ISRAEL MAKES UNPROVOKED ATTACK
ON U.S. NAVY SHIP - Page 2
The USS Liberty is attacked by
Israel with aircraft and torpedoes.
On June 5, at the start of the war, General
Yitzhak Rabin informed Commander Ernest Carl Castle, the American
Naval Attache in Tel Aviv, that Israel would defend its coast
with every means at its disposal, including sinking unidentified
ships. Gen. Rabin went on to advise that the Americans should
either reveal which ships it had in the area, or remove them.
Despite this, the United States did not give Israel any information
about the Liberty, which was by now in the eastern Mediterranean.
(ibid). As war broke out Captain William L. McGonagle of the
Liberty immediately asked Vice Admiral William I. Martin at
the U.S. 6th Fleet headquarters to send a destroyer to accompany
the Liberty and serve as its armed escort and as an auxiliary
communications center.
USS LIBERTY DAMAGE
Ctsy: Wikipedia
The following day, June 6, Admiral Martin replied:
“Liberty is a clearly marked United States ship in international
waters, not a participant in the conflict and not a reasonable
subject for attack by any nation. Request denied.” He
promised, however, that in the unlikely event of an inadvertent
attack, jet fighters from the Sixth Fleet could be overhead
in ten minutes.
During the morning of the attack, early June
8, the ship was overflown by several Israeli Air Force Their
exact number and type is disputed; at least one was a Nord
Noratlas "flying boxcar" (claimed by the survivors
and confirmed by Israel); a photograph shows a C-47 Dakota
and other reports speak about Mirage III jet fighters. At
least some of those flybys were from a close range. In fact,
at 6:00 a.m. Israel confirmed that a Nord Noratlas identified
the ship as the USS Liberty, and an additional craft made
a separate identification at 9:00AM Many Liberty crewmen gave
testimony that one of the aircraft flew so close to Liberty
that its propellers rattled the deck plating of the ship,
and the pilots waved to the crew of Liberty, and the crewmen
waved back. One explanation explored why subsequent pilots
did also not identify the Liberty despite close proximity
is that that pilot's attention was diverted to locating Egyptian
submarines, and his observation was not relayed to other pilots.
At this time, the ship was readying to turn
south towards the coast of the Sinai Peninsula from its previous
eastern direction. According to author James Bamford, it would
then turn east and patrol at 5 knots in international waters,
13 nautical miles off the Sinai Peninsula near El-Arish, just
outside Egypt's territorial waters. This course took the Liberty
approximately 45 kilometers from its last sighting by IAF
pilots by 2 p.m. According to other sources, the Liberty was
cruising as fast as 21 to 28 knots, and could have moved 100
kilometers from its last sighting .
At about 2 p.m. the Liberty was attacked by
several IAF aircraft, possibly two or three Mirage IIIs, carrying
cannon and rockets, followed by Dassault Mysteres carrying
napalm. After a series of passes by aircraft, one Israeli
pilot Rabin, who wondered why the Liberty had not returned
fire, made a close pass and noted that the ship had Western
(not Arabic) lettering. Rabin immediately feared that the
ship was Soviet, ordered the planes and a three torpedo boat
squadron, which had been ordered into the area, to withhold
fire pending positive identification of the ship, and sent
in two helicopters to search for survivors. These radio communications
were permanently recorded by Israel. However, although the
order was recorded in the ship's log, the commander of the
torpedo boat squadron claimed never to have received it.
USS LIBERTY DAMAGE
Ctsy: Wikipedia
About twenty minutes after the aircraft attack,
the ship was approached by three torpedo boats bearing Israeli
flags and identification signs. Initially, McGonagle, who
perceived that the torpedo boats "were approaching the
ship in a torpedo launch attitude," ordered a machine
gun to engage the boats. After recognizing the Israeli standard
and seeing apparent Morse code signalling attempts by one
of the boats (but being unable to see what was being sent,
due to the smoke of the fire started by the earlier aircraft
attack), McGonagle gave the order to cease fire. This order
was apparently misunderstood in the confusion, and two heavy
machine guns on the USS Liberty opened fire. One gun was fired
accidentally due to exploding ammunition Subsequently, the
Israeli boats responded with fire and launched at least two
torpedoes at Liberty (five according to the 1982 IDF History
Department report). One hit Liberty on the starboard side
forward of the superstructure, creating a large hole in what
had been a former cargo hold converted to the ships research
spaces, causing the majority of the casualties in the incident.
The torpedo boats approached Liberty and strafed crewmen (including
damage control parties and sailors preparing life rafts for
launch) on deck.
When the ship was confirmed to have been American,
the torpedo boats returned to offer help; it was refused by
the American ship. About three hours after the attack, Israel
informed the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv about the incident and
provided a helicopter to fly a U.S. naval attaché to
the ship.
Though Liberty was severely damaged, with a
50-foot hole and a twisted keel, her crew kept her afloat,
and she was able to leave the area under her own power. She
was escorted to Malta by units of the U.S. 6th Fleet and was
there given interim repairs. After these were completed in
July 1967, Liberty returned to the United States. She was
decommissioned in June 1968 and struck from the Naval Vessel
Register. Liberty was transferred to United States Maritime
Administration in December 1970 and sold for scrap in 1973.
McGonagle received the Medal of Honor, the highest
U.S. medal, for his actions. It was awarded at the Washington
Navy Yard by the Secretary of the Navy. The Medal of Honor
is generally presented by the President of the United States.
USS LIBERTY DAMAGE
Ctsy: Wikipedia
Home Page
|
