The oldest commissioned ship in the US Navy, the USS Constitution, celebrated its 237th birthday in October this year amid much fanfare. In contrast, the second oldest US ship—the USS Pueblo—remains moored in Pyongyang, under the captivity of North Korea.
The USS Constitution and Pueblo were never decommissioned from service and operate as museums.
However, unlike the USS Constitution, which was transformed into a floating museum in Boston, the USS Pueblo is a museum ship that remains docked thousands of miles away from home in the Victorious War Museum in North Korea.
Fifty-six years ago, on December 23, 1968, the crew of this World War-era US Navy ship seized by North Korean forces was released by Pyongyang after an excruciating eleven-month negotiation. The ship, however, could not make it back.
In the US Naval history, which is otherwise replete with stories of battle successes, December 23 is remembered as the day when the USS Pueblo crew crossed the “bridge of no return.” The bridge in question was used for prisoner exchanges after the conclusion of the Korean Armistice in 1953 between North and South Korea.
The phrase “Bridge of no return” comes from the last command issued to prisoners of war (POWs) who were taken to the bridge for repatriation: they could either stay in their host nation or cross the bridge to go back to their home country. Once they decided to cross the bridge, they would never be permitted to return, even if they later had second thoughts.
The last time the bridge was used for the exchange of POWs was in 1968 when the crew of the USS Pueblo was released and instructed to use the bridge to enter South Korea.
When Tragedy Struck USS Pueblo
A Banner-class environmental research ship, the USS Pueblo, was placed into service during World War II. The role and mission set of the vessel was later altered to suit the Cold War era requirements, and it was transformed into a spy ship by the US Navy in 1967.
The ship was ostensibly tasked with monitoring radio signals and electronic information from North Korea and instructed to collect oceanographic data.
By this time, more than a decade had passed since the end of the Korean War in 1953, in which the US fought alongside the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The US was now fully engaged in the Vietnam War.
In the 1960s, the Cold War was in full swing, and North Korea was part of the Soviet Union camp. The US believed that the North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung wanted to take advantage of US preoccupation with Vietnam and create so much trouble for the US that it would give up on defending South Korea.
Consequently, Washington felt compelled to keep an eye on North Korea. The USS Pueblo, with its 83-member crew, was scheduled to start its first spy mission against North Korea in January 1968.
The ship arrived in the Sea of Japan via the Tsushima Strait on January 11, 1968. It was given specific orders to monitor and intercept Soviet Navy activity in the Tsushima Strait and to collect electronic and signal information from North Korea.
On January 16, 1968, Pueblo took position for the patrol near North Korea. The patrol’s objective was to travel from 41°N to 39°N and back along the North Korean coast. The Pueblo had specific instructions that while carrying out her task, her closest point of approach was to be not nearer than 13 nautical miles from the North Korean land mass.
Disguised as an environmental research vessel, the ship eventually entered international seas off the eastern coast of North Korea. The American military officials were optimistic that Pueblo would not encounter any difficulties as long as it remained in international waters.
They could not have been more wrong.
USS Pueblo was also unfortunate as it was conducting a sensitive mission close to North Korea at a time of heightened tensions in the region. On January 21, a North Korean Special Operations Force squad targeted the Presidential Palace in Seoul to assassinate the then-South Korean President Park Chung-hee.
However, the crew of the USS Pueblo was not informed of what had transpired and was not aware of the impending danger.
The D-Day For USS Pueblo
On January 23, the North Korean ships approached Pueblo and asked it about its nationality. Unaware of the assassination attempt on the South Korean President, Pueblo responded by raising the American flag and instructing the civilian oceanographers to begin water sample procedures using their deck winch.
The North Korean forces were unconvinced.
The North Korean submarine chasers warned Pueblo to stand down or risk being fired upon. Pueblo attempted to retreat, but its pace was far slower than that of the submarine chasing it. The North Koreans fired several warning bullets at it.
Three torpedo ships also arrived on the horizon and joined the chase and the final attack. Additionally, the Korean People’s Air Force promptly dispatched two MiG-21 fighters. A few minutes later, a fourth torpedo ship and another chaser appeared on the horizon.
Some accounts suggest that during a nearly three-hour standoff with the North Korean gunboats, the American spy ship was able to establish radio contact with US soldiers in South Korea.
Though the USS Pueblo was assured that help was coming, it never really came. The US forces promised an overflight by a squadron of F-4 Phantom jet fighter bombers, but it never happened.
Later, US officials would clarify that the aircraft were equipped to carry nuclear bombs instead of conventional ones to respond to any nuclear attack the Soviet Union may launch.
Pueblo was like a sitting duck, with only two 50-caliber machine guns concealed behind tarps coated in ice and a few handguns. At least one crew member died in the attack. With no way out, the USS Pueblo’s commander, Lloyd “Pete” Bucher, surrendered his ship.
North Korea ultimately seized Pueblo and took the surviving crew as prisoners. Before being captured, the sailors of the Pueblo managed to burn much of the classified material aboard, but according to a National Security Agency study (declassified in 2012), the loss “would dwarf anything in previous U.S. cryptologic history.”
USS Pueblo was held captive under the pretext that it was a spy ship that had violated North Korea’s territorial seas, and Pyongyang was determined to force the crew to make public admissions of the crime. This led to almost a year-long period of what the US crew described as “barbarity.”
The US Navy and USS Pueblo crew members say that the ship was several miles outside of North Korean territorial waters before it was unjustly captured. North Korea, on the other hand, has maintained for years that the ship was fully within its borders and, therefore, within its authority.
North Korea Kept The Ship, Let The Crew Go
Shocked by the seizure of the ship by North Korea, the US started to brainstorm options to bring the ship back home. Many alternatives were floated, considered, and rejected.
One option that was initially considered was the naval blockade of Wonsan’s strongly fortified North Korean harbor, where the captured Pueblo was docked. However, it was ultimately considered too risky.
A host of other options, including seizing North Korean ships on the high seas and threatening them with nuclear weapons, were considered momentarily before being discarded. The US went for a blatant show of force by deploying more US troops in South Korea—albeit to little success.
Ultimately, Washington chose the safest option at its disposal—negotiation. The talks with North Korea were held at the Panmunjom truce village along the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas. However, a significant amount of time had been lost, and the imprisoned crew were allegedly tortured to extract fabricated confessions.
Eventually, North Korean authorities got the crew to make the confession they wanted. At the Panmunjom talks, North Korea demanded that the US sign a document known as the “three A’s,” which stood for “Admit wrongdoing, Apologize for it, and Assure it won’t happen again.” It was every bit humiliating for the United States.
It was precisely eleven months since the January 23 seizure that the crew was allowed to walk free on December 23, 1968. The crew crossed the “Bridge of No Return” from North Korea to South Korea one by one under the leadership of Lt. Cmdr. Bucher.
The USS Pueblo was exhibited at Wonsan and Hungnam until it was relocated to a museum in Pyongyang. It remains in North Korean custody to this day.
This year, the commemoration of the release of the captive crew coincides with tensions running high between North Korea and the United States as Washington has taken a strong exception to Pyongyang sending troops and military support to Russia to fight Ukraine.
On the other hand, North Korea has been disenchanted by the US launching frequent military drills with South Korea, labeling it as a provocation.
Fifty-six years on, little has changed between the two countries.
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