induding the F-14A+, the F/A-18C and the F/ ception mission, U.S. and coalition warships A-18D night-attack aircraft. The multi-mis- conducted a wide variety of contingency ac- sion F/A-18 Hornets of the Navy flew 4,435 tions, from ThAM launches to naval gunfire sorties, while the Marines flew 5,047 sorties in support. the durable fighter-attack aircraft. Navy pilots flew 4,071 sorties in their battle-proven, all- A multinational naval force of 115 U.S. weather A-6 Intruders, and Marine pilots flew and 50 allied warships had- already severed 8.54 sorties in their Intruders. Iraq's economic lifeline during the five-month- - old maritime interception campaign when Becauseawidevarietyofordnancewas DESERT SHIELD turned into a STORM. The used to match spedfic weapons to specific battleships USS WISCONSIN and (BB 64) and targets, Navy/Marine tactical aviation units USS MISSOURI (BB 63) took up stations in the put the logistics system to the test. Not count- northern Persian Gulf ready to contribute the ing missiles, allied air forces dropped over firepower of their 16-inch guns and Toma- 88,500 tons of ordnance on the battlefield. The hawk cruise missiles to the ejection of Iraqi heavy demand for repair parts was satisfied by forces from Kuwait. the supply system as well. Navy squadrons maintained 85 to 95 percent of their aircraft at The Aegis cruiser USS SAN JACINTO a fully mission-capable status throughout (CC 56) fired the first Tomahawk missile to- DESERT SHIELD / STORM. ward Iraq from her position in the Red Sea. USS BUNKER HILL (CC 52) followed suit On the last full day of war, Navy avia- moments later from the Persian Gulf. It was an tors of the six carrier battle groups flew 600 historic moment soon duplicated 100 times combat missions, redudng the remaining com- over aboard seven other Navy warships dur- bat capability of Saddam Hussein's forces as ing the first day of DESERT STORM. the Iraqis fled from Kuwait. Over the course of the war, Navy pilots, crews and aviation sup- WISCONSIN served as the ThAM strike port personnel helped give the United States commander for the Persian Gulf, directing the and her coalition partners early and undis- sequence of launches that marked the opening puted ownership of the airspace over Iraq and of DESERT STORM and firing a total of 24 Kuwait. Launching up to 140 sorties a day TLAMs during the first two days of the cam- from a single flight deck, the carriers and their paign. Within sight of WISCONSIN, missile battle groups contributed significantly to coa- after missile rose from other ships in the area, lition air dominance and effectively eliminated including her sister ship MISSOURI. -Iraq's naval capability. The performance of the nearly 30,000 Navy men and nearly 500 Navy surface forces made an impact aircraft aboard the carriers was unparalleled, early in DESERT STORM, when USS NICHO- and their mission statistics were impressive. LAS (FFG 47) and the Kuwaiti fast attack craft At the end, Navy sorties, both fixed and rotary ISTIQLAL (P 5702) conducted the first surface wing, totaled nearly 20,000. engagement of the war. Supporting combat search and rescue operations for the air cam- THE WAR AT SEA. The war at sea was paign, NICHOLAS and her helicopters scouted integral to the liberation of Kuwait. While the Dorrah oilfield, about 40 miles off the continuing their high-tempo maritime inter- Kuwaiti coast. Nine of Dorrah's 11 oil plat- - 39.
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