ON JUNE 8, 1967, while patrolling in international waters in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was savagely attacked without warning or justification by air and naval forces of the state of Israel. Of a crew of 294 officers and men (including three civilians), the ship suffered thirty four (34) killed in action and one hundred seventy three (173) wounded in action. The ship itself, a Forty Million ($40,000,000) Dollar state of the art signals intelligence (SIGINT) platform, was so badly damaged that it never sailed on an operational mission again and was sold in 1970 for $101,666.66 as scrap.
At 1400 hours, while approximately about 17 nautical miles off the northern Sinai coast and about 25 nautical miles northwest of El Arish, USS Liberty’s crew observed three surface radar contacts closing with their position at high speed. A few moments later, the bridge radar crew observed high speed aircraft passing over the surface returns on the same heading. Within a few short moments, and without any warning, Israeli fighter aircraft launched a rocket attack on USS Liberty. The aircraft made repeated firing passes, attacking USS Liberty with rockets and their internal cannons. After the first flight of fighter aircraft had exhausted their ordnance, subsequent flights of Israeli fighter aircraft continued to prosecute the attack with rockets, cannon fire, and napalm.
During the air attack, USS Liberty’s crew had difficulty contacting Sixth Fleet to request assistance due to intense communications jamming The initial targets on the ship were the command bridge, communications antennas, and the four .50 caliber machine guns, placed on the ship to repel boarders. After the Israeli fighter aircraft completed their attacks, three Israeli torpedo boats arrived and began a surface attack about 35 minutes after the start of the air attack. The torpedo boats launched a total of five torpedoes, one of which struck the side of USS Liberty, opposite the ship’s research spaces. Twenty-five Americans, in addition to the nine who had been killed in the earlier air attacks, were killed as a result of this explosion.
My dad worked with a guy that was stationed at the time in Turkey. He said that the USS Liberty was there trying to figure out how the Israelis where intercepting the Arab communications and re-transmitting them so quickly. The Israelis told the Liberty to cease and desist. To say that “attacked without warning or justification” is not accurate.
Ordering an “ally’s” vessel to “cease and desist” (doing what exactly???) in international waters just won’t fly.
I just pointed out an error in the story about what happened according to someone that was involved in the communication there. There are too many lies put out by this government in my life time. Some of them have cost my family dearly. Spy games have risks. I would expect the US to do the same if the shoe was on the other foot.
I can agree wholeheartedly, however in this case the “lies” seem to be in the covering up of what really happened as shown in the links I provide below. I believe the crewmen (those present), not the government here as I would in most affairs. Quite obviously this was another of LBJ’s crimes against the American people……..
An Act of War. One Israeli pilot refused to fire on the USS Liberty and returned to base. If a
Russian ship had not appeared, the Liberty would have been sunk and blamed on Egypt.
The Russian ship stayed with the Liberty for seven hours until help finally arrived.
It’s about time this was brought to light!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLr9fjg6cmM
http://www.gtr5.com/evidence/warcrimes.pdf
Then of course there is John and Admiral McCain’s Treason:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWyjykrLbvU
IMO anyone who puts the security and welfare of another nation over our own is guilty of TREASON! Plain and Simple…….