Martha's Vineyard Museum

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biography/Historical Note

Scope and Content Note

Administrative Information

Controlled Access Headings

Collection Inventory

Descriptive Summary

Repository	Martha's Vineyard MuseumGale Huntington Research Library 59 School Street P.O. Box 1310 Edgartown, MA 02539 (508)627-4441
Call Number	RU 472
Creator - creator	Dunlop, Tom
Title	"The Defection of Simas Kudirka" research materials
Date	1971-2005, undated
Extent	1 box (0.504 cubic feet)
Language	The materials are in English.
Abstract	The Defection of Simas Kudirka research materials contains transcripts, photographs, and other materials related to the attempted defection from the Soviet Union by Simas Kudirka in 1970, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. The materials were collected for a 2005-2006 article in Martha's Vineyard Magazine.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions to access.

Use and Reproduction Restrictions

Requests to reproduce material from this collection should be directed to museum staff. Reproduction fees may apply.

Acquisition Information

These materials were donated in 2005 by Tom Dunlop, author of the Martha's Vineyard Magazine article, "The Defection of Simas Kudirka." (Accession number 2005.099)

Bibliography

• Dunlop, Tom. "The Defection of Simas Kudirka." Martha's Vineyard Magazine. Edgartown, Mass.: Not Summer 2005-2006.
• Ruksenas, Algis. Day of Shame: The Truth About the Murderous Happenings Aboard the Cutter Vigilant During the Russian-American Confrontation Off Martha's Vineyard. New York: D. McKay Co, 1973.
• Kudirka, Simas, and Lawrence E. Eichel. For Those Still at Sea. New York: Dial Press, 1978.

Publication Information

Martha's Vineyard Museum

Gale Huntington Research Library
59 School Street
P.O. Box 1310
Edgartown, MA 02539
(508)627-4441

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared and machine-encoded by Nathaniel Janick, June 2014.

 Creation of this finding aid was sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Biography/Historical Note

Simas Kudirka was born circa 1930 in Griskabudis, Lithuania as the illegitimate son of a woman born in Brooklyn, New York. Kudirka married Genele Kudirka and they had two children, Lolita and Evaldas. He entered the Lithuanian fishing fleet as a radio technician and operator following his childhood in Lithuanian that included World War II and Soviet occupation.

Kudirka attempted to defect from the Soviet fishing mothership Sovietskaya Litva on 23 November 1970, during a conference between American and Soviet fishing officials. Kudirka jumped aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Vigilant and was returned to the Soviet vessel several hours later following a series of communications between senior coast guard and government officials and the captain of Vigilant, Ralph W. Eustis. The event sparked protests throughout the United States and infuriated President Richard M. Nixon and Secretary of State William P. Rogers. The incident resulted in the early retirement of two senior Coast Guard officials who advised Eustis during the incident, and Eustis was transferred to shore duty until his retirement in 1975. Kudirka returned to the United States in 1974 after it was discovered that his mother was born in the United States and that, as such, he was thus eligible for United States citizenship.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains transcriptions, court proceedings, correspondence, and secondary source materials concerning Simas Kudirka's attempted defection to the United States in 1970. The materials were collected by the donor for an article that appeared in Martha's Vineyard Magazine in 2005. Most of the material in the collection has been reproduced from original sources and has therefore been designated with a date of 2005.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically by the original date of the materials.