The news of what had just happened terrified senior Israeli officers. Israel was fortunate that the Liberty was the ship of an ally, not a Soviet vessel.
Even so, Americans began to think that the strike had been planned, and that the Israelis were being disingenuous — that the attack was premeditated murder. To resolve this, the Israelis launched three internal inquiries, the last of which was chaired by a military jurist, Colonel Yeshayahu Yerushalmi. All three reports concluded that the event had been an innocent mistake. Before reveille had sounded at 6am on 8 June, sailors on the Liberty saw Israeli warplanes flying close to their ship.
The officer on deck for the morning watch, James Ennes, reckoned that Israelis planes flew over eight times, passing as close as 60 metres above the ship.
The presence of the friendly Israeli made the sailors feel secure, and many sunbathed on the deck. Washington sent the ship orders to move away from the war zone — but the instructions arrived too late, and the Liberty was still steaming slowly off the Sinai when all hell broke loose.
Cannon shells blew apart one sailor, who could be identified only by his St Christopher necklace. But the ship was soon hit with a second strike: napalm canisters were dropped, and fuel on board exploded in the heat. At 20, these are important events.
I blew my life vest up… and awaited what I thought would be somewhat like a crawfish boil. Of the five Israeli torpedoes fired, one hit the ship, lifting it bodily out of the water. Before the strike, one of the sailors had run up an even bigger American flag on the deck.
The stricken vessel ended up in a dry dock on Malta with a massive torpedo gash and bullet holes — much of that damage inflicted by US-supplied munitions sent to Israel before the war. Though the Sixth Fleet readied warplanes after the attack, none was sent to retaliate. Some senior American officials did not concur. There was anger, too, at Israeli suggestions that the Liberty had been too close to the Sinai, and that no Israeli was ever punished.
An inquiry conducted on Malta recorded that the flag on Liberty might not have been flying for lack of wind, and that the attack appeared to be a case of mistaken identity.
More reviews — including by the CIA — failed to answer the question of why the lightly armed Liberty was sent so deep into a war zone. Some 50 minutes later two Israeli helicopters arrived on the scene. Israeli Identification of the Ship. None of the communications of the attacking aircraft and torpedo boats is available, but the intercepted conversations between the helicopter pilots and the control tower at Hatzor near Tel Aviv leave little doubt that the Israelis failed to identify the Liberty as a US ship before or during the attack.
Control told helicopter at p. The men jumped into the water from it. You will try to rescue them. A subsequent message from the control tower to the helicopter identified the ship as Egyptian and told the pilot to return home. Although the Liberty is some feet longer than the Egyptian transport El Quesir , it could easily be mistaken for the latter vessel by an overzealous pilot.
Both ships have similar hulls and arrangements of masts and stack. The helicopter pilot was then urgently requested to identify the survivors as Egyptian or English speaking this being the first indication that the Israelis suspected they may have attacked a neutral ship.
The helicopter pilot reported seeing an American flag on the Liberty. The controller told the pilot the number had no significance. Thus it was not until p. This was about 44 minutes after the last attack on the ship and the attack had apparently been called off, not because the ship had been identified, but because it seemed to be sinking.
The Israeli offer of assistance was declined [Page ] because of the sensitive mission of the ship. According to US Navy reports, the ship was saved only through the efforts of her crew. Damage and Personnel Losses. The ship suffered heavy material and personnel casualties. A hole estimated to be 39 feet wide at the bottom and 24 feet wide at the top near the waterline was opened by a torpedo.
The ship is flooded below the second deck between frames 52 and 78 inch frame spacing. Personnel casualties include 10 killed, 90 wounded, and 22 missing, most of whom were probably trapped in the flooded compartments. The wounded and the dead have been removed from the ship and some additional crew members put aboard. The ship is expected to arrive in Malta on 14 June for dry docking and hull repairs.
Security precautions are being taken to protect the classified intercept equipment in the flooded spaces. It is still online. The author describes the tragedy in in detail. He admits that it was perfectly clear that the Liberty was an American ship and that the attack was committed to deprive the USA 'of its eyes and ears,' of the opportunity to control the situation.
Daichman says the attackers had the right to act so. The border was quite open for Egyptian soldiers to cross. Israel knew that American radio signals were intercepted by the Soviet Union, and the latter would certainly inform Egypt of the fact. That is why the Liberty was to be sunk to avoid leakage of important information. This is a very cynical version. His explanation for the attack sounds plausible, though, and his expressed belief that the "attackers" had the right to attack the USS Liberty sounds like something Netanyahu himself would say.
Dennis Lamb, from Chelsea, Iowa, retired from the CIA in after serving 30 years in its Directorate of Operations as a case officer and intelligence analyst. The thoughts outlined above represent his personal views and not those of his former employer.
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