day, A-6s hit the mark again, disabling an Iraqi   been used as an early warning post by the
tanker used to gather intelligence, an enemy       enemy, the Marines raised the Kuwaiti flag
hovercraft and another Iraqi patrol boat.          over the second parcel of reclaimed territory.

      Navy air power struck again on 24 Janu-           Later that day, 20 Iraqi small craft fired
ary, when A-6s destroyed an enemy mine-            upon Navy helos investigating reports of sur-
layer, a minesweeper and another patrol boat.      rendering Iraqis on neighboring islands. The
A second enemy minesweeper sunk after hit-         helos returned fire, sinking four boats and
ting one of its own mines while attempting to      damaging twelve others.  By 2 February all
evade the A-6. Near Qurah Island, embarked         Iraqi craft capable of delivering missiles had
Army helicopters from USS CURTS (FFG 38)           been destroyed, and the Iraqi naval force was
pulled 22 EPWs from the sea. As the helicop-       considered combat ineffective.
ters assisted the survivors, Iraqi forces on Qurah
fired at the airborne rescuers.                         CURTS, using advanced mine-avoid-
                                                   ance sonar, led MISSOURI northward. MIS-
      As CURTS' helicopters returned the           SOURI gun crews sent 2,700-pound shells
enemy fire, the ship maneuvered doser to the       crashing into an Iraqi command and control
island and trained its guns ashore, commenc-       bunker near the Saudi border. It marked the
ing an intense six-hour struggle to retake the     first time her 16-inch guns had been fired in
first parcel of Kuwaiti territory.  When the       combat  since  March    1953  off Korea.
enemy gunfire ceased, three Iraqis lay dead        MISSOURI's gun crews returned to action 5
and 29 others knelt in surrender. Navy SEALs       February, silencing an Iraqi artillery battery
from Naval Special Warfare Group 1 landed          with another 10 rounds.  Over a three-day
on Qurah aboard helicopters from USS               period, MISSOURI bombarded Iraqi strong-
LEFTWICH (DDG 984).     With NICHOLAS              holds with 11216-inch shells.
and CURTS keeping watch close by, the island
was redaimed, and 51 EPWs were taken into               WISCONSIN, escorted byNICHOLAS,
custody.                                           relieved MISSOURI on the 6th, answering her
                                                   first combat call for gunfire support since March
      On 29 january, in the northern Persian       1952. Themostrecentlyrecommissionedbattle-
Gulf, the five ships of Amphibious Ready           ship sent 11 shells across 19 miles of space to
Group (ARG) ALFA - USS OKINAWA (LPH                destroy an Iraqi artillery battery in southern
3), USS OGDEN      (LPD 5), USS FORT               Kuwait. Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehide
MCHENRY (LSD 43), USS CAYUGA (LST                  (UAV) as a spotter in combat for the first time,
1186) and USS DURHAM (LKA 114) - with              WISCONSIN pounded Iraqi targets and Iraqi
embarked Marines from the 13th Marine Ex-          boats that had been used during raids along
peditionary Unit (special operations capable)      theSaudicoast. WISCONSIN'sturretsboomed
- steamed near the Kuwaiti island Umm al           again on 8 February, blasting bunkers and
Maradim.   The Marines assaulted the 300-          artillery sites near Khafji after the Iraqis were
meter by 400-meter island 12 miles off the         ousted from the city by Saudi and Qatari ar-
Kuwaiti coast using embarked Marine heli-          mor. The two battleships alternated positions
copters, liberating the second Kuwaiti island.     on the gun line, using their 16-inch guns to
After destroying Iraqi anti-aircraft weapons       destroy enemy targets and soften defenses
and artillery stored on the island, which had      along the Kuwait coastline for a possible am-


                                                -41 -

| Table of Contents | First Page | Prev Page | Next Page | Src Image |