Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision

Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision
The Japanese fishery high school training ship Ehime Maru
Date	9 February 2001
Place	off Oahu, Hawaii, U.S.
Cause	Ship collision
Result	Ehime Maru sunk, 9 Ehime Maru crewmembers killed (including 4 high school students); USS Greeneville damaged

The Ehime Maru and USS Greeneville collision was a ship collision between the United States Navy (USN) Los Angeles-class submarine USS Greeneville (SSN-772) and the Japanese fishery high school training ship Ehime Maru (えひめ丸) from Ehime Prefecture on 9 February 2001, about 9 nautical miles (17 km) off the south coast of Oahu, Hawaii, United States. In a demonstration for some VIP civilian visitors, Greeneville performed an emergency ballast blow surfacing maneuver. As the submarine shot to the surface, she struck Ehime Maru. Within 10 minutes of the collision, Ehime Maru sank. Nine of her crewmembers were killed, including four high school students.

Many Japanese, including government officials, were concerned over news that civilians were present in Greeneville's control room at the time of the accident. Some expressed anger because of a perception that the submarine did not try to assist Ehime Maru's survivors and that the submarine's captain, Commander Scott Waddle, did not apologize immediately afterwards. The Navy conducted a public court of inquiry, placed blame on Waddle and other members of Greeneville's crew, and dealt non-judicial punishment or administrative disciplinary action to the captain and some crew members. After Commander Waddle had faced the Naval Board of Inquiry, it was decided that a full court-martial would be unnecessary, and he was forced to retire and given an honorable discharge.

In response to requests from the families of Ehime Maru's victims and the government of Japan, the USN raised Ehime Maru from the ocean floor in October 2001 and moved her to shallow water near Oahu. Once there, Navy and Japanese divers located and retrieved the remains of eight of the nine victims from the wreck. Ehime Maru was then moved back out to sea and scuttled in deep water. The Navy compensated the government of Ehime Prefecture, Ehime Maru's survivors, and victims' family members for the accident. Waddle traveled to Japan in December 2002 to apologize to the ship's survivors and victims' families.