The story of the U.S.S. Liberty
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Captain William L. McGonagle Medal of Honor recipient
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The U.S.S. Liberty Arrives
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1 June 1967 The U.S.S. Liberty arrives at the American Naval Station at Rota, Spain. 2 June 1967 The Liberty leaves Rota for the eastern Mediterranean. 5 June 1967 The Liberty hears news of the outbreak of fighting in the Middle East. The ship's captain, Commander William L. McGonagle, requests of Vice Admiral William I. Martin, Commander of the Sixth Fleet, a destroyer escort that could both protect the Liberty and serve as an auxiliary communications station.
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Liberty after attack
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Prelude to attack
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8 June 1967 11:00 AM The Liberty is reconnoitered by a flying boxcar. 11:30 AM Again the Liberty is reconnoitered by a flying boxcar. |
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Noon
Three Israeli torpedo boats leave Ashdod on high-speed run to the Liberty. |
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12:15 PM
Yet another flying boxcar reconnoiters the Liberty. 12:45 PM And again a flying boxcar reconnoiters the Liberty. |
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The Attack
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2:00 PM Three unmarked Mirages take out radios 1400 Two Mirage aircraft 5 minutes (30mm cannon & 36 rockets)
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Three jets approach. One flies 5 or 6 miles to starboard. Everyone expects it to settle into the now familiar reconnaissance pattern. As they watch a second plane dives in from port and fires rockets at the bridge. The attack on the United States has begun. They attack again and again with rockets and 30 mm armor-piercing shells. Blood flows so thickly over the metal floor of the pilothouse that sailors trying to transverse the deck slip and fall into the blood. The dead, dying and wounded are scattered about. | |
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2:08 PM Three unmarked Super-Mysteres attack with napalm and dozens of rockets, two 30mm guns |
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More planes come with rockets, cannon, and the dreaded napalm turning the Liberty into a floating hell. The Israelis hit everything they wanted to hit, and they had the right ordnance to do the job required: -- heat seeking missiles to take out the tuning coils of every HF antenna -- fragmentation bombs to take out the parabolic disks fore and aft -- the first strafing run destroys all means of communications and all means of survival -- the last attack is with napalm. However, the crew was able to patch up its high-command radio-circuit antenna to send out flash messages ~ but they discovered that all frequencies were being jammed. The jamming only stopped when the planes launched their rockets. Thus, the jamming came from the planes and could not be used while the rockets were airborne. | |
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2:09 PM The carrier U.S.S. Saratoga acknowledges Liberty's call for help. |
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2:12 Two unmarked Mirages with rockets - cannon |
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2:23 Saratoga: 12 Phantoms are airborne |
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2:24 PM The torpedo boats close in with their 20mm and 40mm machine guns blazing. Five torpedos launched. |
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2:26 McNamara calls Adm Geis and orders the Phantoms recalled  |
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2:35 PM At first the torpedo boats fired 3" shells into the engineering spaces in hopes of blowing up the boilers. After their attacks the three torpedo boats reduced speed and began firing machine guns at the waterline with the purpose in mind to sink her. On the Liberty it looked like the ship would sink so three life rafts were lowered into the water. One of the Israeli boats shot up two of them and the third was taken aboard as a war trophy. There were to be no survivors! |
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3:05 PM Two large Israeli troop-carrying helicopters circled the ship and then departed without any attempt at communication. The commando's mission was to kill all survivors. |
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3:45 PM The Sixth Fleet launches planes from the U.S.S. Saratoga and U.S.S. America Planes were ordered to the rescue of the Liberty on two occasions. In the second attempt the U.S.S. America also launched aircraft. Both times Secretary of Defense MacNamara ordered the planes back. There was a challenge from the fleet when ordered back the second time. President Johnson came on the line and confirmed the order, saying 
"I will not embarrass my ally." Planes return to carriers |
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4:32 PM The torpedo boats return and offer "assistance." It is bluntly refused. |
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6:35 PM An Israeli helicopter arrives and indicates that it wants to land. Commander McGonagle gave them the finger. |
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