Driving Blind

Kevork Djansezian/AP.

The pressure is on to raise the fishing trawler from the seabed -- and recover the bodies of the nine missing crew members.

The U.S.S. Greeneville rocketed blindly from the deep like a 6,900-ton black torpedo, spewing ocean foam as its bow rose more than 30 m out of the Pacific and crushed the Japanese fishing boat Ehime Maru. "Jesus!" exclaimed Commander Scott Waddle from the attack sub's control room, as his vessel shuddered around him. "What the hell was that?" Some 30 sailors and civilians, crammed into the Greeneville's control room, watched in horror as Waddle brought the periscope around to reveal what they had just done: a television screen displaying the periscope's view suddenly filled with the sickening image of a sinking...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!