# USS Liberty Attack of June 8, 1967



## SeaBreeze (Aug 6, 2015)

Another thread got me thinking about this article I posted a couple of years ago in our US Military Veterans Group.  I posted it because I never paid attention to such things when I was younger and found it interesting.  Please share any thoughts you may have.

uss liberty veterans association







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.

Sixth Fleet Abandons USS Liberty Under Fire.
DoD Approves Of Their Action






The Department of Defense Law of War Program (DoD Directive 2311.01E – formerly DoD Directive 5100.77) provides that “All reportable incidents committed by or against U.S. personnel, enemy persons, or any other individual are reported promptly, investigated thoroughly, and, where appropriate, remedied by corrective action.” 
On June 8, 2005 the USS Liberty Veterans Association submitted A Report of War Crimes Committed Against the USS Liberty, June 8, 1967 to the Department of Defense in accordance with the DoD Law of War Program.

The War Crimes Report we filed lists allegations of acts committed during the attack on our ship, including:



The jamming of our radios on both US Navy tactical and international maritime distress frequencies;
The use of unmarked aircraft by the forces attacking the USS Liberty;
The deliberate machine gunning of life rafts we had dropped over the side in anticipation of abandoning ship; and
The recall of two flights of rescue aircraft that had been launched from Sixth Fleet aircraft carriers. After those flights were recalled, Sixth Fleet personnel listened to our calls for help as the attack continued knowing they were forbidden to come to our assistance.

The Department of Defense has unilaterally waived its obligation under the Department of Defense Law of War Program by refusing to investigate the allegations contained in the War Crimes Report. The Department of Defense has also refused to provide a speaker to address the crew of the USS Liberty and explain their actions with regard to the War Crimes Report.

http://www.usslibertyveterans.org/


_


----------



## AZ Jim (Aug 6, 2015)

I remember this event.  I won't say all I believe in this regard as it will offend some.  I have many problems with some of the policies of Israel.


----------



## BobF (Aug 6, 2015)

I remember an attack too.   Did not know that our navy failed to support a ship of ours under attack.   Some real strange actions considering that attack and no defenses offered.   Unmarked aircraft attacking the US ship.   Were they Israeli planes?   A rather flaky operation there if by Israel and the US.   Why was Israel hiding and why did not the US defend its own ship?

I see it listed as part of the '6 day war'.


----------



## Shalimar (Aug 6, 2015)

An act of war, war crime, major coverup. Disgraceful, but hardly surprising given the political climate at the time. Can anyone say puckerup?


----------



## SeaBreeze (Aug 6, 2015)

The whole thing seems very strange, but if it happened the way it did, it should be able to be talked about at least, after all, lives were lost in the attack.  http://www.gtr5.com/


----------



## Meanderer (Aug 6, 2015)

Here's another link. 
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/ussliberty.html

"Israel attacked the USS Liberty using UNMARKED AIRCRAFT. This is the single fact which proves Israel knew exactly who they were attacking. Israel's story is that they thought USS Liberty was an Egyptian ship and therefore a legitimate target of war. Were that true, there would be no reason to attack a supposedly Egyptian ship with unmarked aircraft. The only possible reason to use unmarked aircraft to attack the ship is that Israel knew it was an American ship and intended to sink it, then to blame the attack on Egypt".


----------



## WhatInThe (Aug 7, 2015)

Either Israel was up to something or they thought the US was. They had to know the US had intelligence operations in the area as did the Russians, NATO etc. I'm sure they were hyped up and propagandized into an paranoid apocalyptic state. The incident doesn't even get written off as a conspiracy theory but rather simply ignored. I've seen numerous specials, news stories and documentary reports and they draw little attention.


----------



## SeaBreeze (Aug 7, 2015)

I think a lot of "conspiracy" theories are just truths that have been hidden from the public or ignored for one reason or another, usually a devious one, IMO.


----------



## AZ Jim (Aug 7, 2015)

As to "No naval action to help the Liberty" that is explained by all the radio jamming so no word could get out the ship was  under attack.


----------



## Josiah (Aug 7, 2015)

I'll admit to not recalling this incident at the time. In reading a few accounts I'm still unclear whether the Israeli forces recognized the ship as American and if they did what their motive would be in attacking their dear Uncle Sam. Someone please explain.


----------



## WhatInThe (Aug 7, 2015)

You have to wonder what was going on in that area at the time. Did the Israelis commit other war crimes sinking civilian ships in the area and that was a cover up of those attacks. And I never bought the Israelis started their hit squad after the Munich Olympics. They had a lot of people from World War II which probably included resistance fighters and black op veterans.


----------



## Shalimar (Aug 7, 2015)

Hit squad alive and well much earlier, remember the assassination of the Scandinavian diplomat?


----------



## WhatInThe (Aug 7, 2015)

Shalimar said:


> Hit squad alive and well much earlier, remember the assassination of the Scandinavian diplomat?



Is this it?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ernadotte--and-the-death-of-peace-934094.html

A Swiss diplomat killed by militants in 1948. It's wasn't until after the Munich Olympics in 72 that supposedly was the begining of the "official"/unofficial use of assassination as a tool


----------



## Meanderer (Aug 7, 2015)

To return to the topic of the attack on the Liberty, it could've been that Israel wanted to sink the ship and then blame Egypt.


----------



## WhatInThe (Aug 7, 2015)

Meanderer said:


> To return to the topic of the attack on the Liberty, it could've been that Israel wanted to sink the ship and then blame Egypt.



Not a bad theory although I think it would've been openly explained away as mistake in a war zone. The Israelis' would've had to known that US had ships in that area ahead of time which would show planning and calculation on a US response.


----------



## Josiah (Aug 7, 2015)

Meanderer said:


> To return to the topic of the attack on the Liberty, it could've been that Israel wanted to sink the ship and then blame Egypt.



I wouldn't question that the Israelis would stoop to almost anything if they thought it was in there best interest...and clearly they attacked the ship. But the "make it look like the Egyptians did it" theory doesn't seem plausible because the chances of their getting away with it were very small. Even if they sunk the ship, there would have been survivors. What motive would Egypt have in doing it? And what would Israel accomplish even if their story were believed...The US isn't going to attack Egypt. I think it was either a mistake or the Israelis had some other motive.


----------



## Meanderer (Aug 7, 2015)

"During the run up to the Six-Day War, the Americans repeatedly rebuffed Israeli requests for military aid and approval for an Israeli preemptive attack on Egypt. The United States, bogged down in Vietnam and facing domestic opposition to that war, was loathe to become embroiled in a second front. Rather than get involved militarily, the Americans aggressively pursued diplomatic solutions and sought to cobble together an international regatta to challenge the Egyptian blockade on Israeli shipping in the Straits of Tiran, a campaign that ultimately failed. But while the U.S. continued to refuse to aid Israel militarily, the American opposition to unilateral Israeli action began to soften in the beginning of June 1967".
http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/usa.asp


----------

