A One Day War with Iran - Operation Praying Mantis, 1988 - Animated

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victory it's the afternoon of april the 14th 1988. the uss samuel b roberts an oliver hazard perry class guided missile frigate is sailing through the central persian gulf this is a dangerous time to be transiting the gulf the iran-iraq war is about to enter its seventh year and both sides have grown desperate to end the conflict the iranian and iraqi militaries have started to bomb shipping commerce in the persian gulf to cut off the other's war economy in a conflict that had become known as the tanker wall as part of operation ernest will the samuel b roberts and other u.s navy warships from the seventh fleet are dispatched to the middle east to escort tankers safely to their destinations the frigate is transiting the persian gulf when lookouts spot objects floating in the water they initially believe these to be dolphins but a closer examination instead reveals magnetic mines commander paul rynn is alerted and orders the roberts to slowly reverse out of the minefield at minimum speed after 10 minutes of backing up the ship's luck runs out a magnetic mine detonates directly underneath the robert's keel nearly breaking the ship's back water gushes through a 15-foot hole while a fire breaks out deep inside the frigate the crew works tirelessly throughout the night and manages to save the ship miraculously there are no fatalities and only 10 men have been wounded in the explosion the frigates limps into dubai for repairs the following day navy eod divers recover mines in the area and trace their serial numbers to iran the united states has previously caught iranian ships laying mines in the persian gulf and warned ayatollah khamenei's government that any further attempts to disrupt shipping will result in military action for us president ronald reagan the mining of the samuel b roberts in international waters is the final straw the president authorizes a retaliatory strike against the iranian military operation praying mantis praying mantis is intended as a proportionate strike to the iranians ability to fight the tanker wall three surface action groups or sags from the us seventh fleet each comprising an amphibious assault ship and two escorts are formed for the operation and assign different tasks sag bravo is to assault and destroy the sasan and rakesh oil platforms which have been used by the iranian revolutionary guard as military bases sag charlie is to attack the siri platform while sag delta will concentrate on sinking an iranian warship in retaliation for the mining of the samuel roberts battlegroup foxtrot is composed of the aircraft carrier enterprise along with its escorting ships and will remain outside the persian gulf to provide air support a key objective of the operation is to sink one of the two modern psalm-class frigates in the iranian navy the sahand and the sabalan these warships have been wreaking havoc on shipping in the persian gulf often attacking neutral ships after they have already surrendered both frigates are considered priority targets for any naval forces in the area at 7am on april the 18th carrier uss enterprise launches a6 intruder aircraft and f-14 tomcat fighters their mission will be to search out the iranian vessels a backup stripe group of a7 corsair attack aircraft will remain on deck alert and launch should more targets be detected a navy hawkeye awax aircraft is also standing by at the same time sag bravo arrives at the sasan oil platform which also serves as a surveillance outpost for the iranian revolutionary guard sag bravo is comprised of two destroyers the uss merrill and the uss lind mccormick in addition to the amphibious transport uss trenton captain james perkins on board the merrell orders a warning to be sent to the platform a native iranian speaker transmits the message in farsi attention sasan platform this is us warship this is your warning you have five minutes to clear the platform before we commence fire immediately after the warning is transmitted iranians are spotted hurriedly boarding two small tugs tied to the platform after a few minutes the tugs race away from the facility as a show of good faith captain perkins extends the deadline to 20 minutes for the remaining iranians to evacuate at 808 am the platform is informed that its time is up and the american destroyers open fire with their five-inch guns the first shells are deliberately set to airburst away from the target to encourage any remaining iranians to hurry up and leave instead zsu 23 millimeter guns on the platform open fire on the american warships the rounds fall short and merrill quickly fires a salvo which destroys the gun following this initial barrage a ceasefire is requested and the rest of the revolutionary guard personnel gathers on the platform one of the tugs returns to the now smoking installation to take them off once the last iranians are evacuated the merrill and linde mccormick bombard the platform for another 40 minutes at 9 00 am two cobra gunships arrived to join the fray firing two anti-tank missiles at the barracks and raking the area with 20-millimeter cannon fire to ensure the complete destruction of the facility a marine assault force from the uss trenton is briefly inserted from uh-1 helicopters onto the platform to plant explosive charges at 1 10 pm the sasan platform explodes with a deafening raw while marines and sailors cheer sag charlie had arrived at the siri platform at the same time as bravo and has transmitted a similar warning to the iranian installation here the plan is for navy seals to storm the facility after the defenses are neutralized once again the iranian occupants are granted more time to evacuate before the american warships open fire 25 minutes after their arrival the platform's tug pulls away and the initial bombardment begins the destroyers uss bagley and wainwright fire 76 millimeter and 5-inch shells at the siri platform much like at the sasan facility the remaining revolutionary guards return fire with 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns but their rounds fall well short cobra gunships are sent in to clear the way for the seals who are standing by on their transport helicopter however the iranian zsus are still able to fire back at the cobras as they start their gun runs forcing them to fall back in response the siri platform is pounded by naval gunfire which sets the installation ablaze the intense heat causes secondary explosions which rip the facility apart the commander of sac charlie calls off the ground assault leaving the keyed up seals frustrated meanwhile a dangerous situation is developing near sag bravo as it moves north to destroy the rakesh oil platform a surface contact has been identified on radar approaching the group at 25 knots captain perkins orders general quarters the destroyers prepare to open fire with standard and harpoon anti-ship missiles as captain perkins requests a visual on the target he wants to be absolutely certain this is an enemy contact before attacking a navy seahawk helicopter is dispatched and radios back that the target is indeed a warship however it is not one of the iranian frigates but instead a destroyer of the soviet navy when captain perkins asks his russian counterpart of his intentions the soviet captain replies in heavily accented english that i want to take pictures for history perkins stands down his anti-ship missile attack somewhat hastily after the destruction of the sasan and siri platforms the iranian navy sorties in force to counter-attack the americans by 11 am revolutionary guard gun boats and missile boats are assaulting any ship they can find including the us-flagged civilian supply ship willie tide the ship requests immediate support and the enterprise's loitering a6 intruders are sent to aid the ship the a6's commander lieutenant commander jim engler finds the bog hammer high-speed patrol boats that have peeled off from the willy tide and are now attacking an american oil platform angler radios the hawkeye please confirm clear to engage the bog hammers his request is passed all the way to president reagan who approves the strike angler and his wingman dive on the boats while the f-14 tomcats hold position above the clouds to provide air cover the bog hammers are fast moving and difficult targets they fight back at the attacking aircraft as angler and his wingman release their munitions but the rockey cluster bombs only slightly damage one vessel which turns for home disappointed by the results angler orders another bombing run on the other two bog hammers the american aircraft consider switching to their laser-guided munitions but the speed boats are moving so fast that they decide against it engler leads the second bombing run and drops two pods of cluster bombs but again misses however his wingman correctly anticipates the path of one of the bog hammers and scores several direct hits the iranian craft stops dead in the water and starts sinking while the intruders report back of their success at noon sag charlie picks up a potential hostile contact on radar a seahawk helicopter from the uss bagley is dispatched and identifies the contacts as the joshan a french-built missile boat that was inducted into the iranian navy after the 1979 revolution captain chandler has no intention of attacking the vessel but his task force must sail towards the iranian ship to intercept more bog hammers captain chandler warns the missile craft to leave the area or it will be fired upon the joshan acknowledges the warning but keeps approaching the american ships in an aggressive manner captain chandler issues another warning to which the iranian captain responds i'm carrying out my mission and ceases radio communication a final warning is transmitted to the joshan at 12 13 pm stop abandon ship i intend to sink you the iranian missile craft responds by locking its fire control radar on the uss wainwright captain chanda orders his task force to attack the iranian ship the guided missile frigate uss simpson fires four standard missiles while the wainwright fires one as the missiles streak into the air the wainwright's fire control center reports vampire inbound an orbiting seahawk confirms that the joshan has fired a harpoon anti-ship missile at the wainwright with both iranian and u.s missiles in the air the american warships fire off chaff rockets and activate their jamming equipment to draw away the harpoon missile the opposing missiles pass by each other the iranian ship has no defense against fast-moving american missiles all five impact the joshan head-on and the iranian missile ship comes to a halt meanwhile the chaff rockets have successfully diverted the harpoon which screams past the american ships and explodes harmlessly in the water the uss bagley fires its own harpoon anti-ship missile while closing the distance to the iranian vessel with the wainwright the harpoon misses the joshan but the enemy vessel is now dead in the water anyway from the earlier missile hits as the american ships move in to finish off the ship captain chandler is alerted to three iranian f4 phantoms which have been picked up by the hawkeye aywax as the phantoms close to just 30 miles chandler decides to drive them away at 12 50 pm the wainwright fires two sm-2 standard anti-aircraft missiles they streak across the sky and hit their targets at the same time one of the f-4s explodes in mid-air while the other is damaged and forced to limp back to iranian airspace with the hostile aircraft dealt with sag charlie turns its attention back to the wounded joshan the wainwright simpson and bagley finish it off with gunfire before they are ordered to disengage at this time zac bravo has been ordered to cancel its assault on the rakesh oil platform american middle east command is growing uneasy at the expanding scope of the operation and instead seeks to de-escalate the situation yet at 1pm the guided missile destroyer uss joseph straus of sag delta detects the radar of an iranian psalm-class frigate the target that the americans have been waiting for however there is hesitation on whether to go after the vessel the u.s navy has already sunk an enemy warship and there is no visual contact admiral less orders the target to be identified first before any attack is planned the reserve a7 corsair aircraft aboard the enterprise are launched and ordered to stand by for any enemy contact at 2 40 pm one of the earlier launched a6s piloted by deputy carrier air group commander bud langston is searching for the target flying at 15 000 feet langston spots something below and dives through the clouds to just 50 feet above the waters of the straits of hormuz for a closer look he approaches the stern of the vessel on the port side as he draws near anti-aircraft guns aboard the ship open fire on his intruder but langston is flying so low that the gunners cannot depress their barrels enough to hit him the a6 buzzes the ship and langston confirms that he has found the iranian frigate sahand several sa2 sands chase after the intruder but miss the surface ships of sag delta have been tasked with destroying the iranian frigates but the rules of engagement of enterprises strike aircraft authorize them to take defensive measures if they are fired upon langston decides to attack thus a hand and transmits a warning over the revolutionary guard's channel informing the frigate i'm going to sink you in five minutes with no response langston lines up a shot with his intruder's harpoon but the missile fails to fire he swings around while his bombardier works through the weapon release checklist on the second run the harpoon drops free and ignites accelerating towards the target the enterprise's flight controller checks in with langston to which the a6 pilot responds that he has found the sahand the controller asks what are your intentions langston replies well he shot at me i'm now 12 miles out and i just launched a harpoon missile and waiting for it to hit a few seconds later the harpoon explodes amidships and the sahand stops dead in the water langston bears down on the burning ship and drops a 500 pound laser-guided bomb which is also a direct hit he transmits the sahan's coordinates to another strike aircraft as he swings around for one final run with his two 1 000 later guided skipper bombs the intruder lines up the shot before the bombardier releases both skippers right above the ship one fails to track and misses while the other makes a direct hit on the bridge satisfied langston reports that the sahand is sinking and turns back to base by this time the ships of sag delta are now in the area with the arriving a7 corsairs overhead the uss joseph strauss launches another harpoon at the sahand while the other a6 and the a7s take turns bombing the burning hulk a combination of skippers walleye television guided bombs and rockeye cluster bombs further devastate the pride of the iranian navy in the late afternoon the fires aboard the sahand finally reach her magazine and the ship disappears in a violent explosion at the same time the joseph strauss detects another psalm class frigate and vectors commander angler to the target the a6 has air-to-air refuelled since angler's earlier attack on the iranian bull cameras and still has a 500 pound bomb and rockeyes are bored angler spots the other modern iranian frigate the sabalan the warship fires sams at the american aircraft which miss and angler begins his attack the a6 climbs to 17500 feet and then dives on the sabalan at a 35 degree angle the anti-aircraft fire is much more intense than it was from the sahand but angler presses on he releases his bomb and pulls out of his dive while the bombardier guides the munition on target it hits the iranian frigate and destinates directly in the engine room angler circles for another run to drop cluster bombs on the burning vessel but decides against it due to the heavy anti-aircraft fire more a6s with their f-14 fighter escorts arrive on station before they are called off defense secretary frank carlucci and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff admiral william crowe have decided to end offensive operations for the day croy tells admiral les that we've shed enough blood today and the wounded sabalan is allowed to be towed back to port in response to the american strikes the iranians launched silkworm anti-ship missile attacks against sag delta the evening of april the 18th but no u.s ships are damaged these events mark the culmination of the tanker war and major hostilities in the persian gulf come to an end after the show of force from the united states nearly half of iran's navy has been damaged or destroyed in the one day naval war against the american navy the silkworm attacks by the iranian military are covered up by the reagan administration in order to lessen tensions in the region and give tehran a chance to de-escalate only two american lives are lost when an ah6 littlebird helicopter crashes into the persian gulf on the night of april the 18th commander james engler is awarded the distinguished flying cross by admiral crowe for his actions against the iranian warships four months later on august 20th 1988 the governments of saddam hussein and ayatollah khamenei signed an official peace ending the iran-iraq war thanks again to our sponsor conflict of nations for supporting this video don't forget to support the operations room by clicking the link in the description below and starting your journey to global victory today

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 692,379

Keywords: History, Documentary, aircraft, animated, war, us navy, f-14 tomcat, ronald reagan, operation praying mantis, uss enterprise, tanker war, iran-iraq war, a-6 intruder, iran, iranian revolutionary guard, persian gulf

Id: 5ihmIxZtMBQ

Length: 20min 16sec (1216 seconds)

Published: Fri May 06 2022