The Assault on the Liberty: the True Story of the Israeli Attack on An
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ASSAULT ON THE . LIBERTY JAMES M. ENNES~ JR. ASSAULT ON THE LIBERTY The True Story of the Israeli Attack on an American Intelligence Ship th Random House New York FOR WILLIAM ALLENBAUGH PHILIP ARMSTRONG GARY BLANCHARD ALLEN BLUE FRANCIS BROWN RONNIE CAMPBELL JERRY CONVERSE ROBERT EISENBERG JERRY GOSS CURTIS GRAVES LAWRENCE HAYDEN WARREN HERSEY ALAN HIGGINS CARL HOAR RICHARD KEENE JAMES LENAU RAYMOND LINN JAMES LUPTON DUANE MARGGRAF DAVID MARLBOROUGH ANTHONY MENDLE CARL NYGREN JAMES PIERCE JACK RAPER EDWARD REHMEYER DAVID SKOLAK JOHN SMITH, JR. MELVIN SMITH JOHN SPICHER ALEXANDER THOMPSON THOMAS THORNTON PHILLIPE TIEDTKE STEPHEN TOTH FREDERICK WALTON Of the events of the war, I have not ventured to speak from any chance information, nor according to any notion of my own; I have described nothing but what I either saw myself, or learned from others of whom I made the most careful and particular inquiry. The task was a laborious one • • • Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, i.c. (404 B.C.) Foreword by Thomas H. Moorer, Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.) This fifth edition of Assault on the Liberty should be read by all Americans even though it has now been eighteen years since Israeli warplanes and tor pedo boats attacked for several hours a ship of the United States Navy. The ship was clearly identified, not only by its unique configuration but by a very large U.S. flag that was flown at the time. The weather was calm and the visi bility was excellent. During this unprovoked attack 34 U.S. Navy men were killed and 171 wounded. Nevertheless, to this day the American public does not know why the attack took place and who was involved overall. In my opinion, the United States government and the Israeli government must share responsibility for this cover-up. I cannot accept the claim by the Israelis that this was a case of mistaken identity. I have flown for years in both peice and war on surveillance flights over the ocean, and my opinion is sup ported by a full career of locating and identifying ships at sea. Based on the way this tragedy was handled both in the United States and in Israel, one must conclude that there is much information that has not been made available to the public. The U.S. Fleet, positioned nearby, received a distress call from the U.S.S. Liberty, and one carrier dispatched a squadron to go to the defense of the dis abled ship. Before the aircraft reached the Liberty, they received orders from Washington directing their return to their ship. Who issued such orders? So far, no one knows. In the United States all the information available to the U.S. government indicating those who participated in controlling this operation from Washington, together with the exact text of orders transmitted to the Mediterranean Fleet, has never been made public. I urge all those who read this very interesting book to call on the Congress to once and for all clear the uncertainties, speculation, and unanswered ques tions surrounding this tragedy. Acknowledgments This book could not have been written without the advice, assistance and active support of many people. I am indebted to numerous persons still on active duty in the Navy whose detailed recollections were invaluable, and to others, in and out of government, who assisted but who must go nameless here. I am grateful to Jay Whitehair, whose reaction to a very early draft was inspirational, and to Sylvester Jordan, who repeatedly urged me to write the book; to Philip Scott and Martin Elzy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library for their patient attention to my many requests; to the Navy Judge Advocate General and the Navy Historian, who are conspicu ous in government as prompt and willing sources of information about the attack; to the United States Department of State for showing, through their interminable foot-dragging, that a cover-up still exists; to Weetie Arm strong, George Golden, David and Paula Lucas, Lloyd Painter, John Scott, George Wilson and others close to the attack for their active support and cooperation; to James and Julie Carroll, Joan Cassidy, Jose Chiriboga, George Clarren, Robert and Jo Ann Devaney, Peter Hutchinson, Robert and Fran Kephart, William McCollum, Jr., Roy Noorda, David Norman din and Richard O'Neal for their support and encouragement; to Pierre Mion, who provided helpful advice while the book was being written and who graciously consented, under trying conditions, to paint the dust-cover battle scene; to Neil Sheehan for introducing the book to Random House and to Tom Williams for helping to introduce the author to Neil Sheehan; to Robert and Peggy Marshall for repeated errand running, messenger service, manuscript criticism, research assistance and encouragement; to my daughter Julie for her many hours in the Library of Congress and elsewhere tracking down vital scraps of information; to my son, Mark, and my neighbors Diane Campbell and Stanley Price for help with proofreading and criticism; to my mother, Margaret Ennes, who (along with the pub lisher) suggested the title; to my wife, Terry, for her patience, repeated readings, criticism, encouragement and support; to Linda Schmid, and to my daughter Carolyn, for help with the index; to copy editor Carolyn Lumsden for her sharp eye for detail; and most of all to my editor, Robert Loomis, whose relentless pursuit of clarity and conciseness contributed immeasurably to the final product. James M. Ennes, Jr. July 1979 Contents Prologue 3 1 - Africa, Sudden Orders and a Prophecy 7 2 - Spain 19 3 - The Mediterranean 2.8 4 - Approach to Gaza 35 5 - The Gaza Strip 49 6 - Air Attack 61 7 - Torpedo Attack 82. 8 - Recovery, Repair and Rendezvous 104 9 - Cover-up I2.s 10 - The Court of Inquiry 144 11 - "Press Guidance" 165 12 - Malta 174 13 - Medicine 180 14 - Norfolk and Home 185 15 - Israel Pays Damages 196 16 - Reflections on the Cover-up 2.00 Epilogue - Why Did Israel Attack? 2.09 Author's Note 2.17 Map: LJ."berty's Track 2.2.0 Appendixes 2.2.3 Index 2.89 ASSAULT ON THE LIBERTY Prologue The history of a battle is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost; but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference ••• But if a true history is written, what will become of the reputation of half of those who have ac: quired reputations, and who desene it for their gallantry, but who, if their mistakes and casual misconduct were made public, would not be so ,~e11 thought of? Wellington, Letter to a historian, August 8, I8IS United States Technical Research Ship Liberty sailed from Norfolk May 2, 1967, on a routine patrol of the African coast. Five weeks later she was suddenly and overwhelmingly attacked in international waters by the air and naval forces of Israel. Her decks were strafed with machine-gun fire and scorched by napalm; she was crippled by rocket and torpedo damage; her life rafts, readied for survivors, were machine-gunned in the water. Thirty-four of her crew died; scores were seriously wounded. Even before the wounded were evacuated, a news lid went down over the entire episode. This story was not to be told. The Navy's own failures were never exposed or acknowledged, and Israel's fragile alibi was nurtured and protected. Israel claimed that the ship was at fault for being near the coast, for "trying to escape" after being fired upon by jets, and for not informing the Israeli government of her location; and our government tolerantly kept 4 - Assault on the Liberty those assertions from public knowledge. Israel claimed that the at tack resulted from mistaken identity, and our government quietly accepted that excuse. Three weeks after the attack, the Pentagon released the lengthy Summary ofProceedings ofthe Navy Court ofInquiry, but the report added little to the public knowledge and it failed to fix blame. Complaints came from everywhere. "The published [report] leaves a good many questions unan swered," said the New York Times. 1 "This naval inquiry is not good enough," said the Washington Post 2 "They must have known ... that Liberty was an American ship," said the Washington Star. 3 " ... the action was planned in advance," said Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson.4 "Only the blind--or the trigger happy-could have made such a mistake," said The National Observer. S " ... the attack ... was deliberate," said California Congressman Craig Hosmer. "Those responsible should be court-martialed on charges of murder ..."6 "How can this be treated so lightly? What complaint have we registered?" demanded Mississippi's Thomas O. Abernethy.7 "The story has been hushed up," said Louisiana's John R. Rarick. 8 Despite the outcry, the public affairs apparatus of the Defense Department succeeded in keeping most Liberty crewmen away from the press. Without witnesses to interview, the press had no story to tell. "These errors do occur," said Secretary of Defense McNamara in a report that neatly summed up the position of the Department of Defense. Senator Bourke B. Hickenlooper of Iowa pressed McNamara for a better explanation during a Senate Foreign Rela tions Committee hearing, but got nowhere. The attack was an "inex cusable error of judgment and professional tactics," the Secretary 1. The New York Times, July 1, 1967. 2. The Washington Post, June 30, 1967. 3. The Washington Star. June 30, 1967. 4. The Washington Post, June 16, 1967.