Al Qaeda suspects arrested over ship attack plot 11/06/2002 08:45 By Ali Bouzerda, SKHIRAT, Morocco (Reuters) - Morocco has arrested three Saudis suspected to be al Qaeda members planning "terrorist attacks" on British and U.S. ships in the Straits of Gibraltar.

Hezbollah Plotted Ship Bombings By Associated Press June 9, 2002, 12:08 AM EDTSINGAPORE -- The Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah plotted in the late 1990s to blow up American and Israeli ships in Singapore, a news report said Sunday.

USS Cole (DD-67), Defense Department Report Navy Investigates “Ramming”, Explosion of U.S. Destroyer in Yemen, The U.S. Navy is investigating the cause of an October 12 2000 explosion that tore a hole in the side of the USS Cole when it apparently was rammed by an unidentified rubber boat while the American destroyer was in Aden,Yemen for a refueling stop. (US Navy press release)

The Achille Lauro was an Italian cruise ship that was hijacked in October 1985 by Palestinian terrorists. The hijackers seized the ship in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt on October 7, demanding the release of 50 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. They murdered an elderly wheelchair-bound U.S. passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, before surrendering in Egypt on October 9.

SS Mayaguez  the 12th of May 1975, a Cambodian gunboat seized the SS Mayaguez, an American Merchant Marine vessel, and its crew. The Ford Administration chose a forceful response, dispatching U.S. Navy aircraft to attack the Cambodian mainland, and US Marines backed by a flotilla of Air Force aircraft to battle Khmer Rouge soldiers on Koh Tang Island in the Gulf of Siam. According to the civilian crew, the Cambodians, having captured the ship, hadn’t a clue as to what to do with it.

USS Pueblo (AGER-2) On 23 January 1968, while off Wonsan, North Korea, Pueblo was attacked by local forces and seized. One crewmember was killed in the assault and the other eighty-two men on board were taken prisoner. The North Koreans contended that the ship had violated their territorial waters, a claim vigorously denied by the United States. After eleven months in captivity, often under inhumane conditions, Pueblo's crew were repatriated on 23 December 1968. The ship was retained by North Korea, though she is still the property of the U.S. Navy. She was exhibited at Wonsan and Hungham for three decades and is now a museum at Pyongyang, the North Korean capital city.

USS Liberty (AGTR-5) attacked by Israel the afternoon 8 June 1967.  During the "Six-Day War" between Israel and several Arab nations, she was sent to collect electronic intelligence in the eastern Mediterranean.  The attack in international waters followed over nine hours of close surveillance. Israeli pilots circled the ship at low level 13 times on eight different occasions before attacking. Radio operators in Spain, Lebanon, Germany and aboard the ship itself all heard the pilots reporting to their headquarters that this was an American ship. They attacked anyway. While the ship was in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula, Liberty, though clearly marked as a U.S. Navy ship, was struck by Israeli aircraft. After suffering damage and many personnel casualties from gunfire, rockets and bombs, she was further attacked by three Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats. One torpedo hit her on the starboard side, forward of the superstructure, opening a large hole in her hull. In all, thirty-four men were killed in the attacks and nearly 170 wounded. Israel subsequently apologized for the incident, explaining that its air and naval forces had mistaken the Liberty for a much smaller Egyptian Navy ship.  Though severely damaged, Liberty's crew kept her afloat, and she was able to leave the area under her own power. She was escorted to Malta by units of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and was there given interim repairs. (US Navy Historical Site and Washington Report on Middle East Affairs)

The Texas City explosion of 1947 During the morning of April 16, 1947 a seemingly fine rain of oily mist fell upon Galveston, Texas while in Houston a rumbling reminiscent of a small earthquake was felt. What the inhabitants of these cities didn’t know at the time was that a giant explosion and fire had ripped though the booming town of Texas City. Anchored in the harbor of Texas City that morning was a cargo ship named the “Grand Camp.” In its holds was tons of an ammonium nitrate fertilizer that was to be shipped to Europe. There has been much speculation over the years as to what caused the initial fire upon the Grand Camp but fifty-three years later there has been no definitive answer.

By night new fears arose as another ship, the “High Flyer” had been burning all day since the original explosion and word was reaching the workers and towns people that she was carrying sulfur and a cargo hold full of ammonium nitrate. All during the day tugs had tried in vain to move her, all to no avail.  As the High Flyer exploded she took another ship, the “Wilson B. Keene,” with her. A concrete warehouse and a grain elevator went up in even more fires and explosions.