
been unable to locate a signed version after the ship sent it 
to Captain buys's office.   

A     Well, it might -- I just hope that the Court can use its 
influence with the staff at the squadron to have them 
reinvigorate their search.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Sir, what's a modified piloting party?  Does that term 
ring a bell?  

A     Yes, it does.  It's a subset of a full piloting party, a 
full piloting party adds several resources to the normal watch 
bill to provide more assistance in the navigation of the ship 
when you're in proximity to shore water or piloting in and out 
of port.  You modify that but keep some of those resources in 
place, such as a fedometer watch and a navigation supervisors 
overseeing the Quarter Master of the watch, when you're 
operating within a certain distance from shore water.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Sir, this is the key watchstanders Exhibit that you 
prepared, or was prepared -- (inaudible) testimony.   

A     Yes.  

Q     That does not reflect the manning of a modified piloting 
party, does it, sir?  

A     No, it doesn't.  

Q     Were you aware that at the time of the collision a 
modified piloting party was in use on board the Greeneville?  

A     Yes, I was.  

Q     There's no indication there, sir, for a fedometer watch.  
Why is that, sir?  

A     Oversight.  Just did not consider that, I guess, 
relevant to the contact picture, but it certainly deserves to 
be on there for completeness.  

Q     Do you know for how long they had been at a modified 
piloting ---  

A     I can only hazard it was their entire underway.  That's 
a guess.  

Q     Yes.  Do you know or are you aware that the fedometer 
watch, the person sustaining by the fedometer was a qualified 
sonar?  

A     I would assume that to be the case.  That's a 
prerequisite to stand out watch.  

Q     A prerequisite?  

A     To be qualified on the fedometer which is part of the 
qualification in sonars, not radar.  

Q     Where is the fedometer located in the control room, sir?  

A     It's located in the generally towards the aft port 
corner of control.  It's just aft -- it's basically directly 
outboard to port of the port plotting table, approximately.  

Q     Okay.   
      There was, then, available another qualified sonar 
operator on board Greeneville, but he was otherwise occupied 
with the prerequisite job of fedometer operator, would that be 
fair, sir?  

A     Yes, sir.  And if I can just say.  I have not had the 
opportunity to fully evaluate all the sonarmen who were on the 
Greeneville and whether or not there were any available who 
didn't have an additional watch somewhere else to go in and be 
the watch on sonar.  I don't know the answer to that, and 
that's something the Court should examine further.   

      But, if the fedometer watch was the only other sonar man 
on board who could have been the qualified second operator in 
control, sonar control, then I would say we didn't have the 
right people on board.   

Q     Yes, sir.   
      I have some more questions for you about that, sir.   

A     That's --  

Q     It would be fair to say at least with respect to the 
fedometer watch, this is a -- in part inaccurate?  

A     Before you put it away we might as well bring out the 
other inaccurate part which would be the supervisor for the 
Quarter Master, or assistant navigator which would be an 
additional person to put in the right-hand portion there under 
navigation operations.   

      So, I would add both the fedometer operator and the 
navigation supervisor as boxes under navigation operations 
that are on the right.  

Q     And navigation supervisor would not be responsible for 
contact management or detection, correct, sir?  

A     Correct.  

Q     But a sonarman, a qualified sonarman could be used in 
that capacity, correct, sir?  

A     If he weren't on the fedometer.  

Q     And it is a prerequisite that the individual be a 
qualified sonarman to operate the fedometer or to stand 
fedometer watch?  

A     That's my recollection.  I think that would prove to be 
true, but should be evaluated further through testimony.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     I think the fedometer watch is a very important watch 
and must be stood by a qualified operator, just as the 
operators in sonar are also important watches.  

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     And should be stood by qualified operators.   

Q     The fedometer watch is a safety of ship watch, would you 
agree with that, sir?  

A     Yes.  

Q     His duty is to report the vessel's depth to ensure that 
the vessel does not run aground.   

A     It's more than that, but it does include that.  It's 
more than that in that he should be correlating the charted 
departments with the depth that they are actually seeing 
corrected by their ownership's depth from the surface so that 
you gain a sense of your expected results still being 
displayed so that you have a sense of where your chart says 
you are, you really are.  So it's not just don't hit the 
bottom, it's also is your navigation accurate.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      So that's an important job?  

A     Absolutely.  

Q     And the sonar -- the broad band sonar operator, that's 
also a safety of ship position, wouldn't you agree?  

A     Yes.  Actually, I -- it's hard to say any of the watch 
stations on the ship aren't safety of ship if they're not 
properly stood.  

Q     If they're not properly stood?  

A     Yes.  

Q     Okay.   
      The individual, the unqualified sonar operator who was 
at the second console in sonar on the 9th of February, what 
did you ascertain about his qualifications, other than he was 
not a qualified sonar operator?  Sonar technician I should 
say.  

A     Well, he received extensive pipeline training before 
ever reporting to the ship, so he had had the best training 
that the submarine Navy can provide to prepare him to become a 
sonar operator in classroom sessions before he arrived at the 
ship.   

      And he had, I think he reported a total of about 10 days 
of underway time prior to that with the Greeneville, and so he 
had some underway time on the ship.   
      And --  

Q     Sir, were you aware that he had stood 40 underway 
watches at the -- as a, approximately 40 watches as the -- as 
a sonarman?  

A     That would be logical for about 10 days.  I can buy 
that.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      What does a workload share mean?  What's that position?  

A     Workload share means that you take some of the not only 
burden off the primary broad band operator by getting some 
common displays and looking at them in different -- with 
emphasis on perhaps different elevation angles and the primary 
operators using to try and get a broader in depth look at the 
same data.  He also can be used to evaluate the classification 
of some of the contacts that the broad band operator has 
found, to try to gain further tactical information by 
classification of those contacts.   

      So, he can shift modes while not distracting the primary 
broad banded operator from searching diligently for contacts 
and providing that to fire control.  So he has kind of a 
variable function there, but I think it's in general true to 
say he keeps the primary broad band operator from being 
distracted.  And sometimes can look at additional data that 
the primary broad band operator doesn't have displayed to help 
him find contacts.  

Q     Did you undercover any information that suggested that 
the individual who was manning the workload share station did 
not perform his duties in an appropriate manner as required by 
his -- his rate?  

A     I was not able to assess his proficiency as a trainee, 
and that's an area for the Court to consider further.   

      He related to me, however, the main emphasis of what he 
was trying to do on that instructional ops was learn how to 
keep logs.  And of course that is an administrative function 
that first you have to find the contact and then you can start 
logging his presence, but if you don't find the contact to 
begin with then logging it doesn't ever happen 'cause he isn't 
known to be there.  So, the sequence of priorities there would 
be first find and provide information on the contact, and then 
do the administration of logging it.  

Q     And that would be the broad band sonar operator's duty 
to find the contacts, wouldn't you agree with that, sir?  

A     Yes.  And the workload share operator should be helping 
him do that.  

Q     Yes, sir.  Any indication that he did not do that?  

A     No.  In fact, he was being supervised some of the time 
by a qualified operator, in addition to the sonar supervisor.  

Q     He was being supervised by the sonar supervisor all of 
the time while he's on watch, correct?  

A     That's correct.  

Q     And that's a pretty small space, wouldn't you agree?  

A     Yes.  

Q     In fact, sonar supervisor would be standing behind the 
two stations could put his hands on both shoulders of the 
individuals who are manning those two stations, correct?  

A     He could if he moves to that location, he could do that 
easily.  

Q     And his job is to supervise their performance of their 
duties, correct, sir?  

A     His job is broader than that.  But among other things 
it's to supervise their duties.  

Q     Well, it wouldn't be appropriate for the sonar 
supervisor to be sitting in the corner having a smoke, 
correct, sir?  

A     No, he should be diligent in his supervision of their 
performance and the other aspects of his watch.  

Q     Any reason to believe he wasn't diligent in the 
performance of those duties and supervising the two 
individuals who were on watch, sir?  

A     No, but let me just state that on the other hand the 
ship was in a better posture when it has a qualified operator 
at both consoles than it is when it has a qualified operator 
at one console and a trainee at the other who is not being 
supervised directly.  

Q     Yes, sir.   
      Sir, during the course of your investigation did you 
ascertain whether or not there was a practice on 688 I class 
ships with the same configuration as the Greeneville to man 
the workload share station with an under instruction sonar 
operator rather than fully qualified sonar operator due to the 
lack -- the differ -- the difference in the configuration of 
those -- that class of submarine?   

A     Let me see if I understand your question.  Are you 
saying that they are given compensation to not have two 
qualified operators on those consoles because of their unique 
configuration?   

Q     Sir, my question is, were you aware that there is a 
practice on 688 I class vessels in this area where, because of 
the configuration there's been removed -- there's been some 
consoles removed from that sonar room to man the workload 
chair station with an under instruction sonar technician?  

A     Well, if you're telling me that the practice is that he 
does not have to have a qualified operator supervising him, 
other than the supervisor, I was not aware of that.   
      If that is the practice it is not in accordance with 
what I believe the fleet -- the type commander wants being 
done on a submarine.  

Q     Sir --  

A     First of all, you should realize that other classes of 
submarines that have difference sonar modifications have many 
more people in sonar than the two operators and the supervisor 
that this class has, and to some extent that makes this class, 
with this type of sonar closer to being under manned in times 
of high tempo and stress where passive sonar is providing 
important information, than when you have those other 
operators and sonar at the other consoles with mother 
versatility to move functions between consoles and with more 
people to provide constant back up.   

      So, I would think it would be incumbent on this class of 
submarine, with this configuration, to be especially religious 
about maintaining two qualified stack operators, if you have 
an under instruction watch, fine, but he needs to be 
supervised by a qualified operator and even the other variance 
of this class of submarine.  

Q     My question was, though, sir -- I understand that that's 
your feeling about it.  My question was, are you aware that 
there is a practice in this area on 688 I class subs is 
subject to man the workload share station with an under 
instruction sonar technician?  

A     I think we need to work this question a little more 
finally before I answer it, because the implication of your 
question is am I aware we have trainees out there and of 
course I expect that, I expect that on every class of 
submarine on these consoles.  But the issue is, is that 
trainee being also directly supervised by a qualified operator 
who could move him aside, sit down and be the person 
thereafter on a continuous basis.   

      And if you're saying it's the local practice that that 
person does not exist on these ships routinely, then I'd say 
that's a real shock to me.   

Q     Yes, sir.   
              VADM. NATHMAN:  Counsel, I just want you to know 
it's 11:22 on my watch.  We're probably going to try to recess 
right on time, 11:30, you can continue whatever road you want 
to go down and --  
              MR. GITTINS:  I'll finish this area.  
              VADM. NATHMAN:  There might be a logical time 
that you might want to stop, so please go ahead.  
BY MR. GITTINS:  

Q     So, the NWP that talks about manning -- I'm sorry, the 
Busy 1 manual that speaks to the issue of sonar manning is 
written for a configuration other than the ARCI configuration 
that is found on the 688 I class submarine, are you aware of 
that, sir?  

A     I accept that.  I wasn't necessarily aware of that.  I 
think there are guidelines out there that are specific to this 
class of submarine with this configuration.  It may not be the 
Busy 1 guidelines.  Because this is in an interim stage 
OF COTS, computer off the shelf phase of equipment that's 
fairly small and subset to this ship, and some others.   

      But, -- so there is guidance for this actual 
configuration.  It may not be in that manual.  

Q     Yes, sir.  Do you know what that guidance is? 

A     No.  I don't recall the name.  I did review it in my 
investigations, and I don't remember the name of it.   

Q     Yes, sir.   

A     It had one of those standard Navy names, you know, that 
kind of blends into -- fades into, they all sound the same.  

Q     Sir, the fact that a UI workload share sonar technician 
was on the panel on a full-time basis during this watch did 
not contribute to this accident, did it?  

A     I don't know.  Maybe not.  

Q     Let me ask you appointed question, sir.  Isn't it a fact 
that Sierra 13 was identified by the sonar -- the Busy 1 broad 
band sonar operator for at least an hour prior to the 
collision?  

A     Intermittently, yes.   
      Not a continuous contact, but yes, intermittent contact 
for over an hour before the collision.  Go ahead, I'll let you 
continue.  

Q     What I was going to ask you, sir, is there's nothing 
more than the workload share operator could have done to 
manage the contact beyond what the primary broad band sonar 
operator did, is there?  

A     That I can't answer and that's what gives me pause for 
concern and that's why I brought it up in investigation.  
Because the amount of time the two and only two operators have 
to manipulate their displays and gain information is a 
function of their attention span to move to the different 
tasks they have.  Two people are better than one at that 
mission.   

      So, the recognition for example of that right six 
bearing rate just after the high speed evolution when we're 
now into the phase of starting to focus on target motion 
analysis before going to periscope depth, there were a couple 
of minutes there of a right six bearing rate and I know in my 
heart that if the Captain knew he had a right six on a surface 
contact he would have had a bells and whistles going off in 
his mind saying I got a guy who's pretty close.

      And two people are better able to see that than one.  
Two qualified people are better able to see that than one 
qualified person and a trainee.

      I understand there's variations in the degree of 
qualification or proficiency of an unqualified trainee from 0 
to 99 percent qualified.  I don't know where on that scale 
this trainee was, but I can tell you that if there were two 
qualified operators it would have been just that much more 
chance that that ship would have called out a right six 
bearing rate on the Sierra 13, the OD and the Captain know 
what to do with right 6 bearing rates and they would have been 
better off.  

Q     In point of fact that is entirely speculation because 
you don't know whether or not -- or whether a qualified 
operator would have identified the right six bearing rate, is 
that accurate?  

A     Yes, it is.  Let me also say that the force says have 
two qualified operators for a reason, and it isn't a 
capricious reason.  They're trying to put that ship in a 
position where it can optimize the use of its sensors and that 
was not done here.   

      So, I don't know if it led to contribution to the 
collision or not.  But, it is a factor that I have concern 
about.   

Q     Yes, sir.   
      This is an appropriate place to break, counselor.   
      
              VADM. NATHMAN:  This Court will be in recess 
until 1300.  

      (Recess taken.)

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