Investigations of the attack USS Liberty incident

u.s. government investigations

torpedo damage liberty s research compartment (starboard side)

american inquiries, memoranda, records of testimony, , various reports involving or mentioning liberty attack include, not limited to, following:

u.s. naval court of inquiry of june 1967
joint chief of staff s report of june 1967.
cia intelligence memorandums of june 1967
clark clifford report of july 1967
senate foreign relations committee testimony during hearings of 1967 foreign aid authorization bill, july 1967
house armed services committee investigation of 1971
the nsa history report of 1981

the u.s. naval court of inquiry record contains testimony fourteen liberty crew members , 5 subject matter experts; exhibits of attack damage photographs, various messages , memoranda; , findings of fact. court concluded testimony record revealed shallow investigation, plagued myriad disagreements between captain , crew . culpability, court said not responsibility of court rule on culpability of attackers, , no evidence heard attacking nation , court concluded available evidence combines indicate ... (that attack was) case of mistaken identity. additionally, court found heroism displayed commanding officer, officers , men of liberty exceptional.

the joint chief of staff s report contains findings of fact related communication system failures associated liberty attack. not concerned matters of culpability, nor contain statements thereof.

the cia memoranda consist of 2 documents: 1 dated june 13, 1967, , other dated june 21, 1967. said june 13 memorandum account of circumstances of attack ... compiled available sources . june 21 memorandum point-by-point analysis of israeli inquiry findings of fact. concludes: attack not made in malice toward u.s. , mistake, failure of idf headquarters , attacking aircraft identify liberty , subsequent attack torpedo boats both incongruous , indicative of gross negligence.

the clark clifford report consists of review of available information on subject , deals question of israeli culpability , according transmittal memorandum. report concludes: unprovoked attack on liberty constitutes flagrant act of gross negligence israeli government should held responsible, , israeli military personnel involved should punished.

the senate foreign relations committee testimony contains, aside matter during hearings concerning foreign aid authorization bill, questions , statements several senators , responses secretary of defense, robert mcnamara, liberty attack. part, senators dismayed attack, expressed senator bourke b. hickenlooper: have read can t tolerate 1 minute [attack] accident. also, there concern obtaining more information attack, expressed committee chairman j. william fulbright: asked [the attack investigation report] 2 weeks ago , have not received yet secretary rusk. ... time on other subject. secretary mcnamara promised fast delivery of investigation report ( ... you have in 4 hours. ), , concluded remarks saying: want emphasize investigative report not show evidence of conscious intent attack u.s. vessel.

the house armed services committee investigation report titled, review of department of defense worldwide communications . not investigation focused on liberty attack; although, committee s report contains section describes communications flow involved liberty incident.

the nsa history report is, name connotes, historical report cited u.s. naval court of inquiry record, various military , government messages , memorandum, , personal interviews content. report ends section entitled, unanswered questions , , provides no conclusion regarding culpability.

the liberty veterans association (composed of veterans ship) states u.s. congressional investigations , other u.s. investigations not investigations attack, rather reports using evidence u.s. navy court of inquiry, or investigations unrelated culpability involved issues such communications. in view, u.s. navy court of inquiry actual investigation on incident date. hastily conducted, in 10 days, though court s president, rear admiral isaac kidd, said take 6 months conduct properly. inquiry s terms of reference limited whether shortcomings on part of liberty s crew had contributed injuries , deaths resulted attack. according navy court of inquiry s record of proceedings, 4 days spent hearing testimony: 2 days fourteen survivors of attack , several u.s. navy expert witnesses, , 2 partial days 2 expert u.s. navy witnesses. no testimony heard israeli personnel involved.

the national archives in college park, maryland includes in files on casualties liberty copies of original telegrams navy sent out family members. telegrams called attack accidental. telegrams sent out june 9, day before navy court of inquiry convened.

israeli government investigations

two subsequent israeli inquiry reports , historical report concluded attack conducted because liberty confused egyptian vessel , because of failures in communications between israel , u.s. 3 israeli reports were:

fact finding inquiry colonel ram ron ( ram ron report —june 1967)
preliminary inquiry (hearing) examining judge yeshayahu yerushalmi ( yerushalmi report —july 1967) (adjudication of idf negligence complaints.)
historical report liberty incident —idf history department report (1982)

in historical report, acknowledged idf naval headquarters knew @ least 3 hours before attack ship electromagnetic audio-surveillance ship of u.s. navy concluded information had gotten lost, never passed along ground controllers directed air attack nor crews of 3 israeli torpedo boats.

the israeli government said 3 crucial errors made: refreshing of status board (removing ship s classification american, later shift did not see identified), erroneous identification of ship egyptian vessel, , lack of notification returning aircraft informing israeli headquarters of markings on front of hull (markings not found on egyptian ship). common root of these problems, israel blamed combination of alarm , fatigue experienced israeli forces @ point of war when pilots severely overworked.

after conducting own fact-finding inquiry , reviewing evidence, judge yerushalmi s decision was: have not discovered deviation standard of reasonable conduct justify committal of trial. in other words, found no negligence idf member associated attack.