Notable Combat Actions
Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates made worldwide news twice during the 1980s. Despite being small, these frigates were shown to be extremely durable. During the Iran–Iraq War, on 17 May 1987, the USS Stark was attacked by an Iraqi warplane. Struck by two Exocet anti-ship missiles, thirty-seven American sailors died in the deadly prelude to the American Operation Earnest Will, the reflagging and escorting of oil tankers through the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz. Less than a year later, on 14 April 1988, the Samuel B. Roberts was nearly sunk by an Iranian mine. No lives were lost, but 10 sailors were evacuated from the warship for medical treatment. The Roberts crew battled fire and flooding for 2 days, ultimately managing to save the ship. The U.S. Navy retaliated four days later with Operation Praying Mantis, a one-day attack on Iranian oil platforms being used as bases for raids on merchant shipping. Those had included bases for the minelaying operations that damaged the Samuel B. Roberts. Both frigates were repaired in American shipyards and returned to full service. The USS Stark was decommissioned in 1999, and scrapped in 2006.
Read more about this topic: Oliver Hazard Perry Class Frigate
Famous quotes containing the words notable, combat and/or actions:
“Every notable advance in technique or organization has to be paid for, and in most cases the debit is more or less equivalent to the credit. Except of course when it’s more than equivalent, as it has been with universal education, for example, or wireless, or these damned aeroplanes. In which case, of course, your progress is a step backwards and downwards.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“The combat ended for want of combatants.”
—Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)
“Many of us, whether in the jungles of Asia or on the streets of Chicago, had discovered that noble causes can lead to ignoble actions and that we were capable of sacrificing honor to a sense of efficacy.”
—Linda Grant (b. 1949)