Operation Praying Mantis

Operation Praying Mantis
Part of Iran-Iraq War
Iranian frigate IS Sahand (74) attacked by aircraft of U.S. Navy Carrier Air Wing 11 in retaliation for the mining of the guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts.
Date April 18, 1988 Location Persian Gulf Result U.S. Navy victory
Belligerents
United States Navy	Iranian Navy
Strength
1 aircraft carrier, 1 amphibious transport dock, 4 destroyers, 1 guided missile cruiser, 3 frigates	2 frigates, 1 gunboat, and at least 6 boghammer speedboats
Casualties and losses
2 U.S. Marines	1 frigate sunk, 1 gunboat sunk, at least 6 boghammer speedboats sunk, and 1 frigate severly damaged
Cited by United States Naval Academy Prof. Craig L. Symonds as being decisive in establishing U.S. naval superiority.

Operation Praying Mantis was the April 18, 1988 action waged by U.S. naval forces in retaliation for the Iranian mining of an American warship by the Iran Ajr.

The April 14 mining nearly sank the guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts, which was sailing in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will, the 1987-88 convoy missions in which U.S. warships escorted reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers to protect them from Iranian attacks.

After the mining, U.S. Navy divers recovered other mines in the area. The serial numbers matched those of mines seized along with the Iran Ajr the previous September.

By the time the Roberts was towed to Dubai on April 15, battered but saved with no loss of life, U.S. planning for the retaliatory operation had already begun in Washington and in the Middle East.

The battle, resulted in the sinking of two Iranian warships and as many as six armed speedboats. It also marked the first surface-to-surface missile engagement in U.S. Navy history.

The attack by the U.S. helped pressure Iran to agree to a ceasefire with Iraq later that summer, ending the eight-year conflict between the Persian Gulf neighbors.

The battle

On April 18, 1988, the Americans responded with several groups of surface warships, plus airplanes from the carrier USS Enterprise. The action began with coordinated strikes by two surface groups. One group, consisting of two destroyers and the amphibious transport dock USS Trenton, attacked the Sassan oil platform while the other, which included a guided missile cruiser and two frigates, attacked the Sirri oil platform. U.S. Marines from Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) 2-88 fast-roped onto the Sassan platform, gathered intelligence, and set explosives to disable it.

Iran responded by dispatching Boghammar speedboats to attack various targets in the Persian Gulf, including an American-flagged supply ship and a Panamanian-flagged ship. After these attacks, A-6E Intruder aircraft from VA-95 were vectored in on the speedboats by an American frigate. The two aircraft, piloted by Lieutenant Commander James Engler and Lieutenant Paul Webb dropped Rockeye cluster bombs on the speedboats, sinking one and damaging several others.

Action continued to escalate. Joshan, an Iranian Combattante II Kaman-class fast attack craft, challenged USS Wainwright (CG-28) and her surface group, firing a Harpoon missile at them. The USS Simpson (FFG-56) responded to the challenge by firing four Standard missiles, while USS Wainwright (CG-28) followed with two Standard missiles. After damage assessment of Joshan, USS Bagley (FF-1059) fired one Harpoon missile at Joshan, however Joshan's superstructure had been destroyed by the previous attacks, so the missile did not strike the target. The three ships of Surface Action Group Charlie closed on the Joshan destroying it with naval gunfire.

Fighting continued when the Iranian frigate Sahand departed Bandar Abbas and challenged elements of an American surface group. She was observed by two VA-95 A-6Es while they were flying surface combat air patrol for USS Joseph Strauss (DDG-16).

File:Iranian frigate Sahand on fire.jpg

Iranian frigate IS Sahand (74) burning on April 18, 1988 after being attacked

Sahand launched missiles at the A-6Es, and the Intruders replied with launches of two Harpoons and four laser-guided Skipper bombs. This was followed by a Harpoon firing from Joseph Strauss. The weapons delivered against Sahand were successful.

Fires blazing on Sahand's decks eventually reached her magazines, resulting in an explosion that led to her sinking. Despite the loss of Sahand, one of Iran's most modern ships, the Iranian navy continued to fight. A sister ship, Sabalan, departed her port for operations in the Persian Gulf. She fired on several A-6Es from VA-95 with a surface-to-air missile. One of the Intruders piloted by Lieutenant Commander James Engler responded with a laser-guided bomb that scored a direct hit on Sabalan and stopped her dead in the water. The Iranian frigate was taken in tow by an Iranian tug with the stern partially submerged. VA-95's aircraft, as ordered, did not continue the attack. LCDR Engler was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Admiral Crowe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for these combat actions against the Sabalan and the Iranian gunboats.

By the end of the operation elements of the American fleet had damaged Iranian naval and intelligence facilities on two inoperable oil platforms in the Persian Gulf, and sank at least six armed Iranian speedboats. Sabalan was repaired in 1989 and has since been upgraded, and is still in service with the Iranian navy. In short, Iran lost one major warship and a smaller gunboat. Damage to the oil platforms was eventually repaired and they are now back in service.

The U.S. side took two casualties: the aircrew of a Marine Corps AH-1T Sea Cobra gunship. The Cobra, attached to the USS Trenton, was flying reconnaissance from the Wainwright and crashed sometime after dark about 15 miles southwest of Abu Musa island. The bodies of Capt. Stephen C. Leslie, 30, of New Bern, N.C., and Capt. Kenneth W. Hill, 33, of Thomasville, N.C., were recovered by Navy divers in May, and the wreckage of the helicopter was raised later that month. Navy officials said it showed no sign of battle damage, though the aircraft could have crashed while trying to evade Iranian fire.

Operation Praying Mantis is one of five American naval engagements cited by United States Naval Academy Prof. Craig L. Symonds in his book Decision at Sea (2005) as being decisive in establishing U.S. naval superiority. The others were the Battle of Lake Erie (1813), the Battle of Hampton Roads (1862), the Battle of Manila Bay (1898), and the Battle of Midway (1942).

U.S. naval order of battle

Samuel B. Roberts is carried away aboard the Mighty Servant 2 after hitting a mine in the Persian Gulf.

Surface Action Group Bravo

• USS Merrill (DD-976) - destroyer
• USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) - guided missile destroyer
• USS Trenton (LPD-14) - amphibious transport dock
• Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) 2-88

Surface Action Group Charlie

• USS Wainwright (DLG/CG-28) - guided missile cruiser
• USS Bagley (FF-1069) - frigate
• USS Simpson (FFG-56) - guided missile frigate
• SEAL platoon

Surface Action Group Delta

• USS Jack Williams (FFG-24) - guided missile frigate
• USS O'Brien (DD-975) - destroyer
• USS Joseph Strauss (DDG-16) - guided missile destroyer

Air support

• Elements of Air Wing 11 operating from aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

See also

• Operation Prime Chance
• Operation Earnest Will
• Iran Air Flight 655

External links

• Operation Praying Mantis photos: U.S. ships, assault on Sassan platform, Sahand afire
• Operation Praying Mantis video news clip produced by Navy public affairs, aired 30 April 1988
• The Sept. 1987 seizure of the Iran Ajr, an Iranian minelayer

Further reading

• Huchthausen, Peter (2004). America's Splendid Little Wars: A Short History of U.S. Engagements from the Fall of Saigon to Baghdad. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-200465-0.
• Palmer, Michael (2003). On Course to Desert Storm. University Press of the Pacific. ISBN 1-4102-0495-2.
• Peniston, Bradley (2006). No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-661-5. {{cite book}}: External link in |title= (help)
• Sweetman, Jack (1998). Great American Naval Battles. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-794-5.
• Symonds, Craig L. (2005). Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles that Shaped American History. USA: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517145-4.
• Wise, Harold Lee (2007). Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf 1987-88. USA: Naval Institute Press.