Incident Summary:
3/14/1970: Two crewmen on the SS Columbia Eagle, Clyde William McKay Jr. and Leonard Glatkowski, hijacked the ship which debarked from Long Beach, California, United States towards Thailand. The ship was transporting munitions that were to be used by the US military in the Vietnam War. Twenty four crewmen were released from the ship immediately after the hijacking while thirteen were held on board as the ship was diverted to Cambodia. The next day the SS Columbia reached Cambodia and the two perpetrators attempted attain asylum. After many negotiations, the ship and crew were allowed to return to the United States on April 8th and McKay and Glatkowski remained in Cambodia.
Overview
GTD ID:
197003140004
When:
1970-03-14
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
California
City:
Long Beach
Location Details:
Pacific Ocean
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Hijacking |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Military |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
US Military |
| Specific Description |
SS Columbia Eagle |
| Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
Yes |
| Number of Hostages |
13 |
| US Hostages |
13 |
| Days of Kidnapping |
1 |
| Outcome |
Hostage(s) released by perpetrators |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Firearms |
Handgun |
| Fake Weapons |
Handgun |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| Semiautomatic pistol, revolver, and fake bomb |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Additional Information |
McKay and Glatkowski hijacked the ship by detaining the captain with their handguns and claiming that there was a bomb on board. The device turned out to be fake. Glatkowski would eventually return to the United States and was sentenced to a ten year prison sentence. McKay would never return to the United States and his whereabouts remain unknown. This was the first mutiny in the United States Navy in 150 years. The ship was eventually returned to the United States with all of its cargo. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
| Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
| Left-Wing Militants |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
2 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
1 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
| Total Number of Injured |
0 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| "Mystery of the SS Columbia Eagle Hijacking," Vietnam Magazine, February, 2001. |
| Tad Szulc, "U.S. Arms Ship to Thailand Seized by 'Men With Guns,'" New York Times, March 16, 1970. |
| "U. S. Arms Ship, Freed, Leaves Cambodia," New York Times, April 9, 1970. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties
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