Navy Nuclear Attack Submarine Did an 'Emergency Blow' to Surface and Went Right Through a Japanese Fishing Vessel That Had No Chance

On February 9, 2001, the Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville (SSN-772) carried 16 civilian VIPs and performed an emergency main ballast tank “blow” nine nautical miles south of Oahu. It surfaced under the Japanese training ship Ehime Maru, a 190-foot vessel with 35 people aboard. Investigators later cited lost tracking of “Sierra 13,” VIPs obstructing the plot, and Commander Scott Waddle’s brief periscope search. The collision left nine people dead, including four students. The USS Greeneville sank within minutes after hitting the fishing vessel’s hull; 26 survived. Waddle avoided court-martial.