Exploring the Mistaken Identity Claim: USS Liberty and El Quseir

By Ken Halliwell (September 15, 2005)

One claim made is that the Israeli motor torpedo boat (MTB) commanders mistook USS Liberty for the Egyptian ship El Quseir. We're told that the MTB commanders looked at pictures of Egyptian ships in a document carried on board the MTB's, compared it with USS Liberty seen through their binoculars and naked eye, and simultaneously came to the conclusion that USS Liberty looked so much like El Quseir, that they were all convinced she was El Quseir.

Below is a digital image of the actual pictures that were contained in the MTB ship identification document. (Note: the ship's data at the bottom -- including its draft for optimal setting torpedo running depth -- was originally printed in Hebrew language script.)

As you can see, the pictures of El Quseir were fairly large and relatively clear. The pictures show that El Quseir had:

  1. two rows of port holes running along the sides of her hull,
  2. two large masts (forward and aft) and a small central radar mast,
  3. one small superstructure,
  4. an angled stack behind the superstructure, and
  5. a 90 degree bow point.

In all respects, she appeared like a classic "tramp steamer" -- a relatively common sight in the Mediterranean Sea region, before and during 1967.

Other than both ships having general hull lines of cargo type ships, the two ships had little in common. The USS Liberty had:

  1. no port holes in her hull,
  2. three large masts (forward, central and rear),
  3. a large superstructure,
  4. a vertical stack in the middle of the superstructure,
  5. an angled (78 degree) bow point,
  6. a very large antenna reflector dish aft the superstructure,
  7. a large antenna reflector dish at the forecastle level, and
  8. many antennas on her decks and masts.

Of course, USS Liberty also had her US Navy ID number "GTR5" painted in very large letters on both sides of her bow and stern. In all respects, she appeared like a WW2-era Victory ship converted to some type of communications ship, with US Navy markings. (Also, like "tramp steamers," converted Victory ship hulls were a relatively common sight -- likely more so due to their later vintage and widely used hull design -- in the Mediterranean Sea region, before and during 1967.)

Below is a montage of El Quseir and USS Liberty. Can you tell which ship is El Quseir and which is USS Liberty? Try covering the top part of the rear-half of each ship, from about the middle of each ship's stack. Can you still tell them apart? If you're having trouble seeing the difference, then it's likely that you don't want to see the difference; and, perhaps, that was the case with the MTB commanders.