The Court affirmed LIBERTY'S right to be where she was. A
neutral nation, the Court stated, has a legal right to dispatch a ship into
international waters adjacent to an area of hostilities. So long as such a
neutral ship maintains the impartial attitude of neutrality, the Court
pointed out, each belligerent has a duty to refrain from attacking her.
The Court found that LIBERTY entered the Mediterranean June 2,
after stopping briefly at Rota, Spain, where she took aboard fuel and pro-
visions. Her orders were to steam at best possible sustained speed to an
operating area in the Eastern Mediterranean north of the Sinai Peninsula.
Testimony before the Court showed that LIBERTY arrived in her
assigned operating area the morning of June 8. Her orders were to steam
in an area bounded on the north by latitude 32N, on the east and west by
Longitudes 34 East and 33 East, and on the south by a curved line following
the contour of the coast 12.5 nautical miles off the coast.
The U.A.R. claims a l2-mile territorial sea, Israel six miles. The
United States claims and recognizes claims of three miles. Thus LIBERTY's
operating area was defined to ensure that she would remain in international
waters as that term is recognized by all parties concerned, and with some
margin to spare. The Court found that she was, in fact, well within her
assigned operating area at the time of the attack, and that at no time before
or after the attack did she approach closer than 13.6 nautical miles to land.
She was under the operational control of Commander Sixth Fleet at the time
of the attack.
LIBERTY steamed in her operating area the morning of June 8 in a
"modified condition of readiness three." This meant that she had her normal
steaming watch on deck, plus one man standing by the forward gun mounts.
LIBERTY carries four pedestal-mounted .50-cal. Browning machine guns --
two single mounts on her forecastle and identical mounts on either side of
the deck-house aft of the bridge. Under "modified condition three," bridge
lookouts would man the two after guns until the crew manned general
quarters stations.
LIBERTY steamed southeasterly (130° true) until 8:49 a.m., when
she reached the eastern boundary of her operating area and turned to a
southwesterly course (253° true). At 8:50, a single unidentified jet crossed
her wake, an estimated three to five miles astern, then circled the ship and
retired in the direction of the mainland. No signals were exchanged between
the ship and the plane. LIBERTY was flying her normal size American flag
(5 feet by 8 feet) at the masthead. Her name was painted on her stern in
English, and her U.S. Navy distinguishing letters and number on her bow.
(Egyptian naval ships carry their names in the cursive Arabic script.) Her
