forms were occupied by Iraqi troops who were      Iraqis were killed during the engagement.
using them as observation posts to gather in-
telligence on U.S. and allied aircraft and ship        Searchers found caches of shoulder-
movements.                                        launched surface-to-air missiles - an Un-
                                                  pleasant surprise for the Seahawk pilots who
     In a daring night-time operation, well       had flown near the platforms during the past
within range of Iraqi Silkworm missiles and       two days. Navy demolition teams destroyed
near Iraqi combatant ships and aircraft armed     the remaining weapons and long-range radio
with Exooet ship-killer missiles, NICHOLAS        equipment.
and ISTIQLAL attacked the enemy positions.
                                                       MCHOLAS' relatively low-tech victory
     NICHOLAS crept to within a mile of           contrasted vividly the high-tech hailstorm of
the south~~nmost platforms under cover of         sea-launched mAMs during the opening days
darkness.  Armed for air-to-surface combat,       of DESERT STORM. The Navy's distributed
embarked Army AHIP helicopters, joined by         firepower concept - of which ThAM is one
NICHOLAS' own SH-60 Seahawk helicopter            example - was further demonstrated on 19
from HSL-44, headed north - toward the            January when a TLAM was fired by the attack
enemy's "back door."       Once in range, the     submarine USS LOUISVILLE (SSN 724) sub-
helicopters launched a volley of precision-       merged in the Red Sea. By the end of DESERT
guided missiles that destroyed enemy posi-        STORM's second day,Navy ships in the Middle
tions on the two northernmost platforms. Sec-     East had launched 216 ThAMs while continu-
onds later, as six Iraqi soldiers attempted to    ing to conduct maritime intercept and other
escape to a waiting small craft, ammunition       sea control operations.
stockpiled on the platforms exploded, illumi-
nating the `night sky.                                 During DESERT SHIELD/STORM at-
                                                  tack submarines not only fired TIAMs, but
     NICHOLAS and her Kuwaiti counter-            provided an array of multi-mission capabili-
part came within range of their objectives.       ties to battle group commanders. Prior to and
~rhile Iraqis on the other platforms were star-   during hostilities, eight SSNs were involved in
ing at their neighbors' flaming fortifications,   surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
the two ships opened fire, quicklyneutralizing    They also provided indications and warning
the remaining platforms.     No enemy troops      for the battle groups. After hostilities began,
had returned fire since the beginning of the      an additional five submarines bolstered Navy
lightning..�~st operation.                        forces already on station.

     An Arabic-speaking crewman called-out             As Navy A-6 Intruders pounded Iraqi
over the ship's loudspeaker that anyone who       minelayers on 22 January, NICHOLAS and
wished to s~rrender should raise his hands. A     her Seahawks were again busy in the northern
monitor in NICHOLAS' combat information           Persian Gulf. As the northernmost allied ship,
center displayed a flickering infrared image of   NICHOLAS launched her helicopters to at-
an Iraqi waving weakly. Several hours later,      tack Iraqi patrol boats operating less than a
the first L3 enemy prisoners of war (EPWs)        mile from the Kuwaiti coast. In the battle that
w~~e taken as teams boarded the platforms to      followed, Seahawk gunners sank or heavily
destroy the remaining fortifications.   Five      damaged all four enemy craft. The following


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