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1702Z 08
June 1967 transmitted message text from
Commander, Task Force Sixty to
Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
O 081702Z JUN 67
FM CTF SIX ZERO
TO OASD PA
INFO COMSIXTHFLT
CINCUSNAVEUR
USCINCEUR
JCS
CNO
CHINFO
BT
C O N F I D E N T I A L
1. FOLLOWING COPY FROM NEWSMEN EMBARKED FOR YOUR ACTION.
2. ABOARD THE CARRIER AMERICA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, JUNE 8 (AP) A
MAJOR ACTIVITY APPEARED AFOOT TODAY IN THESE TENSE WATERS AS SOVIET
SHIPS - PARTICULARLY A SWIFT PATROL ESCORT CRAFT - SYSTEMATICALLY
HARASSED SIXTH FLEET UNITS. AT ONE POINT THIS CARRIER SUDDENLY
RECALLED AIRCRAFT WHICH HAD BEEN LAUNCHED ONLY MOMENTS EARLIER.
THERE WAS A SENSE OF URGENCY ABOUT THE BRIDGE, AND REPORTERS WERE
REQUESTED TO LEAVE. THE CAPTAIN'S AREA WAS TEMPORARILY PLACED OFF
LIMITS. PARA A REPORTER HEARD A RADIO TRANSMISSION WHICH SAID "WE'VE
BEEN HIT." IT WAS NOT CLEAR WHETHER THIS WAS AN AIRCRAFT OR SHIP
TRANSMISSION OR WHETHER IT WAS A REFERENCE TO ANY HOSTILE FIRE. PARA
DURING ALL THIS AMERICA TASK FORCE UNITS SUDDENLY SEEMED TO SUR-
ROUND THE SOVIET PATROL CRAFT, WHICH FOR HOURS HAD BEEN DARTING IN
TOWARD THE CARRIER BUT PREVENTED FROM PULLING CLOSE BY A DESTROYER
SERVING AS A BUFFER. A-4 SKYHAWKS AND FOUR F-4 PHANTOM INTERCEPTORS
WERE BEING SENT ALOFT WITH BOMBS AND MISSILES. UNQUOTE
3. TO NAT BROADCAST NEW YORK (COLLECT) PRESS URGENT THERE IS AN
UNCONFIRMED REPORT THAT A U.S. NAVY SHIP HAS BEEN TORPEDOED IN
MEDITERRANEAN STOP THERE WAS NO INFORMATION AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY
ON WHAT VESSEL MAY HAVE BEEN HIT NOR IS THERE ANY INFORMATION ON
HOW IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN TORPEDOED. STOP THE COMMANDER OF THE SIXTH
FLEET EARLIER ANNOUNCED THAT A SUBMARINE WAS PROBABLY OPERATING IN
THAT IMMEDIATE AREA BUT THERE WAS NO INDICATION OF ITS POSSIBLE
NATIONALITY STOP THE USS AMERICA IMMEDIATELY WENT INTO CONDITION TWO,
WHICH INCLUDES THE ARMING OF ALL AIRCRAFT STOP THE FLEET BY NOW
STEAMING IN CLOSER FORMATION THAN IS NORMAL WITH THE CARRIER SARATOGA
STEAMING WITHIN SIGHT OF THE USS AMERICA AS WELL AS APPROXIMATELY
FIFTEEN OTHER AMERICAN SHIPS STOP TWO RUSSIAN NAVAL SHIPS COMMA, A
GUIDED MISSILE DESTROYER AND A PATROL CRAFT COMMA ARE ALSO OPERATING
IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE SIXTH FLEET STOP GORALSKI
4. URGENT PRESS COLLECT TO NEWSCAST LONDON PS4 UNDISCLOSED EVENT
OCCURRED IN THE MEDITERRANEAN STOP NEWSMEN INCLUDING MYSELF BARRED
FROM BRIDGE OF USS AMERICA STOP UNCONFIRMED REPORTS HERE SUGGEST
SOME PLANES ABOARD NOW ARMED AND READY FOR DISPATCH STOP POSSIBLE
CONNECTION SONAR CONTACT BY SIXTH FLEET VESSEL QUOTE PROBABLY AND
AS FAR UNIDENTIFIED SUBMARINE UNQUOTE MUCH SPECULATION ABOARD IMMINENT
NEWSBREAK STOP WE TOLD TO STANDBY FOR THIS STOP PLEASE SORT OUT COM-
PLICATED COMMUNICATIONS PROCEDURE EX THIS VESSEL WITH FINER STOP
UNDERSTAND URGENT CABLES GO VIA WASHINGTON STOP FILMING ABOARD RE-
STRICTED PROTEMP BUT WILL ENDE YOUR CAUTIONS PIECE TO CAMERA LATER
CUMOVERLAY STOP FINER STANDING BY TO DISPATCH FILM EX ATHENS MAANGOLD
5. URGENT DPR COLLECT UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL - WASHINGTON D.C.
FEET 6/9 1ST NIGHT ID FIGHT BY HARRY J. STATHOS UNITED PRESS INTER-
NATIONAL ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS AMERICA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
(UPI) - THE U.S. SIXTH FLEET'S TASK FORCE 60 THURSDAY WAS ORDERED INTO
A HIGH STATE OF COMBAT READINESS, APPARENTLY BECAUSE OF THE WAR IN
THE MIDDLE EAST. AT 3 P.M. (1300 GMT), FLIGHT OPERATIONS ABOARD THE
AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS AMERICA WERE ABRUPTLY SUSPENDED. THEN 30 MINUTES
LATER, NEWSMEN WERE BARRED FROM THE BRIDGE AND WERE ORDERED TO REPORT
TO THE PRESS ROOM. NO JET FIGHTERS OR BOMBERS HAD FLOWN FOR TWO DAYS.
BUT THIS MORNING, FLIGHT OPERATIONS WERE RESUMED. AND THIS AFTERNOON,
SEVERAL OF THE WARPLANES WERE BEING ARMED WITH SIDEWINDER AND SPAR-
ROW AIR-TO-AIR MISSILES. NEWSMEN ALSO SAW 500-POUND BOMBS BEING
BROUGHT UP FROM THE MAGAZINES BELOW DECKS.
THE ENTIRE FLIGHT DECK SUDDENLY BECAME ALIVE WITH ACTION AND THE
77,600-TON AIRCRAFT CARRIER'S HAWKEYES, RADAR PICKET PLANES NICK-
NAMED "HUMMERS" WERE READY TO TAKE OFF.
THE AMERICA HAS THREE SQUADRONS OF A-4 SKYHAWKS AND TWO SQUADRONS
OF F-4 PHANTOMS.
THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS SARATOGA AND THE GUIDED MISSILE LIGHT
CRUISER GALVESTON, ALONG WITH SEVERAL DESTROYERS, JOINED UP THE
AMERICA, THE GUIDED MISSILE LIGHT CRUISER [Little Rock] AND THE REST
OF THE
DESTROYERS THAT MAKE UP TASK FORCE SIXTY.
6. NO RELEASE OR STATEMENT HAVE BEEN MADE BY ORIGINATOR PER
CINCUSNAVEUR DIRECTIVE.
GP-4
BT
Note: See COMSIXTHFLT 081716Z JUN
67 for reason press copy sent to OASD(PA).
Glossary |
8 June Messages |
Message Tables | U.S.
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