Trawler captain tells of sub collision terror

The captain of the Japanese trawler smashed to pieces by a surfacing US Navy submarine has told a military inquiry of the terrifying incident that killed nine people.

Hisao Onishi told the court of inquiry at Pearl Harbour that the first impact knocked the rear of the Ehime Maru towards the sky.

Capt Onishi described the terrifying moments after the USS Greeneville crashed into his fishing vessel off Hawaii last month.

Calm and composed, he spoke through an interpreter before a courtroom packed with families of the Japanese victims and officers of the submarine.

The Ehime Maru, carrying 20 crew, 13 teens and two teachers, was on a voyage to teach high school students commercial fishing when the submarine surfaced beneath it. Nine people, including four teenagers, were lost at sea.

The Greeneville was demonstrating a rapid-surfacing drill for 16 civilian guests when the collision occurred.

The trawler was about nine miles south of Oahu when the Greeneville burst from the ocean and ripped through its stern. Onishi said he heard a "terrible metal hitting sound" followed by more banging. "We felt an impact as if the stern of the ship was lifted up," he said.

When he saw the water rising, Onishi ordered his navigator to gather the passengers and abandon ship. Onishi headed for the deck, water already at his heels. People were yelling, trying to confirm everyone had lifejackets, but "no one was in a state where they could respond".

Charles Gittins, a lawyer representing the Greeneville's commander, Scott Waddle, told Onishi the commanding officer "accepts responsibility for this accident". The two captains later met face-to-face, and Waddle apologised.

Waddle, his executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Gerald Pfeifer, and the officer of the deck, Lieutenant Michael Coen, could face possible courts-martial for their roles in the accident.