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The ship was built at Kewaunee, Wisconsin in 1944 as U.S. Army cargo ship FP-344. She was transferred to the US Navy in 1966 and 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 and re-designated AGER-2 on 13 May 1967. AGER (Auxiliary General Environmental Research) denoted a joint Naval and National Security Agency (NSA) program.
Pueblo weighed about 850 tons, had a top speed of 12 knots, and was armed with two 50 caliber machine guns. She had accommodations for a crew of 70 with 6 officers.
After training operations off the US West Coast, Pueblo left for Yokosuka, Japan on November 6, 1967. She arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on November 13, 1967.
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2 Aftermath 3 See also 4 External links |
US Naval authorities insist that before the capture, Pueblo was miles outside North Korean territorial waters. The crew affirms the assertion that the spy ship was operating from international waters. The mission statement allowed her to approach within a mile of that limit.
On January 5, 1968, Pueblo left for Sasebo, Japan. She left Sasebo on January 11 with specific orders to intercept and conduct surveillance of Soviet navalnaval activity in the Tsushima Straits and to gather signal and electronic intelligence.
On January 21 a modified Soviet style subchaser, SO-I class, passed within two miles of the Pueblo.
The next day, two North Korean fishing trawlers (Lenta Class) passed with 25 yards of Pueblo. That day, a North Korean unit made an assassination attempt against South Korean leadership targets, but the crew of Pueblo was not informed.
The following day, January 23, Pueblo was approached by a subchaser and her nationality challanged. Pueblo responded by raising the US flag. The North Korean vessel then ordered her to ordered to stand down or be fired upon. Pueblo attempted to maneuver away, but was considerably slower than the subchaser. Additionally, three torpedo boats appeared on the horizon and then joined in the chase and later attack. The attackers were soon joined by two MiG-21 fighters. A fourth torpedo boat and a second subchaser 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 unarmored, and no attempt was made to man them.
The North Korean vessels attempted to board Pueblo but she maneuvered to prevent this and a subchaser opened fire with a 55 mm cannon. The smaller vessels fired machine guns into Pueblo, which then signalled compliance and began destroying sensitive material. The volume of material on board was so great it made it impossible to destroy all of it.
Radio contact with Naval Security Group in Kamiseya, Japan had been ongoing. Seventh Fleet command was aware of Pueblo’s situation. Help 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 awoken, Pueblo had been captured and any rescue attempt would be futile.
Pueblo followed the North Korean vessels as ordered, but then stopped immediately outside North Korean waters. She was again fired upon, and a US sailor, Duane Hodges, was killed. She was boarded by men from a torpedo boat and a subchaser. Crew members had their hands tied, were blindfolded, beaten with AK-47s and prodded with bayonets.
Once Pueblo was in North Korean territorial waters, she was boarded again, this time by high ranking North Korean officials.
Pueblo was taken into port at Wonson and the crew moved to POW camps, reporting on release they were starved and regularly tortured while in North Korean custody.
Following a written admission by the US that Pueblo had been spying, and an apology, the crew was released exactly 11 months after being taken prisoner. The US then retracted the admission and apology. Commander Lloyd M. Bucher, the captain, appeared before a Navy Court of Inquiry. A court martial was recommended but the Secretary of the Navy, John H Chafee, overturned the recommendation. Commander Bucher never found guilty of any indiscretions and the general consensus is that he was treated badly. Bucher followed his orders, which dictated that he not spark an international incident. No combat resulted from the capture of the Pueblo. Bucher died on January 28, 2004.
Pueblo is still held by North Korea. In October 1999 she was moved from Wonson on the east coast, to Nampo on the west coast. This required moving the vessel through international waters, and it was done just before the visit of US presidential envoy James Kelly to the capital Pyongyang.
Pueblo remains a commissioned ship in the US Navy. She is widely believed to be the first American ship to have been captured since the wars in Tripoli, but that is incorrect. On December 8, 1941, the USS Wake (PR-3) was captured by Japanese forces.
Activity and conflict near Korea
Aftermath
See also
External links