Attack on the USS Liberty
The sun beats down on the ship deck as you scan the waves for activity, in the distance you can hear the boom of artillery pieces and the explosion of bombs. You hear the sound of an approaching jet engine and look up to see two fighters approaching the ship. You raise your arm to wave at what you presume to be friendly aircraft only to see them barreling right for you. Men start running to their battle stations as a deafening roar of fire from the jets begins to rain down on you!
A badly damaged USS Liberty listing to starboard as a relief helicopter lands on its deck. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy.
The Ship and the Mission
Designated the GTR-5, the USS Liberty was a Navy auxiliary technical research ship that was quite versatile and could be set up to fill a wide variety of roles. She was part of the United States Sixth Fleet and set up as a surveillance ship, with some of the best listening and transmitting technology available. As a surveillance ship she had a light armament consisting of only four .50 caliber machine guns that were to protect against pirates and boarding parties.
An aerial view of the Liberty. Courtesy of the Union Leader.
While the Liberty was a Navy ship she was under the orders of the National Security Agency and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for her mission in June of 1967. The Six-Day war was going on between Israel and the Arab countries of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, and they wanted the Liberty to monitor the conflict. Since the United States was neutral they did not believe an escort was needed, so the small surveillance vessel steamed her way through the Mediteranean toward the Sinai coast to perform her fateful mission.
A front view of the Liberty. Courtesy of Hull Number.
The Attack
June 8, 1967 was the fourth day of the Six Day War. Early in the morning an Israeli propeller plane flew a routine reconnaissance mission and spotted the Liberty at 5:58 AM. When the reconnaissance plane landed it reported the unknown ship and a flight commander correctly identified it as the Liberty, a pin was placed on her location on a map that designated her as neutral. Later in the morning the pin was removed because there were no other reports of the ship’s location. At 11 AM a couple Israeli combat air patrol craft flew over the Sinai coast and saw the Liberty but did not report on her position since it was not part of their mission. The men on the ship remember seeing these aircraft and said they even waved at the pilots, many would later claim that these planes were performing pre-attack surveillance.
A map showing the where the fighting took place on June 6th and where the Liberty was positioned at. Courtesy of the BBC.
In the early afternoon Israeli troops in El Arish reported that they were being shelled from the sea, presumably from an Egyptian vessel like the day before. Two Israeli Mirage IIICJ fighter jets were dispatched from a combat patrol to locate, identify, contact, and possibly attack the Egyptian ship. When they arrived at the Liberty they determined it was not an Israeli ship and told air command that it was a destroyer, which is odd since the ship did not have any guns large enough to be a destroyer. They said they saw no markings on the ship, somehow missing the 5x8 foot American flag and large white freshly painted letters on either side. They double checked with air command and at 1:58 PM their attack commenced.
An Israeli Mirage IIICJ. Courtesy of We Are The Mighty.
The two fighters dove for a strafing run and raked the ship from bow to stern with their 30mm cannons. Some sources erroneously claim that it was hit with rockets, the pilots actually hit two 55-gallon fuel barrels that exploded leading to this misconception. The machine guns on the ship had already been manned because Captain McGonagle did not like the looks of the jets when they first appeared, but only one returned fire. The planes came around for a second pass. The exploded and burning fuel barrels billowing dark black smoke into the air obscured their view, but they were still able to kill the one sailor, Alexander Thompson Jr., who was returning fire. After a third pass the two fighters peeled away and at 2:04 PM their attack was over.
A 30mm round (left) next to a standard .30-06 hunting round. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The Liberty attempted to call for help but its radio transmissions were jammed by the Israeli planes. Eventually they were able to get through to the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga who quickly launched 12 fighter jets and 4 refueling tankers to assist the damaged ship. Word of what was happening reached Washington and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered the planes to return to the Saratoga; they never had a chance to reach the Liberty. To this day it is still unknown why he ordered their return, but it has been theorized that it is because he did not want to run the risk of becoming tangled up with the Soviet Union who had a large presence in the area.
As the U.S. planes returned to their carrier two more Israeli fighters appeared on the horizon. At 2:07 PM the two Super Mystère B.2 fighters began their attack on the Liberty. They each dropped three napalm canisters on the ship but only one hit, igniting a fire across the bridge. They were also armed with 30mm cannons and began to perform strafing runs on the ship. However during the second run one of the pilots noticed the markings on the side of the ship, realizing they were not Egyptian. He radioed the information to air command who was already growing worried that there was no return fire coming from the ship. After reading the letters off the side they became even more worried, thinking they had hit a Soviet intelligence ship. They mistook GTR-5 for CTR-5, a common Soviet designation. The air attack was called off as commanders tried to figure out how they could prevent a war with Russia.
A Super Mystère B.2. Courtesy of Fred Willemsen.
At this point in the attack 9 of the crewmen had been killed and 60 were wounded, many seriously. The sailors believed the attack was over and they attempted to put out fires, tend to the wounded, and re-erect the American flag that had been knocked down in the first assault. However at around 2:30 PM three Israeli torpedo boats appeared. The lead boat identified the ship as the Egyptian El Quseir transport vessel, though one junior officer expressed his doubts about this. The El Quseir was less than two thirds the size of Liberty and even if it was the Egyptian ship it could not have been the one to have shelled the troops in El Arish as it was only armed with two 3 pounder cannons. They also somehow missed the large American flag that had been put back up after the air attacks. The Israeli boat in command did flash an “AA” signal at the Liberty, naval code for “identify yourself.” The ship's signal lamps had been destroyed in the air raid and the thick smoke from the burning fuel made it hard for the crew to respond, but they were able to flash an “AA” back with a hand lamp.
The El Quseir. Courtesy of the USS Liberty Inquiry.
The boats decided to close the distance and believing they were once again under attack Captain McGonagle had the machine guns that were still operable manned. However he noticed the Israeli flag on one of the boats and immediately rescinded the order. Since all the communication equipment was destroyed he had to yell his orders and one sailor fired a single round from his gun before hearing the ceasefire. The Israelis believed they were being attacked and began hammering the Liberty with fire from their 40mm, 20mm, and .50 caliber guns. It is said that heat from fires on board had cooked off some of the rounds, causing the Israelis to think they were still being fired upon. The boats then commenced an attack run and fired five of their six torpedoes. Though wounded, Captain McGonagle was able to successfully guide his crew to avoid all but one of them which hit at the waterline and caused the ship to list to the right. With the ship heavily damaged and beginning to sink three lifeboats were launched which were also promptly attacked by the Israelis, a blatant violation of international law. Their attack halted at around 3 PM when they recovered a lifeboat that had “U.S. Navy” marked on it, the crews of the torpedo boats becoming confused as to whether they had attacked an American, Soviet, or Egyptian ship. At 3:12 PM an Israeli helicopter flew over the ship and confirmed that they saw an American flag.
Torpedo damage done to the Liberty. Courtesy of the USS Liberty Inquiry.
The men eventually reboarded the Liberty and were able to slowly limp her to a safe port, meeting up with the USS Little Rock who escorted her the rest of the way. In the roughly two hour attack 34 Americans were killed and 171 were wounded of the 294 that were aboard. When the Israeli’s finally realized their mistake they sent a helicopter with American ambassadors from the American embassy in Tel Aviv to assist the wounded.
The USS Liberty (left) being escorted by the USS Little Rock. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Reasons
Throughout the years many reasons and excuses have been given for the attack. One credible reason is that Israel told the U.S. not to send any ships to within 100 miles of the fighting and that any ship within this zone would be considered hostile. There were standing orders to attack any vessel unless they had been identified and notified Israel of their exact location. The Liberty had sailed within 14 miles of the Sinai coast, well within this 100 mile limit. The U.S. said that communication failures had prevented them from telling the Liberty to pull back, though some claim that Israel was blocking communications to the ship long before the attack.
The Liberty’s mess being used as a medical station to treat the wounded. Courtesy of Press-Citizen.
Another reason was that the ship was incorrectly calculated going 30 knots, it was actually going 28 knots, which in Navy doctrine of the time was considered the speed of a warship. It is also said that the pilots could not see the American flag because it was not windy enough for the flag to fly, though this has never been confirmed. McGonagle did confirm that the flag was knocked over in the first wave of the attack so it was not possible for Israeli forces to realize their mistake until after it was put back up. An investigation by the CIA reported that it was likely for the Israeli pilots to mistake the Liberty for the Egyptian ship El Quseir. The pilots also later said that they thought the black smoke from the fuel barrels was actually an attempt by the Liberty to conceal itself, which reinforced their notion that it was a hostile ship.
A comparison of the USS Liberty and the EL Qusier (Commonly misspelled as Quiser). Courtesy of Shizmoo.
There have been claims that the Israelis planned to attack the ship a few days in advance with the reasoning being that Israel was poised to attack and seize the Golan Heights from Syria, a very controversial move at the time. It is said that the Liberty would have picked up on their military communications about the operation and leaked them to the international community. However no evidence of this has been provided, and this claim does not hold much water when one takes into account that the Israeli chief of defense told the U.S. ambassador about the attack 8 hours before it happened. Some have also claimed that the Israeli pilots attacking the ship said over their radios that they know it is American but recordings of these conversations have never been found, though if they do exist it is likely they are still sealed. An NSA spy plane was sent to the area to intercept communications immediately after being told about the attack and all they discovered was that the pilots believed the ship to be Egyptian. Still those who survived the attack, along with many public officials, claim that it was deliberate. Between sealed and redacted documents regarding the event and several explanations not adding up it is not difficult to see why the event is still questioned to this day.
Damage done to the Liberty by a 30mm cannon. Courtesy of The Times Shreveport.
Aftermath
Israel did later apologize for the attack and told the international community that they had mistaken the vessel for an Egyptian ship. They offered $6.9 million in compensation to the United States and ultimately ended up paying $13 million in reparations to the sailors and families affected by the incident. It pays to keep in mind that from 1949-1965 the U.S. had given an average of $63 million worth of foreign aid to Israel every year. It went down to about $30 million a year after this, so the compensation was a token offer at best.
There have been many hearings and investigations into the matter and the case has been officially closed. Though there are many that want it reopened and the sealed documents released, there is even a USS Liberty veterans organization dedicated to finding the truth behind the attack. Many survivors have given interviews, written articles, and even published books regarding the matter and it is unlikely that the questions and conspiracies surrounding the event will die anytime soon.
Many of the sailors involved in the attack were awarded for their bravery. Captain McGonagle himself was awarded the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions during and after the attack.
Captain McGonagle with his Medal of Honor. Courtesy of the Hawaii Reporter.
Personal Thoughts
There’s so many conspiracy theories surrounding this event that it’s hard to find reliable information on. To me many of the explanations do make sense but at the same time there are a lot of things that don’t add up. I do wish that the full documents were released, especially since the event took place over 50 years ago. That’s what probably gets me the most is the refusal to release documents for something that happened so long ago.
Sources
Cover photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy
https://www.michigandaily.com/section/campus-life/uss-liberty-survivor-shares-government-secrets-about-israel-social-media
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/israel-attacks-uss-liberty
https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-007/h-007-1.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP84B00049R000902350010-7.pdf
https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20070425_RL33222_ee97f8a100b2abd96b43a0f4d0cc6848e74efb26.pdf
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/history-and-overview-of-the-uss-liberty-incident
