Attack on USS STARK
17 MAY 1987
ATTACK ON USS STARK
On 22 September 1980, years of animosity between Iran and Iraq erupted into a shooting war. Early in that conflict Iranian jets destroyed Iraq’s only Persian Gulf oil terminal, greatly hindering the flow of this strategic resource. (Saddam Hussein would not forget how easily his limited coastal access had been denied–a vulnerability that influenced his annexation of Kuwait in 1990). Iraq countered with attacks against merchantmen, largely tankers, from Iran. By 1984 both sides were actively attempting to choke off oil leaving, or war supplies bound for, the other. In what was to become known as the “Tanker War,” by 1986 neutral Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian ships were falling victim to mines and missile attacks at a rate of about two a week.
In March 1987 Kuwait approached the United States with a plan to re-flag eleven Kuwait Oil Company supertankers as American and have them proceed under escort of US warships. President Reagan reacted favorably, and while plans were finalized several American warships took up station in the Persian Gulf. One of these was the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate HAROLD R. STARK (FFG-31). While standing radar picket duty 80 miles northeast of Bahrain, STARK received warning at 2000 hours from a circling E-2 Hawkeye of an Iraqi F-1 Mirage in the area. At 2058, STARK acquired the Mirage on its air-search radar at a range of 70 miles. At 2105 the Mirage turned toward the frigate and launched a French-made Exocet anti-ship missile at a range of 22.5 miles. A second followed less than a minute later. Both incoming missiles were spotted by lookouts on the STARK, but chaff rockets and the Phalanx CIWS gun could not be armed in time.
The first missile entered the port side and penetrated passageways, computer spaces, and berthing before coming to rest without detonating on the 2nd deck. Along its course it deposited 360# of burning fuel. The second struck 25 seconds later, eight feet forward of the first. Its warhead detonated on impact, starting a 3000o fire intense enough to melt the frigate’s aluminum superstructure. Despite the fire and a 16o list, LT Art Conklin’s damage control parties were able to keep the warship afloat. Thirty-seven crewmen were lost, and the medical department’s efforts were complicated by polyester fabric from the Certified Navy Twill (CNT) uniforms melted into many of the burns.
Within 24 hours STARK was under tow to Bahrain for repairs. The Iraqi government apologized, stating the Mirage had mistaken STARK for a tanker. On July 21st the first convoy of re-flagged tankers left Khawr Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, under escort of FOX (CG-33), CROMMELIN (FFG-37), and KIDD (DDG-993) for Kuwait.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 22 MAY 23
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Howarth, Stephen. To Shining Sea: A History of the United States Navy 1775-1991. New York, NY: Random House, 1991, p. 549.
Levinson, Jeffrey L. and Randy I. Edwards. Missile Inbound: The Attack on the STARK in the Persian Gulf. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1997.
Love, Robert W. History of the US Navy, Vol 2 1942-1991. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1992, pp. 771-79.
Sweetman, Jack. American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 2nd ed. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1991, pp. 283-86.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: ADM Harold Rainsford Stark (1880-1972) was a WWI veteran and our Chief of Naval Operations throughout World War II, from 1939-49.
The STARK experience was a factor in removing CNT uniform fabric from use at sea, in favor of all-cotton “shipboard” khaki.
