-- The ranking U.S. Navy officer aboard the USS Greeneville testified Tuesday he was "surprised" when the sub's captain took it to a classified depth despite the presence of 16 civilians who lacked security clearance.
Capt. Robert Brandhuber, testifying for a second day, also told the court of inquiry, now in its second week of proceedings, that he was again surprised when Cmdr. Scott Waddle ordered an "emergency deep" sudden submerging maneuver without informing him in advance.
Brandhuber, chief of staff to the commander of the Pacific Fleet's submarine force, is the fourth witness to testify before the navy's highest administrative fact-finding body and the first who was actually on the USS Greeneville during the Feb. 9 accident.
The 6,080-ton attack sub struck and sank the 499-ton Ehime Maru about 18 km off Oahu Island while conducting an "emergency main ballast tank blow" to demonstrate to 16 civilian VIPs on board how a sub can quickly rise to the surface in an emergency. Nine Japanese were lost at sea after the collision.