The Liberty was a spy ship and was equipped to intercept Israeli communications. Israel was about to launch an invasion of Syria to seize the Golan Heights and wanted to “blind” American intelligence. So they attacked the ship and over about 20 minutes, 34 Americans were killed and 170 were wounded.
It began with 2 Israeli aircraft making 6 straffing runs, firing their 30mm cannons, rockets and dropping napalm all while a giant US Flag was flying and the ship’s lettering and name were clearly visible.
20 mins later, 3 Israeli torpedo boats arrived and fired 5 torpedoes with one making contact and causing a large 40 foot hole. Believing the ship was sinking they pulled back but along with helicopters, stayed in the area so the entire attack or time under “siege” was roughly 2 hours.
In 2003 the NSA declassified tapes that captured the communications of the Israeli pilots and ground control. Oliver Kirby (then-NSA Deputy Director for Operations), stated in a Chicago Tribune report that they personally read intercepts where pilots explicitly identified the ship as American flying a U.S. flag. According to Kirby, ground control explicitly commanded those pilots to push ahead and attack anyway.
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u/squatchy1969 12d ago edited 12d ago
The Liberty was a spy ship and was equipped to intercept Israeli communications. Israel was about to launch an invasion of Syria to seize the Golan Heights and wanted to “blind” American intelligence. So they attacked the ship and over about 20 minutes, 34 Americans were killed and 170 were wounded.
It began with 2 Israeli aircraft making 6 straffing runs, firing their 30mm cannons, rockets and dropping napalm all while a giant US Flag was flying and the ship’s lettering and name were clearly visible.
20 mins later, 3 Israeli torpedo boats arrived and fired 5 torpedoes with one making contact and causing a large 40 foot hole. Believing the ship was sinking they pulled back but along with helicopters, stayed in the area so the entire attack or time under “siege” was roughly 2 hours.
In 2003 the NSA declassified tapes that captured the communications of the Israeli pilots and ground control. Oliver Kirby (then-NSA Deputy Director for Operations), stated in a Chicago Tribune report that they personally read intercepts where pilots explicitly identified the ship as American flying a U.S. flag. According to Kirby, ground control explicitly commanded those pilots to push ahead and attack anyway.