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Court Of Inquiry News

21 Sep 2015

WWII Catalina Aircraft Wreckage Confirmed

The Royal Australian Air Force has confirmed that aircraft wreckage found in waters south of Cairns is that of RAAF Number 11 Squadron Catalina A24-25 that crashed on 28 February 1943, killing all 11 personnel on board. Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Leo Davies AO, CSC, praised the work of all those involved in locating and confirming the identity of the aircraft. “The discovery of this Number 11 Squadron Catalina is important for Air Force and our ongoing commitment to account for our missing personnel from past conflicts; currently 3124 from the Second World War and 18 from Korea. The wreckage was first discovered 56 kilometres south of Cairns in 35 metres of water by Cairns diver Kevin Coombs in 2013…

29 Aug 2012

“Maritime … Or Not?”

Thomas H. Belknap, Blank Rome LLP

Here is a multiple choice question:  which of the following contracts is considered to be a “maritime contract” under U.S. law? You will be forgiven if you simply tried to apply logic in answering this question and guessed that all four are maritime contracts. If you know your maritime law, however, then you should have answered that “c” and “d” are maritime contracts whereas “a” and “b” are not. Or, at least, that is the current state of the law. Why might this matter? In the first place…

04 Jul 2012

'Costa Concordia' Safety Violations Identified

Not all of the Costa Concordia’s control systems were working. But the most serious anomaly, according to the experts’ findings, concerns the 'black box' (Voyage Data Recorder') which had not been working since 9 January, four days before the shipwreck that cost thirty-two lives. Experts appointed by the court of Grosseto put this in their report, also pointing out that they had only been able to examine data from the ship’s computer. They had to work on incomplete evidence since no data at all was recorded after 11.36 pm on 13 January. This means that most of the evacuation of the ship took place “in the dark”. They were also unsure whether data recorded on the computer, rather than on the malfunctioning 'black box', had been interferred with in some way.

20 Feb 2001

Relatives See Video Of Sunken Trawler

The U.S. Navy on Sunday showed relatives of the nine missing people from a Japanese trawler sunk by a surfacing American submarine a video of the wreck, but there were no signs of remains. The video, taken by a deep-diving robot that located the Ehime Maru on the ocean floor, showed a ghostly pale ship against the black emptiness of the deep, but nothing else. The Ehime Maru, which was struck by the USS Greeneville as the fast-attack submarine made an emergency surfacing maneuver on Feb. 9, was sitting nearly upright on the ocean floor about 9 miles (14 km) off Diamond head on Oahu. The Navy's remotely operated submersible Scorpio II located the Ehime Maru late in about 2,000 ft. (610 m) of water off the coast of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.

26 Feb 2001

USS Greeneville: Fourth Officer Falls Under Naval Inquiry

The U.S. Navy's official inquiry into the fatal collision of the USS Greeneville and a Japanese fishing trawler will closely scrutinize the actions of a fourth officer on board the submarine, who held senior rank over the vessel's captain. Capt. Bob Brandhuber, chief of staff for the Pacific Submarine Forces, was the host of civilian guests on board the sub when the accident occurred. He has not been named alongside three Greeneville officers as a subject of a court of inquiry, but will almost certainly be called as a witness, the sources told Reuters. The court of inquiry was convened for March 5 to determine whether disciplinary action should be taken against any or all of the officers named as subjects, and could ultimately lead to a court martial.

23 Feb 2001

Navy Hearing Pushed To March 5

The U.S. Navy bowed to a request from the captain of the Greeneville and set a March 5 hearing date for an official inquiry into the disaster in which the nuclear sub slammed into a Japanese fishing trawler, leaving nine people missing, presumed dead. Lawyers for Cmdr. Scott Waddle had asked the Navy to delay a court of inquiry, originally due to begin on Thursday, into the fatal collision to give them more time to prepare. A Navy spokesman told reporters on Thursday that the Navy had acceded to the March 5 request after initially moving the date back to Monday, Feb. 26. The court of inquiry will determine whether disciplinary action should be taken against Waddle and two other officers in the Feb.

08 Mar 2001

Navy Investigator: Civilians Did Not Cause Sub Crash

The U.S. Navy’s investigator into the collision of a nuclear submarine and a Japanese fishing vessel testified on Tuesday that the presence of three civilians at the ship’s controls had nothing to do with the accident in which nine people died. Investigator Rear Adm. Charles Griffiths Jr., testifying on the second day of the official Court of Inquiry, said, “In my professional judgment, they had zero impact on the collision. He said that the civilians at the controls of the USS Greeneville on Feb. 9., the day it rammed and sank the Japanese fishing training vessel the Ehime Maru, were a woman at the control of the ship’s Klaxon bell which sounds an alarm during emergency maneuvers, a man at the ballast control and another man directing the rudder.

06 Mar 2001

Sub Inquiry Focuses On Lingering Questions

The U.S. Navy opened a formal inquiry on Monday into the ramming of a Japanese trawler by a nuclear submarine, trying to answer questions about an accident that killed nine people and marred America’s relationship with Japan. The navy’s Court of Inquiry could also lead to a court martial for three or more officers of the USS Greeneville who will be asked to explain how they failed to notice the 190-ft. (58-m) fishing boat before surfacing off Diamond Head near Honolulu. The fast-attack sub is equipped with state-of-the-art sonar, and published reports have said the Greeneville’s crew was aware of a ship in the vicinity before surfacing. The Greeneville was practicing emergency maneuvers on Feb.

13 Mar 2001

Top Navy Officer Says Sub Captain is to Blame for Crash

The U.S. Navy's top submarine officer in the Pacific laid the blame for the collision between the USS Greeneville and a Japanese trawler squarely on the commander of the submarine. Rear Adm. Albert Konetzni, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's submarine forces, told a court of inquiry into the Feb. 9 accident off Hawaii in which nine Japanese were killed that the Greeneville's captain, Cmdr. Scott Waddle, had failed to make a proper periscope search before surfacing. "This is the meat of the matter," Konetzni testified, adding that sub commanders "have an unbelievable obligation to make sure there's nobody in the area". "You'd better get as much pole out there as you can - periscope time - to make sure.

16 Apr 2001

Commander of USS Greeneville Could Face Dismissal

A U.S. Navy court of inquiry into the submarine-trawler collision off Hawaii in which nine Japanese were killed has recommended measures that would probably end the submarine commander's career but would spare him a court martial, a Navy official said on Sunday. The official said that the recommendations, if implemented, meant Cmdr. The Navy official said the panel's recommendations would also spare the other two officers charged in the accident, Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Pfeifer and Lt. Michael Coen, from court martial. The 2,000-page report by the court of inquiry, composed of three Navy admirals, was delivered to Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Thomas Fargo on Friday, and it is up to Fargo to decide what action to take, if any, within 30 days.

16 Apr 2001

Kin of Japanese Fishing Trawler Victims Express Outrage

Relatives of nine Japanese lost at sea when a U.S. submarine sank their fishing boat off Hawaii in February voiced anger on Saturday after hearing the captain of the submarine would not face criminal charges. The families of the nine missing, including four 17-year-old boys aboard the training trawler and two teachers, had followed closely the proceedings of a U.S. Navy court of inquiry in Hawaii to investigate the accident. Twenty-six people survived. "I'll be very angry if I learn officially that the court-martial will not take place," said the father of one of two fishing instructors missing after the USS Greeneville suddenly surfaced under the trawler off Hawaii in early February. Relatives of those who survived the accident felt otherwise.

20 Apr 2001

Navy Keeps Quiet Regarding Sub Captain's Fate

Japanese officials on Friday were disappointed after U.S. naval officers failed to shed light on whether the captain of a submarine that sank a Japanese fishing trawler, leaving nine lost at sea, would be court martialed. A team of U.S. naval officers visited local officials and families of the nine people, including four teenage fisheries students, lost after the USS Greeneville surfaced into and sank the Ehime Maru off Hawaii on February 9. The commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet is prepared to order the captain and a key enlisted man to undergo disciplinary hearings but not courts-martial for their roles in the accident, a navy official in Honolulu said on Thursday.