Admiral Defends Cole Commander

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 7 -- The admiral overseeing a Navyinvestigation into the actions of the captain and crew of theU.S. destroyer Cole when it was bombed in Yemen harbor hasrecommended that no one should be punished despite securitylapses on the ship, defense officials said today.

But they stressed that the recommendation of Adm. RobertNatter, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, could be overturned bythe chief of naval operations and navy secretary before theinvestigation report is released within days.

Rejecting Earlier ReportThe officials, who asked not to be identified, told Reutersthat Natter rejected the findings of a lower-ranking officerthat the apparent Oct. 12 suicide bombing from a small boatmight have been prevented or minimized.

Seventeen U.S. sailors died in the attack — apparentlycarried out by anti-Western guerrillas — when the USS Cole wasripped open by a blast from an explosives-laden small boat thatdrew up next to the hull of the warship as it took on fuel inmid-harbor.

The lower-ranking officer’s report concluded that theship’s captain and crew failed to follow the Cole’s ownsecurity procedures on the morning of the attack.

At the time of the blast, the Cole was in what is known as“Threat Condition Bravo,” which requires guards on deck to keepsmall boats away and mount a close watch for possible attacksduring a refueling operation.

Navy and Pentagon officials have praised Cmdr. KirkLippold, the ship’s captain, and some 300 other crew membersfor saving the ship from sinking.

Natter sent the report on the investigation of actionsaboard the ship from Atlantic Fleet headquarters in Norfolk,Virginia, in recent days to Chief of Naval Operations Adm.Vernon Clark and Navy Secretary Richard Danzig at thePentagon.

‘Very, Very Difficult’

“This is very, very difficult,” one of the defenseofficials said today, confirming Natter’s recommendation,which was first reported by the Baltimore Sun.