USS Liberty incident

USS Liberty incident
Part of the Six-Day War

Damaged USS Liberty on 9 June 1967, one day after attack
Date 8 June 1967
Location
Mediterranean Sea near the Sinai Peninsula[1]
31°23′N 33°23′E / 31.39°N 33.38°E / 31.39; 33.38
Result See Aftermath of the attack
Participants
 Israel  United States
Commanders and leaders
Captain Iftach Spector
Lieutenant Commander Moshe Oren		 Commander William L. McGonagle
Strength
2 Mirage IIIs
2 Mystère IVs
3 motor torpedo boats		 1 Technical research ship
Casualties and losses
None 34 killed
171 wounded
1 ship heavily damaged
USS Liberty incident is located in Sinai
USS Liberty incident
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Location within Sinai
USS Liberty incident is located in Egypt
USS Liberty incident
USS Liberty incident (Egypt)

The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship (a spy ship), USS Liberty, by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats, on 8 June 1967, during the Six-Day War.[2] The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members (naval officers, seamen, two marines, and one civilian NSA employee), wounded 171 crew members, and severely damaged the ship.[3] At the time, the ship was in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula, about 25.5 nautical miles (47.2 km; 29.3 mi) northwest from the Egyptian city of Arish.[1][4]

Israel apologized for the attack, saying that the USS Liberty had been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship.[5] Both the Israeli and U.S. governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israeli confusion about the ship's identity.[6] Others, including survivors of the attack, have rejected these conclusions and maintain that the attack was deliberate.[7][8] Thomas Hinman Moorer, 7th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, famously accused President Lyndon B. Johnson of having covered up that the attack was a deliberate act.[9]

In May 1968, the Israeli government paid US$3.32 million (equivalent to US$29.1 million in 2023) to the U.S. government in compensation for the families of the 34 men killed in the attack. In March 1969, Israel paid a further $3.57 million ($29.6 million in 2023) to the men who had been wounded. In December 1980, it agreed to pay $6 million ($22.2 million in 2023) as the final settlement for material damage to the ship plus 13 years of interest.[10]

  1. ^ a b "Wikimapia.org Tag". Archived from the original on 14 December 2006. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  2. ^ Gerhard & Millington 1981, pp. 1–2, 5, 25–26, 28
  3. ^ Gerhard & Millington 1981, pp. 28–29, 52
  4. ^ Gerhard & Millington 1981, p. 26
  5. ^ Cristol, A.Jay (2013). The Liberty Incident Revealed: The Definitive Account of the 1967 Israeli Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship. Naval Institute Press. pp. 61, 113–114. ISBN 978-1-61251-387-4.
  6. ^ Gerhard & Millington 1981, p. 57
  7. ^ Crewdson, John (2 October 2007). "New revelations in attack on American spy ship". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  8. ^ Ofer, Aderet (11 July 2017). "'But sir, it's an American ship.' 'Never mind, hit her!' When Israel attacked USS Liberty". Haaretz.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference ap2003-10-23 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Gerhard & Millington 1981, p. 64