https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident
USS Liberty incident
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USS Liberty incident
Part of the Six-Day War
USS Liberty.jpg
Damaged USS Liberty one day (9 June 1967) after attack.
Date 8 June 1967
Location Mediterranean Sea near Sinai Peninsula[1]
Result See aftermath
Participants
Israel United States
Commanders and leaders
Captain Iftach Spector
Commander Moshe Oren Commander William L. McGonagle
Strength
2 Mirage IIIs
2 Mystères
3 motor torpedo boats 1 Technical research ship
Casualties and losses
None 34 killed
171 wounded
1 ship heavily damaged
[show] v t e
Six-Day War
The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship, USS
Liberty, by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats,
on 8 June 1967, during the Six-Day War.[2] The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew
members (naval officers, seamen, two marines, and one civilian), wounded 171 crew members,
and severely damaged the ship.[3] At the time, the ship was in international waters north
of the Sinai Peninsula, about 25.5 nmi (29.3 mi; 47.2 km) northwest from the Egyptian city
of Arish.[1][4]
Israel apologized for the attack, saying that the USS Liberty had been attacked in error
after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship.[5] Both the Israeli and U.S. governments conducted
inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israeli confusion
about the ship's identity,[6] though others, including survivors of the attack, have rejected
these conclusions and maintain that the attack was deliberate.[7]
In May 1968, the Israeli government paid US$3,323,500 (US$22.6 million 2015) in compensation to
the families of the 34 men killed in the attack. In March 1969, Israel paid a further $3,566,457
to the men who had been wounded. On 18 December 1980, it agreed to pay $6 million as settlement
for the final U.S. bill of $17,132,709 for material damage to Liberty herself plus 13 years'
interest.[8]