Operation Praying Mantis Totally Explained

Everything about Operation Praying Mantis totally explained

Operation Praying Mantis was an April 18, 1988 attack by U.S. naval forces in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf and the subsequent damage to an American warship.
   On April 14, the guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck a mine while sailing in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will, the 1987-88 convoy missions in which U.S. warships escorted reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers to protect them from Iranian attacks. The explosion put a 25-foot hole in the Roberts' hull and nearly sank it. The crew saved their ship with no loss of life, and Roberts was towed to Dubai on April 16.
   After the mining, U.S. Navy divers recovered other mines in the area. When the serial numbers were found to match those of mines seized along with the Iran Ajr the previous September, U.S. military officials planned a retaliatory operation against Iranian targets in the Persian Gulf.
   The battle, the largest for American surface forces since World War II, sank two Iranian warships and three armed speedboats. It also marked the first surface-to-surface missile engagement in U.S. Navy history.
   The attack by the U.S. helped pressure Iran to agree to a ceasefire with Iraq later that summer, ending the eight-year conflict between the Persian Gulf neighbors.

The battle

On April 18, 1988, the Americans attacked with several groups of surface warships, plus aircraft from the carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65). The action began with coordinated strikes by two surface groups. One group, consisting of the destroyers USS Merrill (DD 976) and USS Lynde McCormick (DDG 8), plus the amphibious transport dock USS Trenton (LPD-14), neutralized the Sassan oil platform. The Iranian personnel on the platform were given the opportunity to abandon it for a tugboat waiting alongside, but instead chose to open fire on Merrill, whose 5 inch, 54 caliber guns quickly dispatched the smaller, platform-mounted Iranian gun. Immediately afterward, U.S. Marines from Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) 2-88 fast-roped onto the Sassan platform, gathered intelligence, and set explosives to render it unusable. The other group, which included a guided missile cruiser and two frigates, attacked the Sirri oil platform.
   Iran responded by dispatching Boghammar speedboats to attack various targets in the Persian Gulf, including an American-flagged supply ship and a Panamanian-flagged ship. After these attacks, A-6E Intruder aircraft from the VA-95 "Green Lizards" were directed to the speedboats by an American frigate. The two aircraft, piloted by Lieutenant Commander James Engler and Lieutenant Paul Webb, dropped Rockeye cluster bombs on the speedboats, sinking one and damaging several others, which then fled to the Iranian-controlled island of Abu Musa.
   Action continued to escalate. Joshan, an Iranian Combattante II Kaman-class fast attack craft, challenged USS Wainwright (CG-28) and Surface Action Group Charlie, firing a Harpoon missile at them. The USS Simpson (FFG-56) responded to the challenge by firing four Standard missiles, while USS Wainwright followed with two Standard missiles. The attacks destroyed the Iranian ship's superstructure but didn't immediately sink it, so USS Bagley (FF-1069) fired a Harpoon of its own . The three ships of SAG Charlie closed on the Joshan, destroying it with naval gunfire.
   Two Iranian F-4 fighters then approached the USS Wainwright, which fired a few Standard missiles at the approaching fighters, driving them away.
   Fighting continued when the Iranian frigate IS Sahand (F74) departed Bandar Abbas and challenged elements of an American surface group. The frigate was spotted by two VA-95 A-6Es while they were flying surface combat air patrol for USS Joseph Strauss (DDG-16). Sahand fired missiles at the A-6Es, and the Intruders replied with two Harpoons and four laser-guided Skipper bombs. USS Joseph Strauss added a Harpoon. Most, if not all, of the U.S. weapons hit the Iranian ship.
   Fires blazing on Sahand's decks eventually reached her magazines, causing an explosion that helped sink the ship. Despite the loss of Sahand, one of Iran's most modern ships, the Iranian navy continued to fight. Late in the day, a sister ship, IS Sabalan (F73), departed from its berth and fired a surface-to-air missile at several A-6Es from VA-95. Intruder pilot Engler dropped a laser-guided bomb on Sabalan, leaving the ship dead in the water. The Iranian frigate, stern partially submerged, was taken in tow by an Iranian tug. VA-95's aircraft, as ordered, didn't continue the attack. Engler was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Admiral William J. Crowe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for these actions against the Sabalan and the Iranian gunboats.

Aftermath

By the end of the operation elements of the American fleet had damaged Iranian naval and intelligence facilities on two inoperable oil platforms in the Persian Gulf, and sunk at least six armed Iranian speedboats. Sabalan was repaired in 1989 and has since been upgraded, and is still in service with the Iranian navy. In short, Iran lost one major warship and a smaller gunboat. Damage to the oil platforms was eventually repaired and they're now back in service.
   The U.S. side suffered two casualties: the aircrew of a Marine Corps AH-1T Sea Cobra helicopter gunship. The Cobra, attached to the USS Trenton, was flying reconnaissance from the Wainwright and crashed sometime after dark about 15 miles southwest of Abu Musa island. The bodies of Capt. Stephen C. Leslie, 30, of New Bern, N.C., and Capt. Kenneth W. Hill, 33, of Thomasville, N.C., were recovered by Navy divers in May, and the wreckage of the helicopter was raised later that month. Navy officials said it showed no sign of battle damage.
   The guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes was called to protect the extraction of the Roberts and arrived a month later. The heightened tensions contributed to the crew of the Vincennes shooting down a commercial airliner on a routine flight, Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 crew and passengers on July 3, less than two months after their arrival. According to the U.S. government, the Iranian airbus was mistakenly identified as an attacking military F-14 fighter. The Iranian government, however, maintains that the Vincennes knowingly shot down a civilian aircraft.
   Operation Praying Mantis is one of five American naval engagements cited by United States Naval Academy Prof. Craig L. Symonds in his book Decision at Sea (2005) as being decisive in establishing U.S. naval superiority. The others were the Battle of Lake Erie (1813), the Battle of Hampton Roads (1862), the Battle of Manila Bay (1898), and the Battle of Midway (1942).
   On November 6, 2003 the International Court of Justice dismissed Iran's claim for reparation against the United States for breach of the 1955 Treaty of Amity between the two countries. The court also dismissed a counter-claim by the United States, also for reparation for breach of the same treaty. As part of its finding the court did note that "the actions of the United States of America against Iranian oil platforms on October 19, 1987 (Operation Nimble Archer) and April 18, 1988 (Operation Praying Mantis) can't be justified as measures necessary to protect the essential security interests of the United States of America."

U.S. naval order of battle

Surface Action Group Bravo

USS Merrill (DD-976) - destroyer
USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) - guided missile destroyer
USS Trenton (LPD-14) - amphibious transport dock
Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) 2-88

Surface Action Group Charlie

USS Wainwright (DLG/CG-28) - guided missile cruiser

USS Bagley (FF-1069) - frigate

USS Simpson (FFG-56) - guided missile frigate

SEAL platoon Surface Action Group Delta

USS Jack Williams (FFG-24) - guided missile frigate

USS O'Brien (DD-975) - destroyer

USS Joseph Strauss (DDG-16) - guided missile destroyer Air support

Elements of Carrier Air Wing Eleven operating from aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65)Further Information

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