THE USS LIBERTY

June 8, 1967 — the day the USS Liberty was attacked. On that fateful day, the USS Liberty, an American naval intelligence ship, was mistakenly attacked during the Six-Day War in 1967. Despite flying a U.S. flag and clearly identifying itself, the ship was targeted by Israeli fighter jets and torpedo boats. The assault lasted for several hours, causing severe damage, numerous casualties, and testing the crew’s resilience and courage in the face of unexpected betrayal. The story of that day is one of survival, faith, and unbreakable human spirit.

The USS Liberty was a U.S. Navy intelligence ship attacked on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War. Israeli forces, mistaking the ship for an enemy vessel, launched air and naval assaults, killing 34 crew members and wounding over 170. Despite heavy damage, the crew fought to keep the ship afloat, demonstrating extraordinary resilience and bravery.

The incident remains a powerful story of survival, faith, and the human spirit under fire. The memory of the 34 Men killed that day lives on.

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THE USS LIBERTY ATTACK June 8th 1967

In 1967, at the height of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War, the Israeli Air Force launched an unprovoked attack on the USS Liberty, a US Navy spy ship that was monitoring the conflict from the safety of international waters in the Mediterranean.

Israeli jet fighters hit the vessel with rockets, cannon fire and napalm, before three Israeli torpedo boats moved in to launch a second more devastating attack. Though she did not sink, the Liberty was badly damaged. Thirty-four US servicemen and civilian analysts were killed, another 171 were wounded.

Later Israel apologised for what it claimed to be a tragic case of mistaken identity. It said that it had believed the ship to be a hostile Egyptian naval vessel. US President Lyndon B. Johnson chose not to challenge the word of his closest Middle East ally and accepted that the attack had been a catastrophic accident.

But the TRUTH is coming out about what exactly what happened that fateful day – and the remarkable cover up that followed.

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USS Liberty (AGTR-5)

AGTR-5 was the USS Liberty’s official Navy designation.
Here’s the breakdown, plain and simple:

A – Auxiliary
G – General
T – Technical
R – Research
5 – The fifth ship in that classification

So AGTR-5 basically means: an auxiliary technical research ship — the fifth of its kind. In reality, it was a sophisticated signals-intelligence ship… just without the protection it needed.

TOP 5 FAQS ABOUT THE USS LIBERTY

Black and white photo of a large military ship with the designation GTR 5 on the hull, showing masts, antennas, and a large gun turret, on a body of water with a cityscape in the background.

  • The USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was a U.S. Navy technical research ship — essentially an unarmed spy ship collecting signals intelligence

  • June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War.

  • Israeli forces — fighter jets and torpedo boats — in what Israel claimed was a case of mistaken identity.

  • 34 Americans were killed and 174 were wounded, making it one of the deadliest attacks on a U.S. Navy ship since WWII

  • Because survivors insist the attack was deliberate, while official investigations avoided that conclusion — leaving decades of unanswered questions, classified details, and unresolved anger.