* battlefield preparation as the deadline for the time the enemy realized an amphibious as- ground offensive neared. As WISCONSIN sault was not headed their way,.it was too late. and MISSOURI steamed in the vidnity of re- Coalition victory was less than 24 hours away. cently-cleared "Point FOXTROT," their gun crews continued to pound Iraqi targets. Ma- WISCONSIN and MISSOURI's guns rine AV-8B Harriers launched from the flight continued to fire. Both battleships passed the deck of NASSAU conducted strikes ashore. million-pound mark of ordnance delivered on Iraqi targets by the time President Bush ended a Thenightbefore the 24 February ground hostilities on 28 February. With one last salvo offensive began, MISSOURI trained her guns from her big guns, WISCONSIN fired the. last on Faylaka Island in a pyrotechnic display naval gunfire support mission of the war. intended to convince Iraqi troops along the Kuwaiti coast that the sea-borne invasion was Though the cease-fire ended ground at hand. WISCONSIN, accompanied by USS hostilities, the Navy's mission didn't slow. MCINERNEY (FFG 8) moved in close to drive Navy warships continued working with allied that point home. counterparts to enforce U.N. sanctions. Both battleships' UAVs combed the coastline and Twenty-four hours into the ground cam- outlying islands in reconnaissance support for paign, Iraqis manning the Kuwait Silkworm occupying allied forces. Over Faylaka Island, missile sites fired two anti-ship missiles at MISSOURI's UAV pbserved hundreds of Iraqi MISSOURI. The first landed harmlessly be- soldiers waving white flags following the tweenMISSOURIandUSSJARRETT(FFG33). battleship's pounding of their trenchlines - The second, headed straight for MISSOURI, the first-ever surrender of enemy troops to an but was intercepted by two Sea Dart missiles unmanned aircraft. from the British warship HMS GLOUCESTER (D96). The mine-clearing effort continued unabated. By the time the cease-fire was called, With the allied ground force plowing the job of reaching the Kuwaiti port of al- through Iraqi defenders, Iraqi forces on the Shuaibah was nearly complete. Minesweep- Kuwaiti coastline prepared a counter-attack. ers and EOD teams from the U.S., Britain, * To diffuse that possibility, Marine helicopters Holland and Belgium continued to clear the from USS GUAM (LPH 9) and other ships of path to Kuwait's main port. the amphibious task force conducted opera- tions designed to keep the enemy wary of an LASALLE arrived at Al Shuaibah on 12 amphibious assault. GUAM's helicopters con- March, after she assisted the British mine- ducted early-morning strike missions on both sweeper HMS CATTISTOCK (M 31) in escort- Faylaka and Bubiyan Islands. OKINAWA ing two tankers filled with fresh water and conducted a simulated helicopter assault supplies through a channel to the newly-liber- against Kuwaiti beaches, turning back after ated Kuwait. USMCMG assets were busy drawing small arms and anti-aircraft artillery sweeping channels into other ports north and fire from the enemy's coastal bunkers. The south of Shuaibah and around Kuwait City. maneuvers held the attention of 80,000 Iraqi coastal defense personnel as the coalition's "The Iraqis mighthave agreed toacease- "end run" swarmed around their flank. By the fire, but their mines have not yet surrendered," -43-
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