The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Israeli Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship. . - Professional Reading - book review

0 Comments | Naval Aviation News, March-April, 2003 | by Peter B. Cdr. Mersky

Cristol, A. Jay. The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Israeli Attack on the U.S. Navy Spy Ship. Brassey's, Inc., 22841 Quicksilver Dr., Dulles, VA 20166. 2002. 294 pp. Ill. $27.50.

On 8 June 1967, in the middle of the Six Day War between Israel and a coalition of her Arab neighbors, a mysterious gray ship appeared off the northern coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Its identity unknown, the arrival caused the Israelis great concern because they were about to start the final phase of their lightning war, an attack on Syria. After spending several hours investigating the contact without success, the Israelis launched an air and surface attack on the vessel, which was, in fact, Liberty (AGTR 5), a highly classified intelligence gatherer.

How Liberty came to be at this very dangerous geographical position, right in the middle of an intense shooting war, and why the Israelis attacked her has been the subject of books, articles and television exposes. However, these efforts vary greatly in accuracy and depth of research and understanding. This new book by a former Naval Aviator and a sitting federal judge, with long experience in naval and civil law, is an impressively researched and corroborated discussion. It goes a long way in trying to resolve the long-standing conflict of opinions on both sides of the question whether the Israelis attacked a ship they knew to be American, a representative of their country's staunchest ally.

There's enough room for blame on both U.S. and Israeli agencies. Five messages ostensibly were sent for Liberty to withdraw to a safer 100-mile point. Incredibly, none of these orders reached the captain in time, the fifth and final call not arriving until 2.5 hours after the attack. On the high seas, Liberty's crew was free to monitor radio communications and to gather available intelligence. The limits of available photographic intelligence and the vagaries of radio intelligence required the ship to take a close-in position to eavesdrop on the highly volatile situation on the Sinai battlefields.

Unfortunately, the Israelis had been shelled the previous day from the same general position, which made them extremely nervous about activity in the same area. Adding to the tension was the lieutenant commander head of Liberty's cryptological branch persuading the ship's captain to remain in harm's way, only 14 miles offshore, in full view of Israeli forces.

The author explains in minute detail the extreme measures the Israelis took to determine Liberty's identity. Indeed, the Israel Air Force (IAF) seemed to be in competition with the navy to find out to what country the ship belonged. A four-plane flight of Mirage ms was not sent, even though their iron bombs and experienced pilots would have probably sunk Liberty. Instead, a two-plane flight of Mirages, armed only with their internal cannon, eventually struck.

One of the areas of contention is whether the ship was flying the U.S. flag. There was a flag displayed, but it was likely shot away on the Mirages' first strafing run and could not have been seen by fast-flying jet pilots. One of the crew soon ran up a larger flag, and the IAF pilots did see its red colors. Confused-thinking it could be a Soviet flag--they halted their attack, but not before one of three Israeli torpedo boats that had appeared put a torpedo into the American ship. Twenty-five of the 34 crewmen in the died the torpedo hit.

The seventh chapter is one of the book's pivotal chapters; it categorically calls the attack blue on blue. The author bolsters this agonizingly obvious, but important and often overlooked aspect of the incident with historical examples from the U.S. Civil War and the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, as well as other conflicts.

The Liberty Incident is not a description of the action so much as the events leading up to the attack and their combination to create a fatal confusion that continues to strain veterans' memories and emotions on both sides. Despite the author's impressive research and release of classified tapes and documents, there will be many who will discount this latest explanation. Although convinced the attack was in error, the author does give a balance by airing the long-held opinions of some members of the ship's crew that the incident was a diabolical plot and that the true story lies in long-hidden findings by the American and Israeli governments.

The book's photos are of interest, although because many of the Israeli images come from gun cameras and long-distance vantage points, the pictures are often grainy and soft. There are several appendices, the most fascinating of which is a complete transcript of the communications between the attacking Mirage flight leader and his controllers.

This account of the incident is by far the best of any retelling. The author is well placed and had the long-lasting enthusiasm and dedication to see his project through.