This Is Not the First Time the U.S. Navy Has Taken on the Iranians |
Axios writes that President Trump has “attacked seven nations, three of which — Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela — had never been targeted by U.S. military strikes.”
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The phrase “never been targeted by U.S. military strikes” does not strike me as accurate. While the 1980 U.S. attempt to rescue the American hostages, Operation Eagle Claw, is remembered as a failure, it involved deploying U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force soldiers deep within Iranian territory and using lethal force.
The mission began on April 24, 1980, with the arrival of the MC-130s at Desert One. The plan almost immediately began to unravel. At Desert One, a passenger bus approached the landing zone. The advance party was forced to stop the vehicle and detain its 44 passengers. Then, a fuel truck approached, and when it failed to stop, a soldier fired an antitank weapon at it, which set the tanker on fire and lit the surrounding area. Then, a pickup truck approached but turned around.
The mission began on April 24, 1980, with the arrival of the MC-130s at Desert One. The plan almost immediately began to unravel.
At Desert One, a passenger bus approached the landing zone. The advance party was forced to stop the vehicle and detain its 44 passengers. Then, a fuel truck approached, and when it failed to stop, a soldier fired an antitank weapon at it, which set the tanker on fire and lit the surrounding area. Then, a pickup truck approached but turned around.
More significantly, the Axios claim ignores Operation Praying Mantis.
On April 18, 1988, the U.S. Navy launched Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian targets in the Arabian Gulf in retaliation for USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) mining four days earlier, which blew an immense hole in the ship’s hull. Ten Sailors from Samuel B. Roberts sustained severe injuries. Four were seriously burned. Commander Paul X. Rinn was hurt as well. The ship should have sunk, but thanks to an extraordinary damage control effort by all hands of an extremely well-trained crew, Samuel B. Roberts was kept afloat. The U.S. response was fierce. Operation Praying Mantis was the largest of five major U.S. Navy surface actions since World War II. It was the first, and so far only, time the U.S. Navy has exchanged surface-to-surface missile fire with an enemy, and it resulted in the largest warship sunk by the U.S. Navy since WWII. In the one-day operation, the U.S. Navy destroyed two Iranian surveillance platforms, sank two of their ships, and severely damaged another.
On April 18, 1988, the U.S. Navy launched Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian targets in the Arabian Gulf in retaliation for USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) mining four days earlier, which blew an immense hole in the ship’s hull. Ten Sailors from Samuel B. Roberts sustained severe injuries. Four were seriously burned. Commander Paul X. Rinn was hurt as well. The ship should have sunk, but thanks to an extraordinary damage control effort by all hands of an extremely well-trained crew, Samuel B. Roberts was kept afloat.
The U.S. response was fierce. Operation Praying Mantis was the largest of five major U.S. Navy surface actions since World War II. It was the first, and so far only, time the U.S. Navy has exchanged surface-to-surface missile fire with an enemy, and it resulted in the largest warship sunk by the U.S. Navy since WWII. In the one-day operation, the U.S. Navy destroyed two Iranian surveillance platforms, sank two of their ships, and severely damaged another.
I realize Operation Praying Mantis is not the most high-profile or memorable U.S. naval operation in our history, but you shouldn’t just ignore it if you’re going to make a statement about U.S. and Iranian military clashes.
This is not counting non-military strikes against the Iranian regime such as the malware Stuxnet.