“Remember the Maine!” was the rallying cry of the Spanish-American War. Many North Americans surely remember the Alamo. But has the world forgotten the U.S.S. Pueblo?

On this day in 1968, the Pueblo, a lightly armed Navy intelligence ship, was attacked and seized by North Korean patrol boats. Its crew of 83 servicemen was taken to Pyongyang and charged as spies. Washington denounced the seizure, but could do little: It soon became a tense Cold War standoff.

A Times editorial called the attack “humiliating,” and a prisoner drama — marked by fraught negotiations, forced confessions and propaganda ploys — dragged on for 11 months. Here’s more about the Pueblo incident.

The Americans told of beatings, torture and deprivation, but they still found ways to get back at their captors. They slipped outrageous puns into self-written confessions, such as this one by the ship’s commander, and surreptitiously raised their middle fingers in films and photographs. (The sailors said it was the Hawaiian good luck salute.)

In the end, Washington reluctantly apologized, and the Pueblo crew was home in time for Christmas. The Pueblo itself is still in Pyongyang, where it’s a tourist attraction at the Victorious War Museum.

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