On Jan. 23, 1968, the U.S. surveillance ship USS Pueblo was on routine duty 16 miles off the coast of North Korea. The ship’s job was to monitor North Korea for intelligence information as part of Operation Clickbeetle. Suddenly, North Korean warships approached with evil intent. Capt. Lloyd Blucher attempted to flee, but the enemy opened fire, injuring him and several of his crew. One sailor (Duane Hodges) was killed. The ship was boarded and brought to a North Korean port. Attempts to destroy classified information and secret spying equipment were largely unsuccessful, so the Soviet Union got a leg up in the Cold War. The crew of 82 were held in the capital of Pyongyang. The North Koreans claimed that the ship had violated the 12-mile limit of North Korea’s territorial waters. North Korea had chosen the distracting period of the Tet Offensive to drop this hot potato in the lap of Pres. Johnson. The captives were mistreated mentally and physically, especially after the North Koreans discovered that the “Hawaiian good luck signs” that they flashed for the media at staged press events were actually the middle finger. They were beaten, subjected to freezing conditions, and sleep deprived. Eventually, Blucher was coerced into making a statement after he was told his crew would be executed if he didn’t. The statement read: “I will never again be a party to any disgraceful act of aggression of this type.” The crew signed it. They were taken to a compound where they were indoctrinated and tortured while negotiations took place. Exactly eleven months after capture, the hostages were freed after the American government agreed the ship had violated North Korean territorial waters, apologized, and promised to end surveillance activities. The crew was released at Panmunjom. They crossed the “Bridge of No Return” and returned to the U.S. as heroes. A proposed court-martial of Blucher was cancelled due to public distaste. The Pueblo remains in North Korea. It is the second-oldest commissioned ship in the Navy. Second only to the USS Constitution.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/uss-pueblo-captured
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_(AGER-2)#Pueblo_incident
the USS Pueblo on display at Pyongyang
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