Crisis on Board the USS Pueblo
An incident that nearly reopened a war
On Jan 23,1968,a tiny US Navy spy ship called the USS Pueblo bobbed on the cold,gray waters of the Japan Sea off the port of Wonsan,North Korea's main naval base.
The Pueblo's mission was electronic intelligence.It was stuffed with the most sophisticated device the navy had at the time for recording enemy radio signals.The job at hand was to pinpoint military radar station in North Korea.
The Pueblo 's skipper was commander Lloyd Bucher,a dedicated officer who worked hard and played hard.Life had taken him form an impoverished childhood to a career as a navy history.
Nobody excepted trouble.Spy ships of the United States and the communist power had hovered off each other's coasts for years.They were seldom molested if they stayed outside territorial waters.Bucher and his crew were to learn too late that North Korea was one of the world 's least predictable counties.
On the morning of Jan 23,a North Korea warship approached the 906-ton Pueblo and demanded that it stand by to be searched.
Bucher signalled back:"I am in international waters,"in effect refusing.
Suddenly a flotilla of speedy North Korean torpedo boats and patrol craft emerged from Wonsan Harbour.WhenBucher tried to sail his slow,clumsy ship away,the North Korean opened fire.