View source for USS Liberty

{{Short description|Belmont-class electronic spying ship}}
{{Other ships|List of ships named USS Liberty{{!}}List of ships named USS ''Liberty''}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 | image = USS Liberty (AGTR-5) underway in Chesapeake Bay on 29 July 1967 (K-39927).jpg
 | image_caption = USS ''Liberty'' sailing in the [[Chesapeake Bay]] on 29 July 1967
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 | hide_header = 
 | country = United States
 | flag = {{USN flag|1945}}
 | name = SS ''Simmons Victory''
 | namesake = [[Simmons University|Simmons College]] in [[Boston]]
 | ordered = 
 | builder = [[Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation|Oregon Shipbuilding Corp.]]
 | laid_down = 23 February 1945
 | launched = 6 April 1945
 | acquired = 
 | completed = 4 May 1945
 | commissioned = 
 | decommissioned = 
 | owner = War Shipping Administration
 | operator = Coastwise - [[Pacific Far East Line]] (during WWII only)
 | in_service = 
 | out_of_service = 
 | struck = 
 | reinstated = 
 | honours = 
 | fate = Transferred to US Navy in 1963
 | homeport = 
 | notes = 
 | badge = 
 |identification=*[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: AGTR 5
                 *{{ICS|Alpha}}{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Romeo}}
| Ship class = [[Victory ship]]
 | renamed = 8 June 1963
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/career
 | hide_header = title
 | country = United States
 | flag = {{USN flag|1968}}
 | name = USS ''Liberty''
 | namesake = Localities named "Liberty" in ten US states
 | ordered = 
 | builder = 
 | laid_down = 
 | launched = 
 | acquired = 25 March 1963
 | commissioned = 30 December 1964
 | decommissioned = 1 June 1968
 | in_service = 
 | out_of_service = June 1967
 | struck = 1 June 1970
 | reinstated = 
 | honours = 
 | fate = Damaged beyond economical repair by Israeli attack in June 1967; sold for scrap in 1973
 | homeport = [[Norfolk, Virginia]]
 | notes = 
 | badge = [[File:USS Liberty (AGTR-5) insignia, 1964 (NH 83352-KN).png|150px]]
 }}

|section4={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 | hide_header = 
 | header_caption = 
 | class = 
 | displacement = 7725&nbsp;tons (light displacement)
 | length = {{convert|139|m|ft|abbr=on}}
 | beam = {{convert|18.9|m|ft|abbr=on}}
 | draught = 
 | draft = {{convert|7|m|ft|abbr=on}}
 | propulsion = Westinghouse steam turbines, single shaft, 8500 horsepower (6.3&nbsp;MW)
 | speed = {{convert|17.5|knot|km/h}} maximum sustained, 21&nbsp;knots emergency
 | range = {{convert|12500|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn}}
 | complement = *62 Merchant Marine and 28 US Naval Armed Guards as Victory ship{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}
                *358 officers and enlisted for USS ''Liberty''
 | sensors = 
 | EW = 
 | armour = 
 | armor = 
 | aircraft_facilities = 
 | armament = *1 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|5 in (127&nbsp;mm)/38 cal. gun]] as Victory ship
              *1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|3 in (76&nbsp;mm)/50 cal. gun]]
              *8 × [[Oerlikon 20&nbsp;mm cannon|20 mm Oerlikon]]
              *4 x [[M2 Browning|M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun]] as USS ''Liberty''
 | notes = 
 }}
}}
'''USS ''Liberty'' (AGTR-5)''' was a [[USS Belmont (AGTR-4)|''Belmont''-class]] [[technical research ship]] (an electronic [[spying ship]]) that is notable for [[USS Liberty incident|coming under attack]] from [[Israel Defense Forces]] during the 1967 [[Six-Day War]]. She was originally built and served in [[World War II]] as a VC2-S-AP3 type [[Victory ship|Victory cargo ship]] named '''SS ''Simmons Victory'''''. Her keel was laid down on 23 February 1945 at [[Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation]] of [[Portland, Oregon]].

In 1967, Israeli air force and naval units attacked the research ship during the Six-Day War. Israel later apologized for the attack, stating it had mistaken ''Liberty'' for an Egyptian ship, although the reason for the attack has been disputed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/USS-Liberty-incident|
title=USS Liberty incident|year=1967|website=Britannica.com}}</ref> ''Liberty'' would eventually be decommissioned some time after the attack and was sold for scrapping in 1973 as she had been damaged beyond feasible repair.

==Service history==
===Construction===
Her keel was laid down on 23 February 1945, under a [[United States Maritime Commission|Maritime Commission]] contract at [[Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation]] of [[Portland, Oregon]].<ref name=danfs/> She entered service as a VC2-S-AP3 type [[Victory ship|Victory]] cargo ship named '''SS ''Simmons Victory''''', named after [[Simmons College (Massachusetts)|Simmons College]] in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=danfs/><ref name=VS>{{cite web |last=Colton |first=Tim |title=Victory Ships |url=http://shipbuildinghistory.com/merchantships/2victoryships.htm |work=ShipbuildingHistory.com |publisher=The Colton Company |date=21 November 2009 |access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref>

===Early years===

The ship was delivered to the [[War Shipping Administration]] on 4 May 1945.<ref name=danfs/> The next day, she was transferred to the "Coastwise -[[Pacific Far East Line]]" and designated as a "Fleet Issue Ship".<ref name=danfs/> Her complement included a 17-man [[United States Navy Armed Guard|Navy Armed Guard]] detachment to operate the ship's [[artillery battery|gun battery]]; a three- or four-man communication liaison detachment; and 16 Navy sailors serving as "winchmen and hatchmen".<ref name=danfs/>

''Simmons Victory'' was tasked with delivering [[ammunition]], which was loaded at the San Francisco-[[Suisun Bay]] area navy munitions depot at [[Port Chicago, California|Port Chicago]] for [[Operation Downfall]], the planned invasion of Japan.<ref name=Gillen>{{cite book |last=Gillen |first=Michael |title=Merchant Marine Survivors of World War II: Oral Histories of Cargo Carrying Under Fire |date=2015 |chapter=Harry A. Morgan: Walnuts and Bauxite for the War |publisher=McFarland & Co. |pages=118, 119, 190}}</ref> According to Harry Morgan, who served as an [[Engine officer|engineer]] on the ship, ''Simmons Victory'' arrived in the Philippines about six weeks before [[Victory in Europe Day|V-E Day]] on 8 May 1945.<ref name=Gillen/>{{efn-la|Morgan says the ''Simmons Victory'' took on ammunition just two weeks before the [[Port Chicago disaster|disastrous explosion at Port Chicago]] on 17 July 1944, an event that occurred months before the ship was launched.}} She made one trip north in support of Operation Downfall and returned to the [[Philippines]].<ref name=Gillen/>{{efn-la|According to Morgan, the ship "had been equipped to supply the [[United States Sixth Fleet#History|Sixth Fleet]] when they made the invasion into Japan." However, the US Sixth Fleet was based in the Mediterranean during World War II. The [[Sixth United States Army#History|Sixth Army]] and the [[United States Seventh Fleet#History|Seventh Fleet]] were based in the west Pacific area and both were tasked to participate in Operation Downfall.}} She was in [[Leyte Gulf]] when Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945.<ref name=Gillen/>

''Simmons Victory'' departed Leyte Gulf on 6 October 1945, en route to the US West Coast via [[Eniwetok]], and dumped ammunition at sea two days later.<ref name=danfs/>{{efn-la|Morgan says, after the war, ''Simmons Victory'' unloaded its cargo of ammunition in Port Chicago. The official Navy account by Cressman seems to indicate that the cargo was dumped at sea: "With a cargo of ammunition, ''Simmons Victory'' cleared Leyte Gulf on 6 October 1945, and as part of the preparation for the disarming the vessel, the armed guard dumped the ammo at sea on 8 October." Possibly, only the ammo on deck for the ship's gun battery was dumped at sea and the ammo carried as cargo was returned to Port Chicago.}} She arrived in [[San Francisco]] on 3 November 1945 and departed for the US east coast on 9 December 1945, reaching New York on Christmas Day, 1945.<ref name=danfs/>{{efn-la|Morgan says, after leaving Port Chicago, she took supplies to Baltimore through the [[Panama Canal]].}} Her 5-inch, 3-inch, and 20-mm guns were removed there on 9 January 1946.<ref name=danfs/>

From December 1946 until 1963, the ship moved back and forth several times from commercial [[Bareboat charter|charters]] as a [[break bulk cargo]] carrier to stints in the [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]] (being twice berthed in the [[Hudson River]]).<ref name=danfs/> Most notably during this time, she made nine trips to the Far East between November 1950 and December 1952 during the [[Korean War]] "to equip American troops fighting communist North Korea" in the [[Military Sealift Command#Military Sea Transportation Service|Military Sea Transportation Service]].<ref name=danfs/><ref name=scott>{{cite book |last=Scott |first=James |date=2009 |title=The Attack on the Liberty: The Untold Story of Israel's Deadly 1967 Assault on a U.S. Spy Ship |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-5482-0}}</ref><ref>[http://koreanwar-educator.org/topics/merchant_marine/index.htm Korean War Educator, Merchant Marine, Accounts of the Korean War]</ref><ref>Small United States and United Nations Warships in the Korean War, By Paul M. Edwards</ref> On 11 June 1958, ''Simmons Victory'' once again entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet, being berthed this time at Olympia, Washington, where she remained until 1963.<ref name=danfs/>

===US Navy years===
In February 1963, the [[United States Navy|US Navy]] acquired ''Simmons Victory'' and converted her to a "Miscellaneous Auxiliary" ship at [[Willamette Iron and Steel]] of Portland. On 8 June, the vessel was renamed [[United States Ship|USS]] ''Liberty'' and given the [[hull classification symbol]] AG-168. On 1 April 1964, she was reclassified a Technical Research Ship, and given the radio call sign AGTR-5.<ref name=danfs>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/liberty-agtr-5-iii.html |title=US Navy History, Liberty III (AGTR-5) 1964-1970 |date=29 May 2017 |last=Cressman |first=Robert J. |publisher=United States Navy |access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref> She was [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] in [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], Washington, in December 1964.

In February 1965, ''Liberty'' steamed from the West Coast to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], where she was further outfitted (cost: US$20&nbsp;million) to suit her for a mission of supporting the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) by collecting and processing foreign communications and other electronic emissions of possible national defense interests. In June, ''Liberty'' began her first deployment, to waters off the west coast of Africa. She carried out several more operations during the next two years, and sailed to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in 1967. During the [[Six-Day War]] between Israel and [[Six-Day War#Armies and weapons|several Arab nations]], she was sent to collect [[electronic intelligence]] in the eastern Mediterranean.

====Israeli attack====
{{Main|USS Liberty incident{{!}}USS ''Liberty'' incident}}{{Copy edit|date=March 2025|section}}[[File:SH-3A Sea King hovers over the damaged USS Liberty (AGTR-5) on 8 June 1967 (USN 1123118).jpg|thumb|left|USS ''Liberty'' being assisted by Sixth Fleet [[SH-3]] after being attacked by Israeli forces on 8 June 1967]]

On the afternoon of 8 June 1967, while in [[international waters]] off the northern coast of the [[Sinai Peninsula]], ''Liberty'' was attacked and damaged by aircraft of the [[Israeli Air Force]] and [[motor torpedo boats]] of the [[Israeli Navy]]; 34 American crewmen were killed and 174 wounded.<ref name="scott" /> Though ''Liberty'' was severely damaged, with a 39-by-24-foot (11.9 m × 7.3 m) hole amidships and a twisted [[keel]], her crew kept her afloat, and she was able to leave the area under her own power. Later, Israel apologized for the attack, stating it had mistaken ''Liberty'' for an Egyptian ship, as the incident occurred during the [[Six-Day War]]. In total, Israel gave close to $13 million (about $125 million in 2022) to the U.S. in compensation for the incident. This includes compensation to the families of those killed and wounded, and to cover damage of the ship.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-02-09 |title=Israel attacks USS Liberty {{!}} June 8, 1967 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-8/israel-attacks-uss-liberty |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=December 2025|certain=yes}}

After the attack, she was escorted to [[Valletta]], [[State of Malta|Malta]], by units of the [[United States Sixth Fleet|Sixth Fleet]] and given temporary repairs. After the repairs were completed, ''Liberty'' returned to the United States on 27 July 1967. She was decommissioned and stricken from the [[Navy List|Naval Vessel Register]] on 28 June 1968. She was laid up in the [[United States Navy reserve fleets|Atlantic Reserve Fleet]] of Norfolk until December 1970, when she was transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal. In 1973, she was sold for [[Shipbreaking|scrapping]] to the Boston Metals Company of [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]].

===== Debate =====
Some accounts, notably from former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon [[Dwight Porter]], allege that [[National Security Agency|NSA]] or [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] intercepts recorded an Israeli pilot identifying the ship as American and receiving orders from ground control to attack regardless. 

Although this claim is frequently cited in discussions of the USS ''Liberty'' incident, no official documents or transcripts have been produced to verify it. In an interview with A. Jay Cristol, Dwight Porter did not explicitly retract the allegation but acknowledged the absence of supporting evidence.<ref name="Porter&quot;">Dwight, Porter. TRANSCRIPT OF TELEPHONIC INTERVIEW WITH AMBASSADOR DWIGHT J. PORTER. Telephone, 20 Nov. 1991.
</ref> 

US foreign service officer Richard B. Baker, editor of [[The Middle East Journal]], attests to Miller's accounts as "reflecting the majority view among my former colleagues in the foreign affairs establishment" in regards to the attack on ''Liberty'' being a deliberate one, but backpedals by saying this perspective suffers from an unreasonable portrayal of the Israeli military as infallible.<ref name="Miller">{{Cite journal |last=Miller |first=Jim |last2=Parker |first2=Richard B. |date=2003 |title=Communications |journal=[[Middle East Journal]] |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=707–713 |issn=0026-3141 |jstor=4329968}}</ref> [[Norman Polmar]] expresses doubt in the aerial attack on ''Liberty'' being deliberate by citing the lack of sufficient armaments on the initial Israeli aircraft sent to attack the unidentified ship stating the use of [[napalm]] indicates a hasty rather than deliberate attack on the ship. Conversely, Polmar details a blatant miscalculation of speed of ''Liberty'' and Commander Oren of the Israeli Navy refusing to identify the ship before firing at it.<ref name="Polmar">{{Cite book |last=Polmar |first=Norman |title=Spy Ships: One Hundred Years of Intelligence Collection by Ships and Submarines |last2=Mathers |first2=Lee J. |date=2023 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |isbn=978-1-64012-475-2 |chapter=The Attack on the USS Liberty |doi=10.2307/jj.3790079.14 |jstor=jj.3790079}}</ref> In Clark Clifford's report on ''Liberty'' attack to the President's foreign intelligence advisory board he concludes that while the attack consisted of gross negligence on the part of the Israeli military in which they should be held responsible, there remains to be seen any substantive evidence of a deliberate plot circulated by the highest echelons of the Israeli government to attack ''Liberty'' intentionally.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

==Awards, decorations and Memorabilia==
[[File:nsa memorial 1.png|thumb|[[National Security Agency|NSA]] [[National Security Agency#Insignia and memorials|National Cryptologic Memorial]]. Many of the names are from 8 June 1967]]

As a result of the crew's heroic response to the Israeli attack, ''Liberty'' is the US Navy's "most highly decorated ship ... for a single action".<ref name="wells">{{cite book |last=Wells |first=Anthony R. |title=A Tale Of Two Navies: Geopolitics, Technology, and Strategy in the United States Navy and the Royal Navy, 1960-2015 |date=2017 |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute#Naval Institute Press|Naval Inst. Pr.]] |isbn=978-1-6824-7121-0 |chapter=The 1960s: The Soviet Navy Challenges the US Sixth Fleet and the Royal Navy |access-date=13 February 2019 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L4j9DAAAQBAJ&q=%22most+highly+decorated%22&pg=PT65}}</ref>{{rp|82}} For the action with Israeli forces, she was awarded the [[Combat Action Ribbon]] (8–9 June 1967) and the [[Presidential Unit Citation (US)|Presidential Unit Citation]] (8 June 1967).<ref name=danfs/><ref name=navsource>{{cite web |url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/09/60/6005.htm |title=Technical Research Ship Index (AGTR) |last=Priolo |first=Gary P. |website=NavSource Naval History |access-date=31 July 2019}}</ref> Although President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] signed the Presidential Unit Citation in 1968, it was not formally presented to the crew until June 1991.<ref name=mcallister>{{cite news |last=McAllister |first=Bill |title=Spy Ship Brought in from the Cold |date=15 June 1991 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/06/15/spy-ship-brought-in-from-the-cold/d3d94b1a-34ca-4d66-8d53-dbb9045b09a2 |access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref> President [[George H. W. Bush]] declined to attend the 1991 White House ceremony, instead merely waving at the crew while passing by.<ref name=mcallister/>

Commander (later Captain) [[William McGonagle]], ''Liberty''{{'}}s commanding officer, received the [[Medal of Honor]].<ref name=danfs/> Numerous members of the crew were decorated, including 11 members of the crew who were awarded [[Silver Star]]s, 20 with [[Bronze Star]]s, and over 200 who received [[Purple Heart]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor/02_awards/silverstar/6_PostRVN/01_liberty.html|title= Awards of the Silver Star for Conspicuous Gallantry in Action aboard the U.S.S. Liberty (June 8, 1967)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231034239/http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor/02_awards/silverstar/6_PostRVN/01_liberty.html|archive-date=31 December 2008}}</ref> The unidentified remains of six of ''Liberty'''s crew are buried under a single headstone in a [[mass grave]] in [[Arlington National Cemetery]].{{r|scott|p=1}}

{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|{{ribbon devices|number=|type=|ribbon=Combat_Action_Ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=|type=|ribbon=United_States_Navy_Presidential_Unit_Citation_ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=|type=|ribbon=National_Defense_Service_Medal_ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|}

''Liberty'' was also awarded the [[National Defense Service Medal]].<ref name=navsource/>

[[File:USS Liberty, AGTR-5.jpg|upright=1|thumb|center|Postmark and Cachet of USS ''Liberty'']]

== See also ==

* [[List of maritime disasters in the 20th century]]

* {{USS|Belmont|AGTR-4}}, the other ship in her conversion class
* [[Technical research ship]]
* [[Spy ship]]
* [[USS Liberty incident|USS ''Liberty'' incident]]
* [[List of Victory ships]]

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Ennes, Jr. |first1=James M. |title=Assault on The Liberty. |date=1979 |publisher=Random House |location=New York}}

==References==

===Explanatory notes===
{{notelist-la}}

===Sources===
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Liberty (AGTR-5)}}
*"[https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Notable-Graves/Casualties-of-War-and-Honorary-War-Veterans/USS-Liberty Casualties of the USS ''Liberty'']" on the official Arlington Memorial Cemetery web site
*[http://www.ussliberty.org/ USS ''Liberty'' Memorial]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130906132926/http://www.libertyagtr5div.org/  US Naval Sea Cadet Corps: ''Liberty'' (AGTR-5) Division, Amityville, NY]
*[https://www.nsa.gov/news-features/declassified-documents/uss-liberty/cinc.shtml National Security Agency (NSA) declassified documents on the USS ''Liberty'']
*[{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=AG168}} USS ''Liberty'' (as ''Liberty'' (AG 168)) entry] in the official [[Naval Vessel Register]]
*[http://www.navsource.net/archives/09/60/6005.htm Liberty''<nowiki/>'s'' entry] in NavSource Naval History's ''Photographic History of the US Navy''.

{{Victory ships}}
{{1967 shipwrecks}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty (Agtr-5)}}
[[Category:USS Liberty incident|Liberty 1945]]
[[Category:Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States|Liberty]]
[[Category:Espionage devices|Liberty]]
[[Category:Espionage techniques|Liberty]]
[[Category:Signals intelligence|Liberty]]
[[Category:Ships built in Portland, Oregon|Liberty]]
[[Category:1945 ships|Liberty]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1967]]