USS Pueblo

[Iain Stuart Yardley]

I had this story pop up in my e-mail a few minutes ago. The story of the USS Pueblo siezed by North Korea on 23rd January 1968 along with 83 crew members, and their 11-month imprisonment ordeal until their release on 22nd December 1968.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/9062/pueblo.html

Cheers,

Boz

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Korea Times:

quote:

By Lee Jin-woo
Staff Reporter
North Korea expressed its willingness to hand over a U.S. spy ship, the U.S.S Pueblo, captured by the North’s navy in the late 1960s, on the visit of a U.S. governor to Pyongyang last week, diplomatic sources in Seoul said yesterday.

It was belatedly known that the North hinted at the possible return of the captured U.S. spy ship, which has been exhibited as a war trophy at a North Korean port for three decades, to Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and his delegation, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

The delegation, which also included Anthony Principi, a former U.S. secretary for veteran affairs, and Victor Cha, a White House advisor on inter-Korean affairs, was invited to see the insides of the 906-ton ship, which has been displayed near a river at the North’s capital since 1999.

For the rest of the story, go to http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200704/kt2007041519294253460.htm

Comment: I'll believe it when I see it happen.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

USS Pueblo NVR listing at http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/AGER2.htm still shows this ship as being in commission.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Navy Times:

Senator suggests deal for return of Pueblo

quote:

war trophy on display at the Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Md., may be the key to securing the return of a Navy ship captured by North Korea nearly 40 years ago, Senator Wayne Allard, R-Colo., wrote in a March 18 letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The technical research ship Pueblo is the only commissioned U.S. warship currently in foreign hands. It has been on display in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang since it was captured off the North Korean coast during an intelligence-gathering mission Jan. 23, 1968. North Korea held 82 of the ship’s crew members for 11 months.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a briefing Tuesday that the Pueblo is U.S. property and that “it should be returned” because its seizure was “in violation of international law,” according to the department’s Web site.

For the rest of the story, go to http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/04/marine_pueblo_070418/

Comment: while the return of the ship would have quite a bit of symbolic value, one has to wonder what would become of her after being returned. After 40 years, this ship is hopelessly obsolete. Perhaps the USS Intrepid Museum could give her a home.

 

[Linda Sherlock]

After all these years, would the ship even be sea-worthy enough to make it home? I read the other day she was 63 years old, which makes her WWII vintage.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>After all these years, would the ship even be sea-worthy enough to make it home?<<

It's possible. You'd be amazed at how long some old U.S. warships have soldiered on in other navies. Taiwan only recently decommissioned the last of their WWII vintage destroyers and are still operating the former USS Comstock (LSD-19) as the Chung Cheng (LSD-191) See http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/12/1219.htm

That said, it's unlikely in the extreme that the Pueblo is still operable. The North Koreans were hardly interested in using her as anything other then a trophy. If she comes back, she'll probably by piggy backed on a heavy lift vessel.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

The Shipping Times has this take on it...and they're probably right:

Saturday feature: Old flag for an old spy ship

quote:

It seems straightforward, but it may not be as simple as a US senator thinks

It's a story that is intriguing, fascinating and may get even more so.

On January 23rd 1968 the USS PUEBLO, a small naval vessel, veteran of WW2 was conducting surveillance of Soviet activity and gathering signals intelligence from the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) in the Tsushima Straits. She was intercepted by a North Korean naval vessel and ordered to stand down or be fired upon. After attempting to get away from her aggressor, the PUEBLO was chased by the vessel along with torpedo boats, joined later by two MiG fighters and and more North Korean vessels.

For the rest, go to http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item479_uss_pueblo.htm

Comment: More an editorial then a news story, but worth a look.

[Moderator's Note: Two threads discussing the Pueblo have been merged to form this one. MAB]

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Toledo Blade:

40 years later, ship seizure by North Korea still stings Navy

quote:

Wednesday marks the 40th anniversary of the North Korean capture of the USS Pueblo, an incident that still rankles the top brass in the Navy and sparked a continuing debate about what went wrong on that fateful day and who was responsible.

Beyond the historical controversy, there's a determined group of men and their friends who want the ship back.

They are the Pueblo crew members, who hold deep feelings about their ship as well as the 11 months they endured as prisoners in North Korea.

For the rest, see http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080120/NEWS14/792288476

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From AOL News:

North Korea urges US to remember 'bitter lesson' of 1968 spy ship seizure

quote:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea urged the United States on Tuesday to recall the "bitter lesson" of the communist country's seizure of the American spy ship USS Pueblo four decades ago and to work for permanent peace on the Korean peninsula.

The USS Pueblo was seized off North Korea while it was on an intelligence-gathering mission on Jan. 23, 1968. The North insists the ship was operating inside its coastal zone. U.S. Navy records say the vessel was in international waters.

For the rest, see http://news.aol.com/story/_a/north-korea-urges-us-to-remember-bitter/n20080122093509990006

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Star-Tribune.com:

40 years after capture by North Korea, USS Pueblo crew reuniting, awaiting Navy recognition

quote:

JERICHO, Vt. - Ralph McClintock expected only a three-week mission when he boarded the USS Pueblo in January 1968.

Instead, he and his shipmates became pawns in a Cold War sideshow when North Korea captured the Navy spy ship and imprisoned its 82 crew members. Some still suffer the physical effects of torture or malnutrition they suffered in 11 months of captivity.

McClintock is proud of his service as a 24-year-old communications technician and the bonds he made with his crew mates, but that pride is tinged with bitterness.

Three page story begins at http://www.startribune.com/nation/27953039.html?elr=KArksCiUMEaPc:UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

USS Pueblo Veterans Association: http://www.usspueblo.org/

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Navy Times:

Pueblo sailors remember skipper at 40-year reunion

quote:

BURLINGTON, Vt. – As the crew members of the Vietnam-era spy ship Pueblo and their families enjoyed a lunchtime cruise in Burlington harbor Sept. 11, the mood was light and chatty.

Reunion attendees from across the country caught up with one another’s news, only occasionally referring to the incident that was a pivotal part of their lives: their capture and torture by North Koreans.

Full story at http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/09/navy_pueblo_091208w/

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From MSNBC:

Judge awards millions to men from USS Pueblo

quote:

WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Tuesday awarded more than $65 million to several men who were captured and tortured by North Korea after the communist country seized the U.S. spy ship USS Pueblo during the Cold War.

North Korea never responded to the lawsuit filed by William Thomas Massie, Donald Raymond McClarren, Dunnie Richard Tuck and the estate of Lloyd Bucher. U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. entered the judgment against the country.

More at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28440016/

Comment: Good luck on the collection!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Navy Newsstand:

USS Pueblo Ceremony of Remembrance Held by Naval Oceanographic Office

quote:

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. (NNS) -- Two former Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) employees joined Navy personnel at Stennis Space Center, Miss., Dec. 9, for a "living" history ceremony in remembrance of the North Korean capture of the USS Pueblo (AGER 2) and the subsequent detainment of American Navy personnel in 1968.

Former NAVOCEANO surveyors, Harry Iredale and Dunnie Tuck, were members of the USS Pueblo crew, assigned to the ship for the then highly classified electronic intelligence collection mission of the vessel.

More at http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=57662

 

[Michael H. Standart]

From The Navy Times:

Pueblo’s crew released 42 years ago

quote:

PUEBLO, Colo. – It’s been 42 years since North Korea released the crew of the USS Pueblo – a naval ship named after the city of Pueblo.

More at http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/12/ap-pueblo-anniversary-122310/