USS Pueblo (AGER-2)
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.jpg) USS Pueblo (AGER-2) in October 1967 |
|
| Career (US) | |
|---|---|
| Launched: | 16 April 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 13 May 1967 |
| Fate: | Active, in commission, currently held by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 550 tons light, 895 tons full, 345 tons dead |
| Length: | 53.9 m (177 ft) |
| Beam: | 9.7 m (32 ft) |
| Draught: | 2.7 m (9 ft) |
| Propulsion: | twin diesel |
| Speed: | 12.7 knots (23.5 km/h) |
| Complement: | 6 officers, 70 men |
| Armament: | 2 × Browning .50-caliber machine guns |
USS Pueblo (AGER-2) is a Banner-class technical research ship (Navy intelligence) which was boarded and captured by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 23 January 1968 in what is known as the Pueblo incident or alternatively as the Pueblo crisis or Pueblo affair. This is considered one of the major incidents in the Second Korean War.
North Korea stated that she strayed into their territorial waters, but the United States maintains that the vessel was in international waters at the time of the incident.
Pueblo, still held by the DPRK today, officially remains a commissioned vessel of the United States Navy.[1] It is currently located in Pyongyang, where it is used as a museum ship.
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[edit] Initial operations
The ship was launched at the Kewaunee Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, on 16 April 1944 as United States Army cargo ship FS-344. She was transferred to the United States Navy in 1966 and was renamed USS Pueblo. Initially, she served as a light cargo ship, AKL-44, but shortly after resuming service was converted to an intelligence gathering ship, or what is colloquially known as a spy ship, and re-designated AGER-2 on 13 May 1967. AGER (Auxiliary General Environmental Research) denoted a joint Naval and National Security Agency (NSA) program.[2]
[edit] Activity and conflict near the DPRK
On 5 January 1968, Pueblo left for Sasebo, Japan. She left Sasebo on 11 January with specific orders to intercept and conduct surveillance of Soviet naval activity in the Tsushima Strait and to gather signal and electronic intelligence from North Korea.[3]
On 21 January a modified Soviet style sub chaser, SO-I class, passed within two miles (4 km) of the Pueblo.
The next day, two DPRK fishing trawlers (Lenta Class) passed within 25 yards (23 m) of Pueblo. That day, a North Korean unit made an assassination attempt against South Korean leadership targets, but the crew of Pueblo were not informed.
According to the American account, the following day, 23 January, Pueblo was approached by a sub chaser and her nationality was challenged; Pueblo responded by raising the U.S. flag. The DPRK vessel then ordered her to stand down or be fired upon. Pueblo attempted to maneuver away, but was considerably slower than the sub chaser. Additionally, three torpedo boats appeared on the horizon and then joined in the chase and subsequent attack. The attackers were soon joined by two MiG-21 fighters. A fourth torpedo boat and a second sub chaser appeared on the horizon a short time later. The ammunition on Pueblo was stored below decks, and her machine guns were wrapped in cold-weather tarpaulins. The machine guns were unmanned, and no attempt was made to man them.
U.S. Naval authorities and the crew of the Pueblo insist that before the capture, Pueblo was miles outside North Korean territorial waters; the Koreans claim the vessel was well within the DPRK's territory. The mission statement allowed her to approach within a nautical mile (1.852 km) of that limit. The DPRK, however, claims a 50-nautical-mile (90 km) sea boundary even though international standards are 12 nautical miles (22 km).[4]
The North Korean vessels attempted to board Pueblo, but she maneuvered to prevent this for over two hours and a sub chaser opened fire with a 57 mm cannon. The smaller vessels fired machine guns into Pueblo, which then signaled compliance and began destroying sensitive material. The volume of material on board was so great that it was impossible to destroy all of it.
Radio contact between the Pueblo and the Naval Security Group in Kamiseya, Japan had been ongoing during the incident. As a result, Seventh Fleet command was fully aware of Pueblo's situation. Air cover was promised but never arrived. More than likely, no one wanted to take responsibility for an attack on North Korean vessels attacking Pueblo. By the time President Lyndon Johnson was awakened, Pueblo had been captured and any rescue attempt would have been futile.
Pueblo followed the North Korean vessels as ordered, but then stopped immediately outside North Korean waters. She was again fired upon, and a U.S. sailor, Fireman Apprentice Duane Hodges, was killed. She was boarded by men from a torpedo boat and a sub chaser. Crew members had their hands tied, were blindfolded, beaten, and prodded with bayonets.
Once Pueblo was in North Korean territorial waters, she was boarded again, this time by high-ranking North Korean officials.
There was dissent among government officials in the U.S. on how to handle the situation. Rep. Mendel Rivers said the Pueblo should be returned immediately while Senator Gale McGee said the U.S. should wait for more information and not make "spasmodic response[s] to aggravating incidents."[5]
[edit] Aftermath
Pueblo was taken into port at Wonsan and the crew was moved twice to POW camps, with some of the crew reporting upon release that they were starved and regularly tortured while in North Korean custody.[6] This treatment was allegedly worsened[7] when the North Koreans realized that crewmen were secretly giving them "the finger" in staged propaganda photos.[8]
Commander Lloyd M. Bucher, Commanding Officer of the Pueblo, was tortured and put through a mock firing squad in an effort to make him confess. Eventually the Koreans threatened to execute his men in front of him, and Bucher relented. None of the Koreans knew English well enough to write the confession, so they had Bucher write it himself. They verified the meaning of his words, but failed to catch the pun when he said "We paean the North Korean state. We paean their great leader Kim Il Sung"[9][10] ("We paean" sounds almost identical to "we pee on").
Following an apology, a written admission by the U.S. that Pueblo had been spying, and an assurance that the U.S. would not spy in the future, the North Korean government decided to release the 82 remaining crew members. On 23 December 1968 the crew was taken by buses to the DMZ border with South Korea and ordered to walk south across the "Bridge of No Return". Exactly 11 months after being taken prisoner, the Captain led the long line of crewmen, followed at the end by the Executive Officer, Lieutenant Ed Murphy, the last man across the bridge. The U.S. then verbally retracted the ransom admission, apology, and assurance. Meanwhile the North Koreans blanked out the paragraph above the signature which read: "and this hereby receipts for 82 crewmen and one dead body".
Bucher and all the officers and crew subsequently appeared before a Navy Court of Inquiry. A court martial was recommended for the CO and the Officer in Charge of the Research Department, Lt Steve Harris.[11] But the Secretary of the Navy, John H. Chafee, rejected the recommendation, stating, "They have suffered enough." Commander Bucher was never found guilty of any indiscretions and continued his Navy career until retirement.[12]
Bucher died in San Diego on 28 January 2004, partly as a result of complications from the injuries he suffered during his time as a prisoner of war in North Korea.[12]
Pueblo is still held by North Korea. In October 1999, it was towed from Wonson on the east coast, around the Korean Peninsula, to Nampo on the west coast. This required moving the vessel through international waters. With no Carrier Battle Group available in Korean waters no attempt to recapture the Pueblo was made. This move was done just before the visit of U.S. presidential envoy James Kelly to the capital Pyongyang. The present location of Pueblo is in Pyongyang, an attempt to project an image to tourists of the North Koreans' strength.
The Pueblo (AGER-2) was the third ship named after Pueblo, Colorado. It remains today a commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy. It is widely, but incorrectly, believed to be the first American ship to have been captured since the wars in Tripoli. On 8 December 1941, the river gunboat USS Wake (PR-3) was captured by Japanese forces while moored in Shanghai.[13]
[edit] Tourist attraction
USS Pueblo is one of the primary tourist attractions in Pyongyang, North Korea, having attracted over 250,000 visitors since being moved to the Taedong River.[14] Pueblo is now anchored at the very spot where the General Sherman Incident is believed to have taken place in 1866. Often tourists are led through the ship by a guided tour. Participants will first enter the ship for a 15-minute video shown from a small TV set mounted in the ceiling, explaining how the North Koreans captured the ship, with contemporary film footage. All areas of the ship are shown, including the secret communications room full of encryption machines and radio equipment, still in a partly disassembled state after they were inspected by North Korean technicians. One highlight of the guided tour is a photo opportunity where visitors may have their pictures taken while holding the rear-mounted machine-gun.
[edit] North Korea offers to repatriate the USS Pueblo
During an October 2000 visit to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, North Korean negotiators reportedly presented an offer to repatriate the USS Pueblo as part of a proposed process of normalizing diplomatic relations between the two nations. However, the Department of State is unable to confirm this claim.
During an August 2005 diplomatic session in North Korea, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg received verbal indications from high-ranking North Korean officials that the state would be willing to repatriate the USS Pueblo to United States authorities, on the condition that a prominent U.S. government official, such as the Secretary of State, come to Pyongyang for high-level talks. While the U.S. government has publicly stated on several occasions that the return of the still-commissioned Navy vessel is a priority, the current overall situation of U.S.-North Korean relations makes such an official state visit seem unlikely. It seems likely that the U.S. government considers the USS Pueblo a low priority, compared to issues such as North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions, human rights record, and its relations with South Korea.[15]
[edit] Lawsuit
Former Pueblo crewmembers William Thomas Massie, Dunnie Richard Tuck, Donald Raymond McClarren and Lloyd Bucher sued the North Korean government for the abuse they suffered at its hands during their captivity. North Korea did not respond to the suit. In December 2008, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. in Washington DC awarded the plaintiffs $65 million in damages, calling their treatment by North Korea "extensive and shocking."[16]
[edit] See also
- Gulf of Tonkin Incident
- SS Mayagüez incident
- USS Liberty incident
- Technical research ship
- List of hostage crises
[edit] Sources
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
- NKIDP: Crisis and Confrontation on the Korean Peninsula: 1968-1969, A Critical Oral History
[edit] References
- ^ "Naval Vessel Register webpage on USS Pueblo - AGER-2". Nvr.navy.mil. http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/AGER2.htm. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
- ^ Pueblo History.Navy
- ^ "Attacked by North Koreans". Usspueblo.org. http://www.usspueblo.org/v2f/attack/attacked.htm. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
- ^ American Society of International Law. Proceedings of the American Society of International Law: at its sixty-third annual meeting held at Washington, D.C. April 24-26, 1969. "Questions of international law raised by the seizure of the U.S.S. Pueblo."
- ^ Published: 1968. ""N. Korea Seize U.S. Ship, 1968 Year in Review". UPI.com". http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1968/N.-Korea-Seize-U.S.-Ship/12303153093431-9/. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
- ^ "South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com". Sun-sentinel.com. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-2004obits.gallery,0,6869671.photogallery?coll=sfla-home-utility&index=128. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
- ^ "USS Pueblo Crew Testimony". Usspueblo.org. http://www.usspueblo.org/v2f/captivity/prelude.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
- ^ USS Pueblo Crew Short Story CTO Sea Dogs
- ^ Bush lauded for handling of EP-3 incident WorldNetDaily
- ^ End of North Korea? The Palm Beach Times
- ^ Published: 1969. ""1969 Year in Review". Upi.com. http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1969/Chappaquiddick/12303189849225-7/#title. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
- ^ a b "Lloyd Bucher, captain of the Pueblo, buried in San Diego : North County Times - Californian 02-04-2004". Nctimes.com. 2004-02-03. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/02/04/news/top_stories/2_3_0422_03_54.txt. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
- ^ Wake History.Navy
- ^ Caroline Gluck, "North Korea drags its feet", BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1626579.stm . Retrieved 2007-01-23.
- ^ "www.shippingtimes.co.uk "Saturday feature: Old flag for an old spy ship"". Shippingtimes.co.uk. http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item479_uss_pueblo.htm. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
- ^ Washington Post, "Damages Awarded In USS Pueblo Case", December 31, 2008, p. 5.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pueblo incident |
- YouTube video taken of and aboard the USS Pueblo in Korea
- Official website by former USS Pueblo crew members
- CNN.com obituary for Commander Lloyd M. Bucher
- USS Pueblo on Google Maps satellite image
- Pueblo at the Internet Movie Database -- a 1973 TV movie about the Pueblo incident
- North Korean International Documentation Project
- A navy and marine corps report of investigation of the “USS Pueblo seizure” conducted pursuant to chapter II of the manual of the Judge Advocate General [1] published as six PDF files: 123456
Coordinates: 38°59′28″N 125°43′31″E / 38.99111°N 125.72528°E
