operation PRIME CHANCE
Marines inspect a ZU-23 23 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun on the Iranian Sassan oil platform. Marines attacked, occupied, then destroyed the platform as part of Operation Praying Mantis, which was launched after the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) struck a mine on
DoD photo by Cpl. John Hyp
April 14, 1988.
At about the same time, SAG Charlie was conducting similar action on the Siri platform once all the Iranians had abandoned it. At 10:48, an approaching Iranian frigate, Joshan, was identified. The Joshan ignored three warnings issued from the Wainwright, and launched a Harpoon missile that narrowly missed the cruiser. SAG Charlie returned fire with SM-1 and Harpoon missiles, heav ily damag ing the Joshan. The burn ing frigate was then sunk with gunfire. As this was going on, the Wainwright engaged an Iranian F-4, damaging it and forcing the fighter to retire. This was followed by a chain of events throughout the Persian Gulf. A force of Pasdaran small craft attacked a number of targets in the Mubarek oil fields in the southern Gulf, hitting several ships. These small craft came under fire from A-6 Intruders from the Enterprise that sank one of the Iranian vessels. The Iranian frigate Sahand, sister ship to the Sabalan, attempted to engage Enterprise aircraft, but found itself on the receiving end of bomb and Harpoon missile strikes that quickly sank it. The Sabalan almost followed her. That afternoon it attempted to shoot down an A-6, and the
Intruder dropped a bomb down the frigate’s smoke stack. Dead in the water with its engines destroyed, it was saved from being sunk when a follow-up air strike was called back. All told, Iranian losses were three oil platforms heavily damaged, six surface vessels sunk, one heavily damaged, and an unknown number of casualties. American losses were one AH-1T attack helicopter and its two-man crew. Iranian attacks on merchant shipping dramatically fell after that. Operation Earnest Will would continue until Sept. 26, 1988. When it concluded, it was judged a success. The only major negative was the shoot-down of Iran Air Flight 655 by the USS Vincennes (CG 49) in which all passengers and crew perished. In the political and diplomatic arena, America’s strategic goals of protecting Kuwaiti – and later other, neutral – shipping, standing up to Iran without escalating the conflict, keeping the Soviet Union out of the Gulf, and proving its worth as a friend of the Arab world had been largely achieved. For special operations forces, USSOCOM had proved its worth with its successful completion of a variety of missions. Much work remained ahead, but an important first step had been taken. www.defensemedianetwork.com
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