In this article, dear friends, I would like to reveal the influence of reconnaissance ships (RC) on global world processes that took place in the second half of the twentieth century on our planet. In this article, the reader will be able to see how shaky the world was and how much it was dependent on the human factor.
Pueblo
The events that will be discussed took place over 30 years ago in the Far East. The situation in the region during this period was extremely difficult. The arrow of the political barometer showed far from clear weather in the Pacific Ocean. American ships, aircraft and ground forces fought against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and relations between Seoul and Pyongyang remained tense. The naval and military air bases located on the territory of Japan and South Korea were actively used by US ships and aircraft, including for conducting intelligence activities against the Soviet Union and other countries of the Far East and Southeast Asia unfriendly to the White House.
On January 11, 1968, the American reconnaissance ship Pueblo (AGER-2) departed from the Sasebo naval base (Japan), aiming to determine the nature and intensity of the activities of the North Korean Navy in the area of the ports of Chongjin, Songjin, Myang Do and Wonsan … Its tasks were the following operations:
- to reveal the radio technical situation in the region of the eastern coast of North Korea, paying special attention to reconnaissance of parameters and determination of the coordinates of coastal radar stations;
- to conduct radio and radio technical reconnaissance, technical and visual observation of the activities of the ships of the USSR Navy, located in the Tsushima Strait region, to identify the purpose of their presence in the specified area since February 1966;
- to determine the reaction of North Korea and the Soviet Union to the conduct of reconnaissance by the ship in the Sea of Japan and the Strait of Tsushima;
- to assess the capabilities of the "Pueblo" and the technical means installed on it for conducting radio and electronic reconnaissance, technical and visual observation of enemy forces;
- to carry out an immediate report to the command on the deployment of ships, other units of the Armed Forces of North Korea and the Soviet Union, posing a threat to the US Armed Forces.
In accordance with the combat order, the ship was supposed to conduct reconnaissance in areas with the code names "Pluto", "Venus" and "Mars". The western border of all regions passed along a line at a distance of 13 miles from the coast and islands of North Korea, and the eastern border was 60 miles from the western one. The choice of a specific area at one time or another was entrusted to the commander, taking into account the evolving situation.
For safety reasons, Commander Bushehr was prohibited from approaching the coast of North Korea and the Soviet Union within 13 miles. The Browning M2HB machine guns installed on the ship were ordered to be kept in a sheathed form, their use was allowed only in the event of a clear threat to the ship and its crew. During long-term tracking of the Soviet Pueblo ships, it was forbidden to approach them more than 450 m. An exception was made only for photographing the ships and their weapons, but in this case the minimum distance to the tracking object remained regulated - 180 m.
The Strait of Tsushima met the ship with strong waves and cloudy weather. However, such sailing conditions were quite suitable for Commander Busher, since they contributed to the fulfillment of the task assigned to him. Already on January 21, 1968, the Pueblo was at the edge of the territorial waters of the DPRK, where it discovered a Soviet submarine underwater and began to spy on it, but soon lost contact. Two days later, the Americans re-established contact with the submarine and, apparently, got so carried away by the pursuit that they entered the territorial waters of North Korea. On the same day, at 13 hours 45 minutes. torpedo and patrol boats of the DPRK Navy at 7.5 miles from Riedo Island detained the Pueblo, which was in the territorial waters of the DPRK (the Americans claimed that the ship was in international waters). During the arrest, the ship was fired upon. One of the sailors was killed and 10 wounded, one of them seriously.
Concerned about the seizure of the Pueblo, President Johnson convened a consultative meeting with military and civilian experts. Immediately, the assumption arose about the involvement of the USSR in the incident. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara argued that the Russians knew about the incident in advance, and one of the president's advisers remarked "that this cannot be forgiven." McNamara said that the Soviet hydrographic vessel Hydrolog follows the aircraft carrier Enterprise and, periodically approaching the aircraft carrier by 700-800 meters, performs the same functions as the captured Pueblo.
On January 24, while discussing the American response at the White House, National Security Adviser Walter Rostow raised the idea of ordering South Korean ships to seize the Soviet ship following the aircraft carrier Enterprise. Such a "symmetrical" response could have grave consequences, because, according to American data, a Soviet nuclear submarine of the "November" class (Project 627 A) followed the aircraft carrier "Enterprise" during its transition to the Korean coast, and it is not known how its captain would react …
Soon, by order of the President, 32 American surface ships were concentrated off the coast of Korea, including the nuclear attack aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVAN-65), the attack aircraft carriers Ranger (CVA-61), Ticonderoga (CVA-14), “Coral SI "(CVA-43), anti-submarine aircraft carriers Yorktown (CVS-10), Kearsarge (CVS-33), missile cruisers" Chicago "(CG-11)," Providence "(CLG-6), light cruiser Canberra (CA-70), nuclear-powered missile cruiser Thomas Thruxton and others. In addition to surface ships, by February 1, the joint headquarters ordered the 7th Fleet to deploy up to nine diesel and nuclear-powered torpedo submarines off the coast of Korea.
In such a situation, the USSR could not remain an outside observer. Firstly, there are about 100 kilometers from the area of maneuvering of the American squadron to Vladivostok, and secondly, the USSR and the DPRK signed an agreement on mutual cooperation and military assistance.
The Pacific Fleet immediately tried to monitor the actions of the Americans. At the time of the capture of the Pueblo, the Soviet hydrographic vessel Hydrolog and the Project 50 patrol ship were on patrol in the Tsushima Strait. It was they who discovered the American AUG, led by the atomic attack aircraft carrier Enterprise, when it entered the Sea of Japan on January 24th.
On January 25, US President Johnson announced the mobilization of 14,600 reservists. The American media demanded to strike at the Wonsan naval base and to liberate the Pueblo by force. Admiral Grant Sharp offered to send the destroyer Hickby directly to Wonsan harbor under the cover of aircraft from the aircraft carrier Enterprise and, taking the Pueblo in tugboat, take him away.
Several more options for the release of the reconnaissance vessel were also considered.
These plans had little chance of success, there were 7 Project 183 R missile boats and several patrol boats, as well as coastal batteries, in the port.
More realistic was the plan of the US Department of Defense, when it proposed bombing the Pueblo without stopping before the death of the crew members.
An operational squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Nikolai Ivanovich Khovrin, consisting of Project 58 Varyag and Admiral Fokin missile cruisers, Uporny large missile ships (Project 57-bis, Captain 2nd Rank Novokshonov) and Irresistible, headed to the port of Wonsan. (project 56 M), destroyers of project 56 "Calling" and "Veskiy". The detachment was tasked with patrolling the area in readiness to protect the state interests of the USSR from provocative actions. Arriving at the place, NI Khovrin conveyed a report: "I arrived at the place, maneuvering, I was intensively flying around by" widgets "at a low height, almost clinging to the masts."
The commander gave the order to open return fire in case of a clear attack on our ships. In addition, Fleet Aviation Commander A. N. Tomashevsky was ordered to take off with a regiment of Tu-16 missile carriers and fly around aircraft carriers with KS-10 missiles fired from their hatches at a low altitude so that the Yankees could see anti-ship missiles with homing heads. Tomashevsky lifted twenty missile carriers into the air and himself led the formation.
In the area of action of the American AUG, 27 Soviet submarines were deployed. On December 23, 1968, when the American government made an official apology and admitted that the vessel was in the territorial waters of North Korea, all 82 crew members and the body of the deceased sailor were taken by train to South Korea. A day later, on board a military transport plane, Commander Bushehr and his subordinates arrived in the United States at Miramar airbase, located near the city of San Diego, where families and reporters from numerous newspapers were already waiting for them. As for the ship itself, it was never returned to the American fleet and for a long time was at one of the berths of the port of Wonsan. In 1995, the Pueblo was moored at one of the berths on the Taeydong River in the city of Piengyang, and by the decision of the North Korean government it began to be shown to foreign tourists as a "sacred monument to the victory over American imperialism."
This is how the former military transport FR-344, and later the Pueblo electronic reconnaissance ship, almost became the cause of a big war
The article was written on the basis of materials by A. V. Stefanovich (https://www.agentura.ru/culture007/history/pueblo/) and A. Shirokorad (https://www.bratishka.ru/archiv/202012-01-12_1_14.php).
