I decided to post this information because I thought it could add to the long-standing discussion on ATS regarding the USS Liberty incident. I will preface this information by stating up front that this information is purely heresay, and cannot be verified. However, base upon the source(s), I believe it to be accurate.

The original source of this information is an crew member of the USS Liberty. His name is known to me, and I have verified that he was part of the crew during the incident, but I will not reveal it to protect his privacy, as I have not seen this story published anywhere else. At the time of the incident, he was a Cryptological Technical (CT) stationed aboard the USS Liberty, and was part of the communications interception and analysis team. I do know that he was not wounded in the incident.

His story came to me via a coworker who I work with in the present. This coworker was also a CT in the US Navy back in the 1970's, and had the privilege of being stationed on the same ship (not the Liberty) as the ex-Liberty crewmember. During the times they sailed together, Petty Officer "X" often retold the story of his role in the Liberty incident to his buddies in the COMINT shack. Both of the individuals described here had/currently have TS/SCI clearances, and "X" actually processed COMINT collected during the incident.

The fact that the Israelis knew the Liberty was a US vessel was not in doubt. COMINT verified this. What X revealed to my coworked (back then) was that the Liberty had intercepted COMINT that suggested that the Israelis were "prepping" tactical nukes for deployment on aircraft, because early on in the conflict they were really scared. This intel was immediately routed back to Washington, and as the story goes, Washington immediately called up Tel Aviv and threatened to withdraw all support unilaterally if nukes were used, and Israel would be declared persona non grata.

Well, Tel Aviv was very, very surprised to learn that one of their most ultra sensitive national-level orders had been intercepted so quickly and efficiently. And they were pissed. Really pissed. In the face-to-face political dealings between Washington and Tel Aviv (back then via phone), Tel Aviv had to assure Johnson that the intel about Israeli nukes was erroneous, and that they were all still in the bunkers (when in fact they were on wing pylons).

Tel Aviv (exactly who remains unclear) decided that a strong message needed to be sent to the Americans that "although we begrudgingly accept your strong-armed threats, we are pissed off and you will not get off pushing us around without paying a price". Someone in Tel Aviv (probably Rabin) either directly ordered the attack, or facilitated the attack indirectly through inaction, or misinformation. X made it clear that when the planes were inbound, they knew exactly who they were looking for. Unfortunately for many of the Liberty crew, much of the raw COMINT was destroyed in the attack, especially due to the torpedo hit in the COMINT compartment below the waterline. Ironically, according to X, the attack was only supposed to consist of aircraft strafing the ship to knock out the radio transmitters. Whent he torpedo boats came in after the air attack to "render assistance" (it was likely they had no clue as to the real identity of the Liberty) they came under attack from the Liberty's .50 cal guns and returned fire accordingly, causing most of the deaths and damange.

Take this for what its worth, but based upon my peronal knowledge of my coworker and his trustworthiness, I suspect much of this is accurate.

Hmm... Interesting post Pyros, I too never questioned that Israel knew the ship was the USS Liberty. However this changes my view on the long held belief that they orchestrated the attack to draw us in, thinking that Egypt had attacked the US. Also, if person X has this information no doubt the government at the time did, which makes the way they handled the whole incident even more shameful and despicable. Anyway, thanks for the post.

The background on the U.S.S Liberty as I understood it was that they intercepted a communication from Tel Aviv that proved that the alleged attack on Israeli ports by Egypt was of course false,
Upon transmission of the intel to Johnson in Washington somehow Israel was informed that their communications were being intercepted by a U.S spy ship(Washington mole???)

Numerous Israeli flight patrols had detected and verified U.SS Liberty as American previously.
They were consequently bombed,torpedoed and fired upon by Israeli craft.
Even when lifeboats were released they were fired upon by the Israel from CLOSE RANGE.more than close enough to realise a ''mistake''.

The Damning fact was that rescue missions by nearby American ships had been ORDERED not to aid the stricken Liberty.
Only when they realised their attempt to silence the Liberty had failed did they transmit their ''error''.

I,m stating this from memory so feel free to correct me if I,m wrong on any point

I think the USS liberty is an incredibly interesting topic that doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Just goes to show you that Israel the main terrorist nation of our time.

Well said,

I always knew the story Isreal came up with was pure BS! I remember reading about the USS Liberty in the Book Puzzle Palace and in betted detail in Body of Secrets. They hit the ship with AP Bombs, Napalm, Torpedos, and machine gun fire.

A bit of OVERKILL for an "accident" as Isreal claimed, wouldn't you say?

Tim

Israeli nukes was erroneous, and that they were all still in the bunkers (when in fact they were on wing pylons).

Nukes are that small now.

Sounds like mr. X is the culpret here. And those that fired the shots.

I heard from a few on boards that its not a rollover on this one.
Its still remembed.

And the whole rescue thing more bad.

Intel in an unmarked ship not without risk, Korean capture of ship
was another incident.