A former submarine commander said he had voiced his misgivings about an inexperienced and sleep-deprived crew returning to port in the dark before the USS Georgia ran aground and suffered $1 million in damage.

Captain Dave Adams, now retired, said he spoke up about his concerns before the Ohio-class guided missile submarine under his command struck a buoy and ran aground while returning to Kings Bay, Georgia, on November 25, 2015.

The Georgia is one of two subs based out of Kings Bays, and is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Captain Adams says he emailed and spoke face-to-face with superiors, including some who told him 'slow things down a little,' if he felt uncomfortable.

But when the mission was ordered ahead, he said he dared not create a delay for fear of being accused of insubordination, according to the findings of a nearly 500-page report of the investigation.

Captain Dave Adams, a former submarine commander, said he had voiced his misgivings about an inexperienced and sleep-deprived crew returning to port in the dark when the USS Georgia ran aground almost five years ago and suffered $1 million in damage

Captain Adams, now retired, said he spoke up about his concerns before the Ohio-class guided missile submarine under his command struck a buoy and ran aground while returning to Kings Bay, Georgia, on November 25, 2015. The Georgia is pictured leaving port after a refit a year ago

The report is only coming to light now after a public information request, reports Military.com.

The investigation, completed in March 2016, found that the 'excessive speed' of the sub as it approached a pilot who waited to be picked up in the dark made it more difficult for the crew to control the ship, and that a tugboat carrying the pilot was positioned poorly, making the maneuver more difficult.

Blame was ultimately laid on Captain Adams, who also took full responsibility and was reassigned to a different post after the mishap.

'His inability to effectively manage the complexity of the situation and failure to respond to the circumstances in a manner sufficient to protect the safety of the ship and crew is beneath my expectations for any CO,' an investigation endorsement by Rear Adm. Randy Crites, then-commander of Submarine Group 10, reads.

Crites also disagrees with the argument that maneuvering in the dark and with an inexperienced crew was what led to the sub's disastrous mishap.

'Ultimately, had this crew (and the Pilot) executed the same plan in the same manner during broad daylight, there is nothing in the ship's planning effort, demonstrated seamanship, or response to tripwires that indicates the outcome would be any different,' he said.

However, the rear admiral also indicates that others who were involved would share in the punishment.

Sailors are pictured on the bridge of the USS Georgia. Although its former captain was blamed for a mishap that caused the sub to strike a buoy and run aground in 2015, a real admiral said others who were involved would share in the mishap

Crites said he was taking administrative action against the sub's executive officer; chief of boat; navigation/operations officer; weapons officer, who was the officer of the deck at the time of the mishap; and assistant navigator.

He also said he'd issue non-punitive letters of caution to the commander of Submarine Squadron 16 and his own chief of staff and director of operations, all Navy captains, for failure to take appropriate action regarding Captain Adams' concerns.

Captain Adams, according to the investigation report, wrote an email to the commodore of Squadron 16 marked 'confidential,' where he laid out his concerns about his orders before the mishap.

He was particularly concerned about making a predawn return to port for a brief one-day stop with a crew that had spent just three weeks underway together on a new ship.

'CO/XO/NAV have not piloted into Kings Bay in the last 20 years. All of the untoward [incidents] I know of occurred between [St. Marys] and Fort Clinch,' he wrote.

'My assessment is that this is not a prudent plan for [return to port] ... Having just been at sea for a few weeks, I have not built enough depth. I am concerned about the fatigue level of my command element,' Captain Adams explains.

'Given an all day evolution and subsequent [underway], we will have spent the majority of 36 hours awake and are set to pilot out and submerge on the mid-watch at 0330.'

Capt. John Spencer, commodore of Squadron 16, apparently did not receive or read the email. But Captain Adams testified he voiced the same concerns directly to with Spencer days before, on Nov. 22.

Captain Adams said he also discussed the same issues in a follow-up phone call.

Despite his alleged warnings, the return mission was not called off and there was poor communication leading up to the accident, as well as during the mission itself.

The USS Georgia is pictured alongside a submarine tender USS Emory S. Land in 2013

The report found that as the sub exited a channel at the west of the Fort Clinch basin, assistant navigator recommended to the navigator that the sub go to 'all back emergency'.

But Captain Adams overrode the order and ordered 'all ahead full' instead, reports Military.com.

Despite a series of desperate maneuvers to try to avoid the buoy, the submarine ended up hitting it, before running aground.

The sub suffered damage to a screw propeller, an acoustic tracking device and an meter that measured it's speed, as well as cosmetic damage, and had to go into dry dock for repairs.