Relatives of nine Japanese lost at sea and 26 survivors of the Feb. 9 collision between a Japanese fisheries training ship and a U.S. submarine have voiced their anger over a report that the sub's captain is unlikely to be court-martialed.
In a report to Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, three admirals who sat on the bench of the U.S. Navy Court of Inquiry into the collision reportedly recommended Friday that Cmdr. Scott Waddle, the former captain of the Greeneville, should not be court-martialed.
"I'll be very angry if I learn officially that the court-martial will not take place," Kazuo Nakata, 55, said Saturday. His son Jun, 33, was one of two Ehime Maru fishing instructors still listed as missing after the nuclear sub surfaced under the training ship, which was from Uwajima Fisheries High School in Ehime Prefecture.
"This was not an accident, it was an incident," said Toshio Kamado, 50, whose son Atsushi, 17, survived the sinking. "I expect the U.S. Navy to court-martial Mr. Waddle. He should take criminal responsibility.