page_title: List of submarine incidents since 2000
section_title: Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision
hierarchical_section_title: List of submarine incidents since 2000 / 2001 / Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision
caption_attribution_description: English: The USS Greeneville (SSN 772) sits atop blocks in Dry Dock #1 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Feb. 21, 2001. The Los Angeles class attack submarine is dry-docked to assess the damage and perform necessary repairs following a Feb. 9 collision at sea with the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii.
context_section_description: On 9 February 2001, the American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally struck and sank a Japanese high-school fisheries training ship, Ehime-Maru, killing nine of the thirty-five Japanese aboard, including four students, 10 miles (16 km) off the coast of Oahu. The collision occurred while members of the public were on board the submarine observing an emergency surface drill.
  A naval inquiry found that the accident was the result of poorly executed sonar sweeps, an ineffective periscope search by the submarine's captain, Commander Scott Waddle, bad communication among the crew and distractions caused by the presence of the 16 civilian guests aboard the submarine.
  The Navy and the command of Greeneville have been criticized for making no immediate attempt to help the Japanese on Ehime Maru that survived the initial collision.  Weather conditions were producing 8-to-12-foot (2.4 to 3.7 m) waves and the submarine's partially surfaced condition prevented the opening of deck hatches. These were cited as reasons for the submarine captain's choosing to stand off and remain close by. While the U.S. Coast Guard directly responded, survivors resorted to automatically deployed life rafts from Ehime Maru.
caption: Greeneville in drydock at Pearl Harbor on 21 February 2001 after hitting and sinking Ehime Maru.
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