Civilians Often Allowed Aboard Navy Ships

Feb. 14 -- It’s not uncommon for civilians to visit Navy ships for rides. In fact, the Navy runs a cruise program called Operation Tiger, through which the friends and family members of sailors can ride on a variety of ships.

The program is intended to allow visitors to see how their friends and loved ones in the Navy live and work while they are away from home.

And on occasion, former submariners say, the visitors are allowed to sit at the controls. Ship cruises in the Pacific often have begun in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and traveled to Seal Beach, Calif., taking eight or nine days.

It does not appear the USS Greeneville was engaged in a Tiger cruise when it crashed into a Japanese fishing boat on Feb. 9, leaving nine people missing and presumed dead. The Navy has said 15 civilians were on board, including two at controls and monitored by seamen at the time of the crash.

VIPs Taken, Too

Navy ships and submarines also occasionally take VIPs from government, industry and elsewhere, and journalists on cruises, sometimes for one to three days.

Some former submariners say VIP visits can be annoying, prompting endless cleanings and inspections of the ship’s areas prior to the civilians arriving. They can often come right after a long, arduous cruise, when the crew is particularly fatigued. And the cruises often take place in shallow water, where it’s more difficult to operate and navigate a submarine.

Visitors can be a distraction, former submariners say, though it is not yet clear what caused the Greeneville accident.

Civilians allowed in the control center are closely supervised, they say, so that they don’t stray the ship off course or do anything to otherwise endanger the ship. And former submariners say it’s unlikely the civilians did anything specifically to cause the Greeneville accident.