UNITED STATES NAVY IN DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM

USS RE-rD (FFG 30). A boarding team from training to Navy-boarding teams. Zanoobia's
USS ENGLAND (CC 22) became the first to holds carried only tea, but it was enough to
climb over the side of a merchant vessel, the supplytheentirepopulationoflraqforamonth.
Chinese fr~~ghter Heng Chung Hai, for cargo The Iraqi merchant was dfrected to divert his
and manifest inspection. After a short period course to another port outside the Gulf. The
at anchor in the Red Sea, Heng Chung Hai was Iraqi master was unwilling to divert, and the
found to be empty and proceeded to Iraq. GOLDSBOROUGH was directed to take con-
Later, US~ SCOTT (DDC 995) ordered the trol of the ship. GOLDSBOROUGH crewmen
Cypriot m~.~chant Dongola away from thejor- were brought aboard to take Zanoobia to the
danian port of Aqaba after the vessel's master port of Muscat, Oman, where Iraqi diplomats
admitted carrying cargo bound for Iraq. The boarded and advised the master to return to
master con~plied with the order without the his point of origin.'
need for a boarding in DESERT SHIELD's first
diversion. The LEDet team which boarded Zanoobia
left GOLDS BOROUGH to go aboard the frig-
Those actions demonstrated U.S. resolve ate USS BREwTON (FF 1086), where they
to enforce the sanctions from the very first participated in another historic encounter on
days of the interception mission. That signal 14 September - the first multinational board-
became stronger 31 August when a team from ing of an Iraqi vessel. After 24 hours of radio
the cruiser USS BIDDLE (CC 34) boarded the negotiations, the master of the Iraqi tanker Al
first Iraqi merchant vessel of the intercept op- Fao finally slowed when BREWTON and the
eration as it headed for Aqaba, Jordan from the Australian frigate HMAS DARWIN (F 04) fired
RE'.d Sea. l:~IDDLE crewmen boarded the Al warning shots across her bow.
Kararnah to inspect the manifest and holds for
cargo that may have violated the U.N. sanction Constant communication up the U.S.
guidelines. A thorough search found the ves- and Australian chains of command kept mili-
set empty, and BIDDLE allowed Al Karamah tary leaders- apprised- of the situation through-
to proceed. out the operation. When it became apparent
Al Fao would not agree to stop, the decision
In the early morning hours of 4 Septem- was made to proceed to the next step in the
ber, the crew of USS GOLDSBOROUGH (DDG interception procedure. One hundred .50-cali-
20) boarded the Iraqi vessel Zanoobia. ber rounds later, DARWIN followed her
GOLDSBGROUGH's recently-embarked American counterpart's lead with short bursts
Coast Guard law enforcement detachment of fire ahead of the target. As Al Fao suddenly
(LEDet) -- one of 10 Coast Guard units em- slowed, both warships launched their board-
barked in Navy warships during DESERT ing teams. A 13-man team of four Coast
5Th HELD/STORM - accompanied the ship's Guardsmen, five BREWTON personnel and
boarding party. four Australians climbed to the tanker's main
deck, the way lit by DARWIN's helicopter. Al
The Coast Guard LEDets had the cor- Fao was found empty and sent on her way to
porate knowledge needed to effectively imple the Iraqi port of Basra.
ment the interception operation. Coast Guard
experts, seasoned by their experience in drug In early December, USS MISSISSIPPI
interdiction boardings, provided essential (CGN 40) intercepted and boarded the M/V

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