Historians debate and the questions are still unanswered

USS Liberty: Historians Debate

By HNN Staff

USS Liberty immediately after the attack 17 hours when the resue ships arrived.

R. JOHN PRITCHARD

Mr. Pritchard is an historian and international criminal lawyer who for more than 30 years has specialized in the misconduct of war and the history and jurisprudence of war crimes trials.

In response to Eric Bergerud’s observations, the length and closeness of the aerial reconnaissance that preceded the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, reconnaissance carried out over a period of hours by a variety of Israeli aircraft who circled the Liberty, on one occasion at an estimated altitude of 200 feet, makes it appear improbable that the vessel was mistaken for an Egyptian horsecarrier of half its size, nothing like the configuration of the Liberty, and known to be incapable of setting out to sea at all. The duration and persistence of the aerial and sea-borne attacks that were carried out at very close range in perfect visibility during daylight hours also makes it most improbable that the ship was unidentified when the configuration of the vessel, its huge hull numbers, its name on emblazoned on its stern, the unmistakable and very large holiday ensign that was hauled up as soon as the spanking new flag that had been flying was shot away in the initial attack, all suggest to me that the attack was not the result of mistaken identification. The survivors have told us that the attack was preceded by six hours of low-level aerial surveillance, that their ship was approached, circled or buzzed by photo-reconnaissance aircraft no less than thirteen times. There was no mist, no clouds, no smoke to impede their views on a bright day over calm seas, with enough breeze to make the flag flying on the vessel maximally visible to every eye and camera trained on the ship.

Eric Bergerud is right that straffing the Liberty– with 30mm cannon fire from attacking jets, 20mm cannon fire and heavy machine gun fire from the PT boats — would not have led to the loss of the vessel unless it had caused an almighty explosion in the engineering spaces of the ship. However, the napalming of the bridge and decks which took place early in the attack, coupled with the firing of dozens of rockets into the ship (which was, afterall, never built to survive such damage), must be considered strong evidence of a determined intention to inflict mortal wounds upon the ship and her company. Eyewitnesses from the ship’s company describe how the napalm appeared to be sucked into the eight-inch holes punched through the decks and superstructures by the rocket fire, increasing the devastation within the ship. The launching of torpedoes at the vessel, from PT boats that appeared on the scene only after the aerial attacks had ceased, provides further evidence of an intention to kill the ship. Blowing a 39-foot hole below the water amidships of an elderly liberty hull can hardly be explained as anything other than an intention to send the vessel to the bottom of the sea. The electronics of the ship and its superstructure were state-of-the-art high tech of the day, and there had been alterations in the crew’s quarters and working spaces, of course, but the hull was that of a 22-year-old Second World War freighter.

The failure of the IDF to use HE bombs is probative of nothing at all. The Israeli stocks of HE bombs suitable for attachment to the Mirages and Super Mysteres were not inexhaustible. Only luck and seamanship of a remarkably high order plus the eventual arrival of other ships that belatedly came to the rescue finally saved the day. The crewmen have speculated but do not know whether the troop-carrying chopper that the Israelis sent in at the end were tasked with killing survivors, extracting documents and electronic equipment, or were expected to supply medical assistance. My understanding is that the survivors thought the men they saw in the chopper looked like commandos armed to the teeth. If that’s not so, then let’s see compelling evidence to the contrary.

And if the attack was the result of an honest mistake or of a series of honest mistakes, then why did the PT boats circle around the vessel pouring machine gun and cannon fire into survivors who came topside in response to orders to prepare to abandon ship as her list increased to within what I’m given to understand was within two or three degrees of capsizing? Why did they riddle the hull just above the water line in what appeared to be an intent to blow up the ship’s engines and high-temperature boilers? Why did they pour gunfire into the ship’s liferafts apart from the only one the crewmen managed to get over the side and which one of the PT boats hooked and dragged off with them as they departed, leaving the remaining survivors and dying to whatever fate might befall them as the fires continued to rage?

Is it plausible to believe that an attack on a defenseless and neutral naval vessel, preceded by hours of surveillance and involving elements of at least two and probably three arms of the IDF must have taken place without the knowledge and consent of the highest levels of the Israeli military command and without the knowledge of any responsible members of the Israeli Government?

I just don’t find that credible. This message is written prior to the broadcast of the History Channel documentary this week. Perhaps it will shed completely new light on the incident. That would be most welcome.

JOE MEADORS
Mr. Meadors was a member of the crew of the Liberty at the time of the attack.

Eric Bergerud wrote:

“Napalm is a nasty weapon and would cause damage, but it wouldn’t penetrate into the ship’s innards which is what one would want if one meant to sink a vessel the size of Liberty. Strafing with cannon would kill crewmen but not sink a blue water vessel.”

To speak hypothetically for a moment, if the intent of an attacking force was to sink the ship, ensure there are no survivors and ensure that the attack was conducted without allowing any call for rescue to be sent from the ship, those are the armaments an attacking force would use.

The rocket, cannon and machine gun fire from the initial wave of high-speed attacking jets would destroy antenna mounts and defensive capabilities.

Slower aircraft would drop napalm on the ship to drive the crew belowdecks. The napalm runs would be followed by additional passes over the ship while firing with cannon, rockets and machine guns.

Torpedo boats would attack with torpedoes, circle the ship while firing from close range upon anyone who ventured topside, deliberately destroy any life rafts the ship’s crew had dropped over the side in anticipation of abandoning ship and then depart the scene immediately.

To move this response out of the realm of the hypothetical and onto that of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, Lloyd Painter testified before the US Navy Court of Inquiry about his witnessing the deliberate machine gunning of the Liberty’s life rafts in the water. When the US Navy released the Court of Inquiry Report to the public they did so after removing Painter’s testimony from the record.

http://hnn.us/articles/193.html