PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — A Navy court of inquiry into the collision of the USS Greeneville and a Japanese fishing boat ended with the submarine commander's testimony and key players blaming bad information, bad judgment and each other.
During the hearing Tuesday, Cmdr. Scott Waddle was by turns apologetic and defensive.
"As commanding officer, I am solely responsible for this truly tragic accident, and for the rest of my life I will live with the horrible consequences of my decisions and actions that resulted in the loss of the Ehime Maru," he said.
But he also told the admirals: "I was trying my best to do the job that I was assigned."
Waddle's sworn testimony came as a surprise. His attorney had indicated he wouldn't testify without immunity to protect him against future charges based solely on what he said. The Navy rejected the request.
Waddle's attorney on Tuesday implored the three admirals presiding over the hearing not to recommend court-martial for Waddle, one of three officers under investigation in the deadly crash.
"Commander Waddle exercised his judgment, and he did his level best," attorney Charles Gittins said. "He may have fallen short on that day, but it wasn't criminal."
Lt. Cmdr. Brent Filbert, representing Lt. j.g. Michael Coen, the officer of the deck, told the court of inquiry that Waddle had "rushed himself and rushed his crew."
The admirals were expected to take three weeks to recommend possible punishment for Waddle, Coen and the submarine's executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer. The head of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Thomas Fargo, will have 30 days to decide what punishment, if any, the officers should face.
Nine people died when the Greeneville crashed into the Ehime Maru while the sub crew was demonstrating a rapid-surfacing drill for a group of civilians.
"The inquiry is over, but we cannot put this behind us unless Navy officials make clear the causes and responsibility for the accident," said Ryosuke Terata, whose 17-year-old son was among the victims.
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who had been meeting with President Bush in Washington, visited the crash site Tuesday to pray for the victims.
"I felt a big lump of sorrow rising up to my throat," Mori said in a statement. He told the victims' relatives that Bush had promised to provide utmost efforts to speed up compensation and the salvaging of the Ehime Maru.
The 12-day Navy inquiry into the crash has focused on whether Waddle rushed preparations for surfacing and whether he performed an inadequate periscope search before taking the Greeneville up. The periscope search lasted 80 seconds, compared to the standard three minutes.
Gittins blamed the crash on "a series of errors and mistakes, circumstances that were not necessarily within Commander Waddle's control."
He also noted that at the time Waddle was checking the surface by periscope, a crewman had a reading of a vessel 4,000 yards away but said nothing.
The crewman, Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick Seacrest, testified he didn't notice the reading. He said he heard Waddle report that the surface was clear and thought the situation was under control.
During the hearing, Waddle, 41, said he felt it was imperative he speak. "This court and the families need to hear from me," he said.
Coen, 26, read his own apology during Monday's hearing. Pfeifer, 38, submitted a written statement that was not released.
The admirals questioned Waddle about his decisions, including giving Coen five minutes to perform a maneuver that should take longer
One by one, Waddle addressed criticisms directed at him and his crew over the past two weeks: why was the boat running late, why did they perform the dangerous maneuver of rapid surfacing, why didn't Waddle and his officers have a clearer picture of what was going on.
Waddle said he had no reason to doubt his crew.
"I didn't micromanage my crew. I empowered them to do their job," he said.