“Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 199? (44 Use 3107 Hoter. DATE: 11-14-2017 JFK Assassination System Date: 6/8/2015 Identification Form Agency Information AGENCY: FBI RECORD NUMBER: = 124-10222-10158 RECORD SERIES: HQ - AGENCY FILE NUMBER:  97-4133-2ND NR 116 Document Information ORIGINATOR: FBI FROM: SAC, MM TO: . DIRECTOR, FBI TITLE: 7 os: DATE: 09/17/1964 *PAGES: 8 SUBJECTS : SIERRA ARANZAZU, SPANISH MERCHANT SHIP, ATTACKED, GREAT INAGUA BAHAMAS DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT CLASSIFICATION: — Unclassified RESTRICTIONS: Consulted; 4 CURRENT STATUS: — Redact ; DATE OF LASTREVIEW: 06/10/1998 ” ; , OPENING CRITERIA: INDEFINITE, APPROVAL OF USCG COMMENTS : v9.1 Doclda: 32298382 Page 1 REFERRED TO USCG, INC LHM
wweGatd NRINED. aR iS. u" I ASSIF Dp: EXCEPT: WISE. aan Date: 5/17/64. oe . . ore ; 7 6 NO OBJECTION TOREG fo TERED MAIL Transmit the saa Ye “CATION. AM ORT Pe in plain text or cod aa a “AIRTEL + RELEASE OF CA. iftFORMATION - Sisbae N SINR ¢ Zz n-4 0 (Priority) © AC} MIAMI (205 9002), “Chas sofied wa ct : ‘Qecla =i apa “SECRET: ORGAN ZATION oF CONT TINENTAL 272 ea ACTION: (etc) place ex mo meee $617 Re a _ “Giak ro Spann Ya Lions Corton: peeegett* ‘ Leg terretions ‘ Binder” o 1 are “12: copies of. letterhead themo- “8 BB mE UTRALT ITY MA TIERS x “LL ‘ CA eto Pa Copies : are being designated 1 ocally to the . (CC Y4RY | Miami | Db CG amet OSI, Robins AFS, OESWwASIUFIED wy Lk SL USL JCIA, wlaimi gy FB -IE OE) ot State Dept. (Cuban Affaixs Office) Miami « U.S. Border Patro Da/bf9 WS. -.Coast Guard, Maat boo: pss. “Customs, Region it RE S. Customs, i Wiamad ao ve _| G-2, Fort McPher son, Georgia se - FAA, Miami a Te kak Ah oF 4. is # é at Ce Rot TTA et renee pe Rive TL “ts (iauLace SHANLEY, 4ssistan mor ‘Customs | y NLS Agent, Miami, Fiald ME-2 is CARLOS ZARRAGA MARTINEZ, PSTuD.( SS yj iar “MM T-3 is MM £639 S.\ MM 74 is Lieutenar nt ASRON ROGERS, | - Syd Intelligence, So _ Mi 7-5. is MM.635-8.. MM T- 6 . “sii is Mt 492-5 in or ae i a O-» Bureau (Efet" 2) (RE? an - San Juan - “CEnes 2) 1 - Miami \ : : T 4 of a 19 A Srecial al Aro x Charge . ; Docld: 32298382 Page 2?
| Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1997 (44 sc 2107 Hote}. DATE: 11-14-2017 ; C* . UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF rere OH iiami, Floricsa File No. September 17, 1964 JFK Re: SECRET ORGANIZATION OF CONTINENTAL US. bustems to ACTION (OSAC) | ? INTERNAL SECURITY - CUBA is nwa) DE Un-ssi F wD NEUTRALITY MATTERS | 9- 3-97 Thee wine” : eA This investigation was predicated on press reports hat the Spanish merchant vessel "Sierra Aranzazu'' was attacked off of Great Inagua, Bahamas, on September 13, 1964, ON 10 AND/OR The following is a summary of press and wire ws service releases concerning this matter: FORMATION . PUK RG ON J Hy oRccr T Cia i CRIES A had Ae On September lu, 1964, the Spanish merchant vessel “Sierra Aranzazu", 1600 tons, 270 feet leng, was attacked | by two small boats North of Great Inagua, Bahamas. During — the night, a small boat approached the merchant vessel, _ shining a spotlight on the stern, noted the vessel's name and then left. About fifteen minutes later two attack. beats approached the vessel from the stern and strafed it. _ with cannons and machine guns. As a result of this ‘action, ; ‘the merchant vessel caught fire, blew up and the crew © . ‘took to lifeboats. Three crewmen of the Spanish vessel oo . were “killed and seventeen were injured. . a a . oi HAS No. FC DOCUMENT DECLAS RELEASE @ Zs) z - IN THIS LZ heed AGCF 4. The. Dutch ship "SS P.G. Thulin" arrived on: the. scene, picked up the crew and, under United States Coast - i Guard orders, departed for Matthew Town, Great Inagua. = =. a | Thereafter, two Cuban patrol boats arrived and ordered the = 2 207) "Thulin" to take the crewmen to Cuba. The Captain of the. a _ "Thulin" answered he was under United States Coast Guard . orders to proceed to Great Inagua. At Great Inagua, the —~ erew. from the Spanish vessel received medical attention and then were taken to Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. The ‘three dead erewmen were taken on to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Two Cuban tugboats towed the Spanish vessel to Bones, Cuba, and arrived there on September 16, 1964. peat _ im ie LASSIFIED. BY o oy bee Jiu The Spanish government sent a note through its i. {iol e8 roy, in B ashingtga. art INECORMATIAN CONTAINED More UNCPASSFED EXCEPT HEREIN IS UNC} ) WHERE SHOWNSQTHERWISE. | DocLa: 32298382 Page 3
“RELEASE ndter The Jo “ee Assassination “Records Collection Act of 1992 ‘(44 usc 2107 Ha eye » DATE: 11-14-20170 0 a - - ted Do i OD. ee r CONFIDE (ria - Rez: SECRET ORGANIZATION OF CONTINENTAL ACTION (OsAC) ” . Seas September 17, 1964, MM T-4 fa representative X] of another government agency which conducts intelligence eee | investigations, advised that the DRE in the Dominican ce Republic is operating a location about 100 miles from | where the Spanish ship was attacked. However, at this |. -. -- time, there is insufficient evidence to determine who is “" © ¥esponsible for the attack of the. Spanish ship. (ohn  ) we ix 1-fadvised that the MRR has been operating My ~ against the South coast of Cuba and that an operation i ) the Bahamas would be too far for the MRR’s PT boats {X, mM) ven aE ‘t-Heontinued that there is speculation chael dg _ the Cuban government may have been responsible for the attack to bring pressure on the Dominican Republic to review | _ its position in allowing Cuban exiles to operate out of - that country. MM Te4 continued that it is also interesting to note that the three persons killed on the Spanish vessel were the top echelon of officers - the Captain, Second Mate  ... _-- and Third Engineer © and of the persons wounded_were the Chief ~— . .Engineer, Second Engineer and Radio Operator. mM T-4k stated fy I .. there is some speculation that because the officers of the sh Pe suffered so many casualities theye may have been an internal » problem with the ship's crew. (& (ac) 5 1A t } 4 8 nF “A On September 17, 1964, “MM T-5, a Cuban National who  - “has been involved in Cuban Revolutionary activities - for _. the past seven years, said that Juan Mesa Rodriguez, head of .\..° Seeret Organization of Continental Action, on September 16, +" 1964, claimed his organization was responsible for the attack. , against this Spanish ship and that the attacking boats: left . : from Florida (a ) co MM T-5 advised there was no evidence to support this - “claim, however, Mesa has been interested in attempting such an operation as this, and about one month ago was (trying to obtain: | . o,, a-small attack- “type of boat yf [n) ee | : faa 6 & “Cuban exile active in anti-Castro organi- a zations , advised that Cuban exile ‘groups seriously doubt that ‘’* -  Mesa's organization presently has equipme money» knowhow and _ connections to ) effect. such an attack dot re ' Docld:32298382 Page 4