SS Columbia Eagle incident

Last updated

The SS Columbia Eagle incident refers to a mutiny that occurred aboard the U.S. flagged merchant vessel Columbia Eagle in March 1970 when two crewmembers seized the vessel with the threat of a bomb and handgun, and forced the master to sail to Cambodia. The ship was under contract with the Military Sea Transportation Service to carry napalm bombs to be used by the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and was originally bound for Sattahip, Thailand. During the mutiny, 24 of the crew were forced into two lifeboats and set adrift in the Gulf of Thailand while the remainder of the crew were forced to take the ship to a bay near Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The two mutineers requested political asylum from the Cambodian government which was initially granted but they were later arrested and jailed. Columbia Eagle was returned to U.S. control in April 1970. This is the only mutiny of a United States Ship in recent history. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Background

Columbia Eagle

The Columbia Eagle was a Victory-type cargo ship constructed by Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation of Portland, Oregon in 1945 for the U.S. Navy and originally christened SS Pierre Victory. She was designed to carry all types of dry supplies and munitions to Pacific theaters during World War II. SS Pierre Victory survived three separate kamikaze attacks by the Japanese in 1945. [8]

After World War II the Pierre Victory was converted to a livestock ship, also called a Seagoing cowboys ship. Pierre Victory made 6 trips with 780 horses on each trip to war-torn Poland and Greece. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] SS Pierre Victory served as merchant marine ship supplying goods for the Korean War. Like most of the ships of the Victory-type, Pierre Victory was decommissioned after the war and then sold to a commercial shipping company. In 1968, she was purchased by the Columbia Steamship Company, renamed Columbia Eagle and contracted out to the Military Sea Transportation Service for the purpose of hauling supplies and ammunition to Southeast Asian ports in South Vietnam and Thailand during the Vietnam War. [15] Because Columbia Eagle was a U.S. flagged ship, she was a part of the Merchant Marine fleet and therefore eligible under government contracting rules to haul military supplies to the war zone. [16]

Clyde William McKay, Jr.

Clyde McKay was born on 20 May 1944 near Hemet, California. His father was in the military then and often had duty away from the family. While a teenager, he suffered a misdiagnosed bowel obstruction and was seriously ill for a year. Because of this, he lost a year in school. He never finished high school, and decided to join the merchant marine. McKay received his merchant marine documents on 23 October 1963 and joined the Seafarers International Union shortly thereafter. [17]

Alvin Leonard Glatkowski

Alvin Glatkowski was born on 11 September 1949 in Augusta, Georgia. His father was also in the military at the time of his birth but shortly after Glatkowski was born, his father abandoned the family. His mother married a Navy third-class machinist mate named Ralph Hagan when Glatkowski was three. Hagan was abusive to Glatkowski when he was home, but was often on duty or cruises and Glatkowski learned to be independent at an early age. As a teenager, Glatkowski assumed the role of head of the household when Hagan was at sea and this made Hagan very angry when he returned home. He often took out his frustrations on Glatkowski violently, which led him to leave home at sixteen. Glatkowski went to New York and enrolled in the Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship operated by the Seafarers International Union. Lundeberg School teaches the skills needed to get deck, engine and steward jobs on merchant marine ships. On 17 April 1967, Glatkowski received his merchant mariner papers stating he was eligible for entry-level jobs on U.S.-flagged ships. [18]

Timeline of the mutiny

McKay and Glatkowski had been considering the operation for some time but had little in the way of a plan with the exception of bringing a gun on board. [19]

On 14 March 1970, McKay and Glatkowski used guns they had smuggled aboard to seize control of their ship, SS Columbia Eagle, in the first armed mutiny aboard an American ship in 150 years. The ship had been sailing on a Department of Defense supply charter carrying Napalm to the U.S. Air Force bases in Thailand for use in the Vietnam War.

McKay and Glatowski had planned their action to ensure that they would involve the least amount of crew members, knowing full well that they were risking their freedom if not their lives. [19] In order to give themselves the maximum amount of time to secure the ship and their freedom, they planned their action to take place immediately after the daily radio communication of the ship's location, ensuring they had 24 hours before the ship's change of course would be officially noticed. [19]

In order to involve the fewest crew members during the mutiny, McKay and Glatkowski decided that triggering a fire drill would be a good time to get most of the crew off board the ship. [19] After triggering the fire alarm, all but a few crew members took position in lifeboats, as per fire protocol. McKay and Glatowski then took the captain hostage and, claiming that they had a live bomb on board the ship, they demanded that the captain order severing the lifeboat lines, leaving 24 of the crewmen in the lifeboats. [19] By taking action right after the daily radio communication of the ship's location they ensured that the crew on the lifeboats would be found and rescued. [19] The ship's cargo, 3,500 500-pound bombs, and 1,225 750-pound bombs, provided leverage and credibility to the bomb threat.

When the crewmen departed in lifeboats, an SOS was transmitted. A Lockheed P-3B from VP-1 Crew 6, the "Scalf Hunters", operating from U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Thailand, was directed to launch a search and rescue (SAR) mission to find the SS Columbia Eagle and assist as needed. Upon arrival at the ship, they found a small crew and the presence of small arms and immediately reported their assessment that the ship had been hijacked and was heading for Cambodia. Crew 6 maintained communications and status reporting until the ship anchored in Cambodian waters. Afterward, they were relieved and other P-3 Orion aircrews kept the Columbia Eagle under constant surveillance from outside Cambodian territorial waters.

The merchant ship Rappahanock picked up the lifeboats and crew members and broadcast the news of the mutiny. The United States Coast Guard cutter Mellon was the first US military vessel to pursue the Columbia Eagle. The amphibious transport dock USS Denver was diverted to relieve Mellon in its pursuit. The destroyer, USS Turner Joy, was detached from the station at I Corps to pursue the Columbia Eagle at flank speed and to intervene. However, the Columbia Eagle reached Cambodian waters before any U.S. naval ships could intercept it. [20]

With only 13 crewmen remaining aboard besides the mutineers, they sailed into Cambodian waters, where they assumed they would be welcomed as heroes. They anchored within the 12 miles (19 km) territorial limit claimed by Cambodia on the afternoon of 15 March.

At 09:51 on 16 March, Denver anchored 15.6 miles (25.1 km) from the coast in the Gulf of Siam, remaining outside Cambodian waters. Mellon joined shortly thereafter with Commander, Amphibious Squadron Seven, as the senior officer present. Two CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters landed on Denver from bases in South Vietnam to assist in visual surveillance. Meanwhile, the mutineers had turned the ship over to Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sihanouk's government, declared themselves anti-war revolutionaries, and been granted asylum. [20]

On 17 March, the helicopters were detached and Denver, with Commander, Amphibious Squadron Seven, departed for Singapore, passing on-scene command to Mellon. [20] Turner Joy remained on station in a cruising pattern within shipping lanes and in sight of the harbor channel.

On 18 March at 06:36, Denver reversed her course; Prince Sihanouk had been deposed by a coup led by the pro-U.S. Sirik Matak and Lon Nol. If the Cambodians could be persuaded to release Columbia Eagle, Denver's flight deck could help the rescued crew members rejoin their ship. The coup was unfortunate for mutineers McKay and Glatkowski; as they had hoped to find asylum in a pro-Communist country; instead, they became prisoners of the new Cambodian government. At 23:59 on 18 March, Denver anchored in the Gulf of Siam 17 miles (27 km) from the coast of Cambodia. [20]

Sihanouk, now in exile, charged that the CIA had masterminded the mutiny to deliver weapons to Lon Nol. Both the mutineers and U.S. officials denied his charges.

When it became clear that Columbia Eagle's release was not imminent, Denver was detached to proceed to Da Nang. [20]

On 8 April, Columbia Eagle was permitted to leave Cambodian waters. She rendezvoused with USCGC Chase where a Navy explosive ordnance disposal team inspected the ship while Chase departed to An Thoi Naval Base to pick up the Columbia Eagle crew and return them to the ship. With the crew and ship reunited, Chase escorted her to U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay arriving 12 April. [21]

Status

McKay and Glatkowski were held by the post-coup Cambodian government for several months after their capture. A United Press International newspaper interview from August 1970 [22] describes them as living under guard in "a rusting World War II landing ship moored in the Mekong River," regularly using marijuana supplied by their guards, and making statements supporting the Manson Family and violent overthrow of the United States government. Both claimed they supported Students for a Democratic Society.

McKay said to a reporter:

We are sympathetic with the Asian people and, while I'm not an authority on the war in Vietnam I respect the opinions of people who were authorities like Bertrand Russell and Jean Paul Sartre who said the war in Asia was genocide and I intend to carry on my actions against the American Government. [5]

In June both men were indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on charges of mutiny, kidnapping and assault. [23]

Glatkowski

After months of imprisonment Glatowski was released and, after seeking asylum at the Chinese and USSR embassies, he turned himself in at a US Embassy in Phnom Penh and was extradited to the United States to face trial. He was charged with mutiny, kidnapping, assault and neglect of duty. On 2 March 1971 Glatkowski pled guilty in a Los Angeles District Court to mutiny and assault. United States federal judge Manuel Real heard the testimony of four psychiatrists; three of the psychiatrists reported that Glatkowski was currently sane and was sane at the time of the mutiny incident. Glatowski was sentenced to 6 months to 10 years in Federal prison and served nearly eight of the ten years when mandatorily released from Lompoc, California federal prison. [24] [25] [26] [27] [23] He has admitted to mistakes in the hijacking but remained unapologetic about their goal of interrupting the napalm shipment.

McKay

McKay escaped from his captors, along with U.S. Army deserter Larry Humphrey, in October 1970 [28] and sought out the Khmer Rouge. [29] He was officially declared accounted for, with a Date of Loss on 4 November 1970 [30] without being located by the authorities.

According to an article for Penthouse magazine, entitled "The Last Mutineer", by Richard Linnett and Roberto Loiederman, co-authors of the book "The Eagle Mutiny", [31] remains of a corpse brought back from Cambodia in 1991 [32] were positively identified as Clyde McKay's by the Central Identification Laboratory - Hawaii (CILHI), the U.S. Navy's forensic lab in Hawaii. Subsequently the remains were cremated and the ashes were buried by his family in their cemetery plot in Hemet, California, where McKay had spent his youth. [2] [33] [34]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mutiny</span> Disobeying of superiors

Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, but it can also sometimes mean any type of rebellion against any force. Mutiny does not necessarily need to refer to a military force and can describe a political, economic, or power structure in which subordinates defy superiors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John S. McCain Jr.</span> United States Navy admiral

John Sidney "Jack" McCain Jr. was a United States Navy admiral who served in conflicts from the 1940s through the 1970s, including as the Commander, United States Pacific Command.

USS <i>Vesole</i> Gearing-class destroyer, sunk as a target

USS Vesole (DD-878) was a Gearing-class destroyer of the United States Navy.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1972.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1975.

USS <i>Denver</i> (LPD-9) Austin-class amphibious transport dock

USS Denver (LPD-9), an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, was the third ship of United States Navy to bear this name. Denver's keel was laid on 7 July 1964 at Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 23 January 1965, christened by Mrs. Ann Daniels Love, wife of John A. Love, the former governor of Colorado, and commissioned on 26 October 1968. After 46 years of service, Denver was decommissioned at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on 14 August 2014. At the time of her decommissioning, Denver was the oldest deployable warship in the U.S. Navy, and was one of the last active warships to have served in Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spithead and Nore mutinies</span> Two mutinies by British sailors in 1797

The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. They were the first in an increasing series of outbreaks of maritime radicalism in the Atlantic World. Despite their temporal proximity, the mutinies differed in character. The Spithead mutiny was a simple, peaceful, successful strike action to address economic grievances, while the Nore mutiny was a more radical action, articulating political ideals as well, which failed.

<i>The Decks Ran Red</i> 1958 film

The Decks Ran Red is a 1958 MGM American seagoing suspense drama film based on the book Infamy at Sea, and directed by Andrew L. Stone. The feature starred James Mason, Dorothy Dandridge, Broderick Crawford, and Stuart Whitman.

U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield is a military airfield of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) approximately 140 kilometres (87 mi) southeast of Bangkok in the Ban Chang District of Rayong Province near Sattahip on the Gulf of Thailand. It is serves as the home of the RTN First Air Wing.

USS <i>Starlight</i> WWII US naval vessel

USS Starlight (AP-175) was a United States Navy Storm King-class auxiliary transport in commission from 1944 to 1945. She was designed as a troop carrier. After her naval service she became the civilian cargo ship SS Badger State. She sank in January 1970 after an explosion of a cargo of munitions on December 26, 1969, with the loss of 26 of her crew of 40.

USCGC <i>Mellon</i>

USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717) was the third United States Coast Guard Hamilton-class high endurance cutter constructed. The 2,748-ton cutter’s ocean crossing range was 10,000 miles at 20 knots.

<i>Stag Hound</i> Extreme clipper ship that sailed from 1851 to 1861

Stag Hound was launched on December 7, 1850, in East Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by shipbuilder Donald McKay for the California trade, she was briefly the largest merchant ship in the world. She was in active service from 1851 until her total loss in 1861.

Hugh Pigot was an officer in the Royal Navy. Through his connections and their patronage, he was able to rise to the rank of captain, despite apparently poor leadership skills and a reputation for brutality. Writing in 1826 William James stated, "...he has been described to us by those who knew him well, as one of the most cruel and oppressive captains belonging to the British navy." While he was captain of HMS Hermione (1782), he eventually provoked his men to mutiny. This mutiny, became the bloodiest in the history of the Royal Navy and left Pigot and nine other officers dead. The Navy hunted down and executed a number of the mutineers and recaptured his ship from the Spanish, to whom the mutineers had turned it over.

<i>Maersk Alabama</i> hijacking 2009 piracy incident

The Maersk Alabamahijacking began on 8 April 2009, when four pirates in the Somali Basin seized the Danish/U.S. cargo ship Maersk Alabama at a distance of 240 nautical miles southeast of Eyl, Somalia. The siege ended after a rescue effort by the United States Navy on 12 April.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970 in the Vietnam War</span>

The United States continued its unilateral withdrawal of forces from South Vietnam notwithstanding the lack of progress at the Paris Peace Talks. The removal of Prince Norodom Sihanouk from power in Cambodia in March and his replacement by General Lon Nol, began the Cambodian Civil War. South Vietnamese and U.S. forces entered Cambodia in late April to attack People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Vietcong (VC) bases and supply lines there which had long been used to support the insurgency in South Vietnam. The expansion of the war revitalized the antiwar movement in the U.S. and led to the Kent State shootings and Jackson State killings in May. While U.S. ground forces withdrew from Cambodia at the end of June and legislation was passed to prevent their reintroduction, the South Vietnamese conducted operations in Cambodia for the rest of the year and the U.S. provided air support and military aid to the Cambodian government. Despite this support the Cambodians lost control of vast areas of the country to the PAVN. Within South Vietnam the second half of the year saw a reduction in large U.S. operations with the focus shifting to pacification and population security and supporting Vietnamization. The PAVN/VC generally reverted to sapper attacks and attacks by fire but they fought hard to defend their base areas and infiltration routes.

On 11 June 2015, eight Indonesian pirates hijacked the MT Orkim Harmony, a Malaysian tanker, in the South China Sea. The crew and the tanker were freed and recovered on 19 June near the southwest of Phú Quốc in Vietnam with the joint efforts of Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Malaysian Air Force, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Royal Australian Air Force, Vietnam Border Guard, Vietnam Coast Guard, Indonesian Navy and Royal Thai Navy.

SS <i>Drexel Victory</i> American cargo ship

The SS Drexel Victory was a Victory-class cargo ship built during World War II. The SS Drexel Victory (MCV-712), was a type VC2-S-AP2 victory ship built by Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard 2, of Richmond, California under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. The Maritime Administration cargo ship was the 744th victory ship. Her keel was laid on February 25, 1945. The ship was christened on May 2, 1945. The ship was named in honor of Drexel University in Philadelphia, one of 150 educational institutions that had Victory ships named after them.

PNS <i>Mangro</i> (S133) Pakistani submarine (1970–2006)

PNS/M Mangro (S-133), was a Hangor-class diesel-electric submarine based on the French Daphné-class design. She was designed, built, and commissioned in Toulon, France. She was in commission from 9 August 1970 until 2 January 2006.

SS <i>Pierre Victory</i> Victory ship of the United States

The SS Pierre Victory was a Victory ship built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. It was laid down and launched by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, and completed on February 5, 1945. The ship's United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3 and hull number 150. The Maritime Commission turned it over for merchant navy operation to a civilian contractor, the United States Lines under the United States Merchant Marine act for the War Shipping Administration. She was named after Pierre, South Dakota, the capital of the US state of South Dakota. The sponsor and christening of the SS Pierre Victory on Dec. 6, 1944 was Mrs. Emma S. Jassmann of Pierre, she had five sons who served during World War II,. The city of Pierre and the Pierre Chamber of Commerce sent Mrs. Jassmann to Oregon. The Mayor of City of Pierre, John B. Griffin, was also at the christening with other Pierre residents. She was built in only 98 days. Victory ships were designed to supersede the earlier Liberty ships. Unlike Liberty ships, Victory ships were designed to serve the US Navy after the war and to last longer. Compared to Liberty ships, Victory ships were faster, longer, wider, taller, and had a thinner stack which was set further forward on the superstructure. They also had a long, raised forecastle. SS Pierre Victory survived three separate kamikaze attacks by the Japanese in 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March 1970</span> Month of 1970

The following events occurred in March 1970:

References

Footnotes
  1. Andrews, Evan, "6 Famous Naval Mutinies," 6 November 2012, History in the Headlines newsletter, retrieved 1 March 2018 from History.com .
  2. 1 2 Cronkite, Walter, and Nelson Benton, "Columbia Eagle / Mutiny / Cambodia," segment #208707, in transcript: CBS Evening News for 1970-03-16, from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Vanderbilt University, retrieved 1 March 2018.
  3. Hoffman, Fred S., Associated Press, "U.S. Bomb Ship Seized in Mutiny: Anchored Off Cambodia", 16 March 1970, San Bernardino Sun, San Bernardino, California, Volume 76, Number 137, pp.1-2, photocopy at retrieved 1 March 2018 from OCR transcription in California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  4. "Mutiny Involved 5: Captain,", 19 March 1970, Nashville Tennessean, Page 13 retrieved 1 March 2018 from OCR transcription in Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 Emery, Fred (26 March 1970). "Two Who Say They Support S.D.S. Tell How They Hijacked Ship". New York Times.
  6. ["U.S. Asks Return of Ship,"] 25 March 1970, (appended to end of subsequent 26 March 1970 article "Two Who Say They Support S.D.S. Tell How They Hijacked Ship,") in New York Times archives, retrieved 1 March 2018.
  7. Associated Press, "2 American Ship Hijackers Want to Quit Cambodia," written 3 July 1970, published 4 July 1970, New York Times, retrieved 1 March 2018 from the Harold Weisberg Archive, Hood College, Maryland.
  8. "Naval Ships and a Land-Locked State". South Dakota Historical Society Press. 14 February 2019.
  9. "Heifer International® - Ending Hunger And Poverty". Heifer International.
  10. "Cowboy Stories". 23 October 2015.
  11. "Seacowboys report" (PDF).
  12. "Who were the Seagoing Cowboys, by Jackie Turnquist" (PDF).
  13. Miller, Peggy Reiff (8 December 2017). "S. S. Pierre Victory". The Seagoing Cowboys.
  14. "Seagoing Cowboys notes (CPS), Swarthmore College Peace Collection". www.swarthmore.edu.
  15. Linnett, pp 67–68
  16. Cutler, p 142
  17. Linnett, pp 13–15
  18. Linnett, pp 43–56
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Woldorff, Daniel (9 April 2019). Woldorff, Daniel (ed.). "E21-24: WCH Crime – The Columbia Eagle mutiny". Working Class History. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "1970 Command History of USS Denver (LPD-9)" (PDF). Command Operations Reports. US Navy Naval History and Heritage Command. pp. 2–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  21. "Commander, Naval Forces Vietnam (April 1970)" (PDF). Monthly Historical Summary, April 1970. Naval Historical Center, U.S. Navy. pp. 31–32. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  22. "Manson Hero to Hijackers". Reading Eagle. 26 August 1970. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  23. 1 2 Lipsman, Samuel; Doyle, Edward (1984). Fighting for Time (The Vietnam Experience). Boston Publishing Company. p. 141. ISBN   9780939526079.
  24. True Crime and Punishment: Mutinies, By Barry Stone, page 314
  25. Loiederman, Roberto (25 February 2002). "Echoes of 1970 in Lindh case". Baltimore Sun.
  26. Fourth Arm of Defense: Sealift and Maritime Logistics in the Vietnam War, By Salvatore R. Mercogliano, page 57
  27. Pomona Progress Bulletin Newspaper Archives, Thursday, 25 February 1971, Page 50
  28. "Bio, Humphrey, Larry D." www.pownetwork.org.
  29. Linnett, pp 228–232
  30. "POW MIA Accounting Agency Listing Civilians" (PDF).
  31. Richard Linnett and Roberto Loiederman, "The Last Mutineer", Penthouse . February 2005. Retrieved on 22 October 2016.
  32. "Disappearance of Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, 1970". 3 March 2015.
  33. Hoffman, Fred S., Associated Press, "U.S. Bomb Ship Seized in Mutiny: Anchored Off Cambodia", 16 March 1970, San Bernardino Sun, San Bernardino, California, Volume 76, Number 137, pp.1-2, photocopy at retrieved 1 March 2018 from OCR transcription in California Digital Newspaper Collection
  34. "Mutiny Involved 5: Captain,", 19 March 1970, Nashville Tennessean, Page 13 retrieved 1 March 2018 from OCR transcription in Newspapers.com]
Sources