US nukes Israel in 1967

During the Six-Day War The Israeli Air Force and Navy attacked USS Liberty by mistake, the Liberty SOS reached the USS America, which was on training exercise its planes were armed with nuclear pay-loads, 4 of those planes took off, but believing that it was the Soviets attacking the Liberty the planes were called back, but what if they hadn't and something went very wrong?
 
You're still not entirely clear on what you're asking.... are you asking what if the Israelis nuked the USS Liberty? Or if the US knew it was the Israelis that attacked it would they retaliate with a nuclear strike?

If that's the question, I don't think so. Such an order has to come from the top. A US captain authorizing a rogue launch is just.... inconcievable.
 
Ah, yes, the Liberty attack. That really should have had much, much greater repercussions than it did.

Xgentis . . . What was said was that 4 planes carrying nukes were launched because of the attack on the Liberty. But someone basically went "Fuck. What if it's the Soviets?" and ordered the planes to return. (I think so, anyways. So I guess no one considers the idea that the Soviets did it?)

As for why they would consider launching nukes in the case of a Soviet attack . . . It would probably be because they think the Soviets attacked a ship belonging to the US Navy?

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If the US nuked Israel over the Liberty? Well, that's certainly overkill in the extreme and a blow to global standing. (Conventional airstrikes and shit seems more likely.)

Israel is naturally butt fucked.

I dunno. Maybe they can spin it and see improved relations with those states most opposed to Israel? Assuming nothing sacred gets ruined in the nuclear fire. (I'm not really sure what sites would get nuked at that exact time, let alone how close they are to the holy sites.)
 
Or if the US knew it was the Israelis that attacked it would they retaliate with a nuclear strike?

no, the USS America sent out 4 nuclear armed planes to help the under Attack Liberty, in OTL they turned around, my question is, what if they hadn't and in combat something goes wrong and one of those live bombs dropped and went off thus blowing the USS Liberty and ships of the Israeli navy to Kingdom Come.
 
Well, at the least a major diplomatic clusterfuck, and quite possibly a realignment of alliances. It depends on how willing the American and Israeli public's are to go back to the status quo after something like that.
 
no, the USS America sent out 4 nuclear armed planes to help the under Attack Liberty, in OTL they turned around, my question is, what if they hadn't and in combat something goes wrong and one of those live bombs dropped and went off thus blowing the USS Liberty and ships of the Israeli navy to Kingdom Come.

Heads roll from whoever sent those planes out to the pilot dumb enough to drop one of those bombs and whoever decided it was a good idea to let a single pilot be able to drop a nuclear weapon.
 
was a armed response possible from the us?

The OP asked what happened if one of the nukes had detonated, but how possible was it that if the US knew from the start it were the israelis, that armed response was initiated (ie us fighters attacking israeli targets)
 
The US just started a nuclear war over an intelligence ship, in the process destroying that ship with all hands and any evidence of just what was going on in the process?

President Humphrey sworn in following LBJ's resignation speech.
 
A USN aviator initiating a nuclear device over this sort of incident is borderline if not absolute ASB. The Isreali Navy may make massive cock-ups, but the US Navy does not make mistakes of this sort of magnitude.
 

CalBear

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Why would they nuke Israel if they think of a soviet attack?

The fleet commander followed standing policy to react to any attack on American warships and launched his Ready Five attack assets. It wasn't until the planes cleared the Cats that everyone realized that they were only armed with specials and they were recalled at the order of SecDef McNamara.

Even if the planes had attacked the Israeli ships the weapons would not have detonated because the flight crews did not receive the Nuclear Release codes needed to arm the weapons.

The fact that the aircraft were carrying specials probably saved the Israelis from losing a couple light naval units since the command tree for conventional weapons and the ROE would likely have meant that Washington wouldn't have know about the initial strike until the Israeli torpedo boats, and probably their fighter cover, were sitting on the seabed.

An interesting tidbit about the attack is that Liberty's CO, Capt. William McGonagle, received the Medal of Honor for his actions on 8-9 June, 1967.

Sadly, rather than receiving The Medal from the President in a White House ceremony, as had become a fairly well established practice for living recipients by 1967, Capt. McGonagal recieved his from the SecNav in an unpublicized ceremony at Washington Navy Yard.
 
A USN aviator initiating a nuclear device over this sort of incident is borderline if not absolute ASB. The Isreali Navy may make massive cock-ups, but the US Navy does not make mistakes of this sort of magnitude.

the US has a Broken Arrow in the two years before 1967 and one the year after.
 

CalBear

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the US has a Broken Arrow in the two years before 1967 and one the year after.

Sure did.

Neither weapon detonated because the required release codes were not entered. Without release codes nuclear bombs are 1-2,000 pound intert lumps of really expensive circuits and metal. U.S. weapons are One Point safe, as had been illustrated on numerous occasions.
 
Sure did.

Neither weapon detonated because the required release codes were not entered. Without release codes nuclear bombs are 1-2,000 pound intert lumps of really expensive circuits and metal. U.S. weapons are One Point safe, as had been illustrated on numerous occasions.

ok than, too bad for my idea, though likely good for human history (other wise we'd have nuked Greenland, Western Canada, Southern Spain etc) a broken arrow in a warzone would be an issue of course, and the US would be SUPER pissed at the Israelis
 
The US just started a nuclear war over an intelligence ship, in the process destroying that ship with all hands and any evidence of just what was going on in the process?

President Humphrey sworn in following LBJ's resignation speech.

If he is lucky, if not we have a presidential assassination.
 
If we ignore the issue of codes released(or not...) there is still the question of whether one or more low ranking USN pilots will be willing to start using nuclear weapons.

Are they using them on the ship they were sent to save, on one or more obsolete torpedo boats, on the first ship which look like they might be able to carry torpedos or do they target the closest port known to harbor torpedo boats in the hope that this the right country to nuke?

I might also ask if any higher ranking officers with the 6th Fleet will at some point try to retake command of their own aircraft and nukes if they get the idea that one or more pilots has gone utterly rogue...
 
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