PUEBLO COMMANDER DESTROYED SECRETS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31595, 5 February 1968, Page 13

PUEBLO COMMANDER DESTROYED SECRETS

(N.Z.P.A .-Reuter—Copyright)

NEW YORK, Febuary 4.

The commander and some of the crew of the United States spy ship Pueblo locked themselves in and tossed secret documents and equipment through a porthole after North Koreans had seized their vessel on January 23, the “New York Times” said today.

The newspaper, quoting reliable sources, including members of Congress who, it said, had been briefed at the highest level, said the destruction went on for at least 45 minutes.

In a Washington dispatch, Hedrick Smith wrote: “Commander Lloyd Bucher and his men apparently worked furiously to destroy code books and equipment, many parts and pieces of which they tossed through a porthole.

“They fended off North Korean sailors as best they Could and apparently used ex-

plosives of some sort to destroy some of the secret equipment. “The picture that has been pieced together thus far indicates, much more so than the Government’s initial reports did, that Commander Bucher and his crew acted with dispatch and heroism once they realised that the ship was going to be seized by the North Koreans.” The “New York Times" said United States officials did not, however, believe that all the secret equipment was destroyed.

“The Government Is reported to have changed some United States Navy codes immediately as a result,” it added.