SSN 588 Timeline
Crow & Anchor: Join boat-specific groups or start your own!

SSN 588 History

Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Shootdown
01 SEP 1983
Hits : 1835
by Brad Williamson
 

On September 1, Soviet Air Defense ordered the downing of Korean Airlines Flight 007, killing all 269 people aboard. Aircraft from USS Midway and USS Enterprise had repeatedly overflown Soviet military installations in the Kuril Islands during FleetEx ’83, resulting in the dismissal or reprimanding of Soviet military officials who had been unable to shoot them down – a critical point to consider in understanding the KAL007 downing. There was also a heightened alert around the Kamchatka Peninsula because of a Soviet missile test at the Kura Missile Test Range that was scheduled for the same day. A United States Air Force Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft flying in the area was monitoring the missile test off the peninsula. The downing of the civilian aircraft was considered intentional by the United States, with Reagan calling it “…an act of barbarism born of a society which wantonly disregards individual rights and the value of human life and seeks constantly to expand and dominate other nations.” This further inflamed Soviet sensibilities.

Share the good stuff, shipmate!
0
Shares

OPSEC Policy

The Cold War Boats Association prohibits the posting of Classified material on the the coldwarboats.org website.

Any documents, photographs, audio or video recordings, or artifacts that are currently considered Classified are not permitted, and will be removed.

Any information that could compromise the operational security of active duty personnel, commissioned ships, or their missions is not permitted, and will be removed.

Access to personally identifiable information (PII) of active-duty service members or information related to the crews of submarines currently in full or limited commission is restricted to administrators only.

Full details of the Cold War Boats Association's Security Policy can be found at: www.coldwarboats.org/security.

Questions and concerns should be directed to the Security Manager at .

Copyright Information

 
 
© 2025 Brad Williamson
and/or the
Cold War Boats Association
or respective image owners
 
All Rights Reserved
 
Permission is granted for not-for-profit reproduction
of text and images under the condition that
the coldwarboats.org watermark is retained,
all attribution as to owner and source is included,
and additionally, when republished electronically, a link to is provided.
 
 

Privacy Policy

The Cold War Boats Association is committed to protecting your personally identifiable information (PII). 

This information, your PII,  includes your email, your street address, your phone number(s), your personal records (such as a DD-214) and various other related information.

Your PII will never be shared, given, sold, or rented. It will not be accessible by others, except by administrators or moderators of the www.coldwarboats.org website as necessary in the performance of their duties.

Your use of the www.coldwarboats.org website is your acknowledgement that these limitations are understood.

Full details of the Cold War Boats Association's Privacy Policy can be found at: www.coldwarboats.org/privacy.

Questions and concerns should be directed to the Privacy Manager at .

0
Shares