Operation Praying Mantis: A Turning Point in the Persian Gulf

The afternoon of April 14, 1988, was a dangerous time to be sailing through the central Persian Gulf. The Iran-Iraq War was about to enter its seventh year, and both sides had grown desperate to end the conflict. The Iranian and Iraqi militaries had 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 War.

The USS Samuel B. Roberts, an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate, was transiting the Persian Gulf when lookouts spotted objects floating in the water. Initially believed to be dolphins, a closer examination revealed them to be magnetic mines. Commander Paul Rinn was alerted and ordered the Roberts to slowly reverse out of the minefield at minimum speed. After 10 minutes of backing up, the ship’s luck ran out. A magnetic mine detonated directly underneath the Robert’s keel, nearly breaking the ship’s back. Water gushed through a 15-foot hole while a fire broke out deep inside the frigate. The crew worked tirelessly throughout the night and managed to save the ship. Miraculously, there were no fatalities, and only 10 men had been wounded in the explosion. The frigate limped into Dubai for repairs the following day.

The United States had previously caught Iranian ships laying mines in the Persian Gulf and warned Ayatollah Khamenei’s government that any further attempts to disrupt shipping would result in military action. For US President Ronald Reagan, the mining of the Samuel B. Roberts in international waters was the final straw. The president authorized a retaliatory strike against the Iranian military: Operation Praying Mantis.

Praying Mantis was intended as a proportionate strike to the Iranians’ ability to fight the Tanker War. Three Surface Action Groups (SAGs) from the US Seventh Fleet, each comprising an amphibious assault ship and two escorts, were formed for the operation and assigned different tasks. SAG Bravo was to assault and destroy the Sasan and Rakesh oil platforms, which had been used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as military bases. SAG Charlie was to attack the Siri platform, while SAG Delta would concentrate on sinking an Iranian warship in retaliation for the mining of the Samuel Roberts. Battlegroup Foxtrot, composed of the aircraft carrier Enterprise along with its escorting ships, would remain outside the Persian Gulf to provide air support.

A key objective of the operation was to sink one of the two modern Psalm-class frigates in the Iranian Navy, the Sahand and the Sabalan. These warships had been wreaking havoc on shipping in the Persian Gulf, often attacking neutral ships after they had already surrendered. Both frigates were considered priority targets for any naval forces in the area.

At 7 AM on April 18, the USS Enterprise launched A6 Intruder aircraft and F-14 Tomcat fighters. Their mission was to search out the Iranian vessels. A backup strike group of A7 Corsair attack aircraft would remain on deck alert and launch should more targets be detected. A Navy Hawkeye AWACS aircraft was also standing by.

At the same time, SAG Bravo arrived at the Sasan oil platform, which also served as a surveillance outpost for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Captain James Perkins on board the Merrill ordered a warning to be sent to the platform. A native Iranian speaker transmitted 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 was transmitted, Iranians were spotted hurriedly boarding two small tugs tied to the platform. After a few minutes, the tugs raced away from the facility. As a show of good faith, Captain Perkins extended the deadline to 20 minutes for the remaining Iranians to evacuate. At 8:08 AM, the platform was informed that its time was up, and the American destroyers opened fire with their five-inch guns.

The first shells were 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 opened fire on the American warships. The rounds fell short, and Merrill quickly fired a salvo which destroyed the gun. Following this initial barrage, a ceasefire was requested, and the rest of the Revolutionary Guard personnel gathered on the platform. One of the tugs returned to the now smoking installation to take them off.

Once the last Iranians were evacuated, the Merrill and Linde McCormick bombarded 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 was briefly inserted from UH-1 helicopters onto the platform to plant explosive charges. At 1:10 PM, the Sasan platform exploded with a deafening roar while Marines and sailors cheered.

SAG Charlie had arrived at the Siri platform at the same time as Bravo and had transmitted a similar warning to the Iranian installation. Here, the plan was for Navy SEALs to storm the facility after the defenses were neutralized. Once again, the Iranian occupants were granted more time to evacuate before the American warships opened fire. 25 minutes after their arrival, the platform’s tug pulled away, and the initial bombardment began. The destroyers USS Bagley and Wainwright fired 76 millimeter and 5-inch shells at the Siri platform.

Much like at the Sasan facility, the remaining Revolutionary Guards returned fire with 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, but their rounds fell well short. Cobra gunships were sent in to clear the way for the SEALs, who were standing by on their transport helicopter. However, the Iranian ZSUs were still able to fire back at the Cobras as they started their gun runs, forcing them to fall back. In response, the Siri platform was pounded by naval gunfire, which set the installation ablaze. The intense heat caused secondary explosions which ripped the facility apart. The commander of SAG Charlie called off the ground assault, leaving the keyed-up SEALs frustrated.

Meanwhile, a dangerous situation was developing near SAG Bravo as it moved north to destroy the Rakesh oil platform. A surface contact had been identified on radar approaching the group at 25 knots. Captain Perkins ordered general quarters. The destroyers prepared to open fire with Standard and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. As Captain Perkins requested a visual on the target, he wanted to be absolutely certain this was an enemy contact before attacking. A Navy Seahawk helicopter was dispatched and radioed

back that the target was indeed a warship. However, it was not one of the Iranian frigates but instead a destroyer of the Soviet Navy. When Captain Perkins asked his Russian counterpart of his intentions, the Soviet captain replied in heavily accented English that “I want to take pictures for history.” Perkins stood 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 gunboats and missile boats were assaulting any ship they could find, including the US-flagged civilian supply ship Willie Tide. The ship requested immediate support, and the Enterprise’s loitering A6 Intruders were sent to aid the ship.

The A6’s commander, Lieutenant Commander Jim Engler, found the Bog Hammer high-speed patrol boats that had peeled off from the Willie Tide and were now attacking an American oil platform. Engler radioed the Hawkeye, “Please confirm clear to engage the Bog Hammers.” His request was passed all the way to President Reagan, who approved the strike.

Engler and his wingman dove on the boats while the F-14 Tomcats held position above the clouds to provide air cover. The Bog Hammers were fast-moving and difficult targets. They fought back at the attacking aircraft as Engler and his wingman released their munitions, but the Rockeye cluster bombs only slightly damaged one vessel, which turned for home. Disappointed by the results, Engler ordered another bombing run on the other two Bog Hammers. The American aircraft considered switching to their laser-guided munitions, but the speedboats were moving so fast that they decided against it.

Engler led the second bombing run and dropped two pods of cluster bombs but again missed. However, his wingman correctly anticipated the path of one of the Bog Hammers and scored several direct hits. The Iranian craft stopped dead in the water and started sinking, while the Intruders reported back of their success.

At noon, SAG Charlie picked up a potential hostile contact on radar. A Seahawk helicopter from the USS Bagley was dispatched and identified the contacts as the Joshan, a French-built missile boat that was inducted into the Iranian Navy after the 1979 revolution. Captain Chandler had no intention of attacking the vessel, but his task force must sail towards the Iranian ship to intercept more Bog Hammers. Captain Chandler warned the missile craft to leave the area, or it would be fired upon. The Joshan acknowledged the warning but kept approaching the American ships in an aggressive manner.

Captain Chandler issued another warning, to which the Iranian captain responded, “I’m carrying out my mission,” and ceased radio communication. A final warning was transmitted to the Joshan at 12:13 PM, “Stop, abandon ship. I intend to sink you.” The Iranian missile craft responded by locking its fire control radar on the USS Wainwright. Captain Chandler ordered his task force to attack the Iranian ship. The guided missile frigate USS Simpson fired four Standard missiles, while the Wainwright fired one.

As the missiles streaked into the air, the Wainwright’s fire control center reported “Vampire inbound.” An orbiting Seahawk confirmed that the Joshan had fired a Harpoon anti-ship missile at the Wainwright. With both Iranian and U.S missiles in the air, the American warships fired off chaff rockets and activated their jamming equipment to draw away the Harpoon missile. The opposing missiles passed by each other. The Iranian ship had no defense against fast-moving American missiles. All five impacted the Joshan head-on, and the Iranian missile ship came to a halt.

Meanwhile, the chaff rockets had successfully diverted the Harpoon, which screamed past the American ships and exploded harmlessly in the water. The USS Bagley fired its own Harpoon anti-ship missile while closing the distance to the Iranian vessel with the Wainwright. The Harpoon missed the Joshan, but the enemy vessel was now dead in the water anyway from the earlier missile hits. As the American ships moved in to finish off the ship, Captain Chandler was alerted to three Iranian F4 Phantoms which had been picked up by the Hawkeye AWACS.

As the Phantoms closed to just 30 miles, Chandler decided to drive them away. At 12:50 PM, the Wainwright fired two SM-2 Standard anti-aircraft missiles. They streaked across the sky and hit their targets at the same time. One of the F-4s exploded in mid-air, while the other was damaged and forced to limp back to Iranian airspace. With the hostile aircraft dealt with, SAG Charlie turned its attention back to the wounded Joshan. The Wainwright, Simpson, and Bagley finished it off with gunfire before they were ordered to disengage.

At this time, SAG Bravo had been ordered to cancel its assault on the Rakesh oil platform. American Middle East Command was growing uneasy at the expanding scope of the operation and instead sought to de-escalate the situation. Yet at 1 PM, the guided missile destroyer USS Joseph Straus of SAG Delta detected the radar of an Iranian Psalm-class frigate, the target that the Americans had been waiting for. However, there was hesitation on whether to go after the vessel. The U.S Navy had already sunk an enemy warship, and there was no visual contact. Admiral Less ordered the target to be identified first before any attack was planned. The reserve A7 Corsair aircraft aboard the Enterprise were 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, was searching for the target. Flying at 15,000 feet, Langston spotted something below and dove through the clouds to just 50 feet above the waters of the Straits of Hormuz for a closer look. He approached the stern of the vessel on the port side. As he drew near, anti-aircraft guns aboard the ship opened fire on his Intruder, but Langston was flying so low that the gunners could not depress their barrels enough to hit him. The A6 buzzed the ship, and Langston confirmed that he had found the Iranian frigate Sahand.

Several SA2 SAMs chased after the Intruder but missed. The surface ships of SAG Delta had been tasked with destroying the Iranian frigates, but the rules of engagement of Enterprise’s strike aircraft authorized them to take defensive measures if they were fired upon. Langston decided to attack the Sahand and transmitted a warning over the Revolutionary Guard’s channel, informing the frigate, “I’m going to sink you in five minutes.” With no response, Langston lined up a shot with his Intruder’s Harpoon, but the missile failed to fire. He swung around while his bombardier worked through the weapon release checklist. On the second run, the Harpoon dropped free and ignited, accelerating towards the target.

The Enterprise’s flight controller checked in with Langston, to which the A6 pilot responded that he had found the Sahand. The controller asked, “What are your intentions?” Langston replied, “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 exploded amidships, and the Sahand stopped dead in the water.

Langston bore down on the burning ship and dropped a 500-pound laser-guided bomb, which was also a direct hit. He transmitted the Sahand’s coordinates to another strike aircraft as he swung around for one final run with his two 1,000 laser-guided Skipper bombs. The Intruder lined up the shot before the bombardier released both Skippers right above the ship. One failed to track and missed, while the other made a direct hit on the bridge. Satisfied, Langston reported that the Sahand was sinking and turned back to base.

By this time, the ships of SAG Delta were now in the area with the arriving A7 Corsairs overhead. The USS Joseph Straus launched another Harpoon at the Sahand while the other A6 and the A7s took turns bombing the burning hulk. A combination of Skippers, Walleye television guided bombs, and Rockeye cluster bombs further devastated the pride of the Iranian Navy. In the late afternoon, the fires aboard the Sahand finally reached her magazine, and the ship disappeared in a violent explosion.

At the same time, the Joseph Straus detected another Psalm-class frigate and vectored Commander Angler to the target. The A6 had air-to-air refueled since Angler’s earlier attack on the Iranian Bog Hammers and still had a 500-pound bomb and Rockeyes aboard. Angler spotted the other modern Iranian frigate, the Sabalan. The warship fired SAMs at the American aircraft, which missed, and Angler began his attack. The A6 climbed to 17,500 feet and then dove on the Sabalan at a 35-degree angle. The anti-aircraft fire was much more intense than it was from the Sahand, but Angler pressed on. He released his bomb and pulled out of his dive while the bombardier guided the munition on target. It hit the Iranian frigate and detonated directly in the engine room.

Angler circled for another run to drop cluster bombs on the burning vessel but decided against it due to the heavy anti-aircraft fire. More A6s with their F-14 fighter escorts arrived on station before they were called off. Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William Crowe had decided to end offensive operations for the day. Crowe told Admiral Less that “we’ve shed enough blood today,” and the wounded Sabalan was 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 18, but no U.S ships were damaged. These events marked the culmination of the Tanker War, and major hostilities in the Persian Gulf came to an end after the show of force from the United States. Nearly half of Iran’s Navy had been damaged or destroyed in the one-day naval war against the American Navy. The Silkworm attacks by the Iranian military were covered up by the Reagan administration to lessen tensions in the region and give Tehran a chance to de-escalate.

Only two American lives were lost when an AH6 Littlebird helicopter crashed into the Persian Gulf on the night of April 18. Commander James Engler was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Admiral Crowe for his actions against the Iranian warships. Four months later, on August 20, 1988, the governments of Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khamenei signed an official peace, ending the Iran-Iraq War.

Operation Praying Mantis was a decisive victory for the United States and a turning point in the Iran-Iraq War. It demonstrated the effectiveness of modern naval warfare tactics and the power of precision-guided munitions. It also highlighted the importance of clear rules of engagement and the need for restraint in the use of force.