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Operation Praying Mantis was the 18 April 1988 attack by the United States on Iranian naval targets in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for the mining of a U.S. warship four days earlier.[5] It took place during the US presidency of Ronald Reagan and the rule of Supreme Leader of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini.
On 14 April, the American guided missile frigateUSS Samuel B. Roberts struck a mine while transiting international waters as part of Operation Earnest Will, the 1987–88 effort to protect reflaggedKuwaitioil tankers from Iranian attacks during the Iran–Iraq War. The explosion pierced the hull and broke the keel of the Samuel B. Roberts, which nearly sank but was saved by its crew with no loss of life.
After the serial numbers of mines recovered in the area were found to match those of mines seized on an Iranian barge the previous September, U.S. military officials planned a retaliatory operation. On 18 April, the attack destroyed, damaged, or sank two Iranian oil platforms, two frigates, a fast-attack craft, several armed boats, and two fighter jets. Two U.S. Marine aviators died when their helicopter crashed into the Persian Gulf. The attack pressured Iran to agree to a ceasefire with Iraq later that summer, ending the eight-year Iran–Iraq War.[6]
Iran later sued the United States, claiming that the attacks had breached the countries' 1955 Treaty of Amity. On 6 November 2003, the International Court of Justice dismissed the claim but ruled that Operation Praying Mantis and the previous October's Operation Nimble Archer "cannot be justified as measures necessary to protect the essential security interests of the United States of America."[7]
Praying Mantis was the largest of the U.S. Navy's five major surface engagements since World War II.[a] It saw the U.S. Navy's first exchange of anti-ship missiles with opposing ships, and by then its only sinking of a major surface combatant since World War II.
On 18 April, the U.S. Navy attacked with several groups of surface warships, plus aircraft from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, and her cruiser escort, USS Truxtun. The action began with coordinated strikes by two surface groups.
One surface action group, or SAG, consisting of the destroyers USS Merrill (including embarked LAMPSMk I helicopter detachment HSL-35 Det 1 Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 35) and USS Lynde McCormick, plus the amphibious transport dockUSS Trenton and its embarked Marine air-ground task force (Contingency MAGTF 2-88 from Camp LeJeune, North Carolina)[8] and the LAMPS helicopter detachment (HSL-44 Det 5) from USS Samuel B. Roberts, was ordered to destroy the guns and other military facilities on the Sassan oil platform.
At 8 am, the SAG commander, who was also the commander of Destroyer Squadron 9, ordered the Merrill to radio a warning to the occupants of the platform, telling them to abandon it. The SAG waited 20 minutes, then opened fire. The oil platform fired back with twin-barrelled 23 mm ZU-23 guns. The SAG's guns eventually disabled some of the ZU-23s, and platform occupants radioed a request for a cease-fire. The SAG complied.
After a tugboat carrying more personnel had cleared the area, the ships resumed exchanging fire with the remaining ZU-23s, and ultimately disabled them. AH-1 Cobra helicopters completed the destruction of enemy resistance. The Marines boarded the platform and recovered a single wounded survivor, who was transported to Bahrain, some small arms, and intelligence. The Marines planted explosives, left the platform, and detonated them. The SAG was then ordered to proceed north to the Rakhsh oil platform to destroy it.
As the SAG departed the Sassan oil field, two Iranian F-4s made an attack run but broke off when Lynde McCormick locked its fire-control radar on the aircraft. Halfway to the Rahksh oil platform, the attack was called off in an attempt to ease pressure on the Iranians and signal a desire for de-escalation.
The other group, which included the guided missile cruiserUSS Wainwright and frigatesUSS Simpson and USS Bagley, attacked the Sirri oil platform. Navy SEALs were assigned to capture, occupy, and destroy the Sirri platform but because it had already been heavily damaged by naval gunfire, an assault was not required.
Iran responded by dispatching Boghammar speedboats to attack various targets in the Persian Gulf, including the American-flagged supply ship Willie Tide, the Panamanian-flagged oil rigScan Bay and the British tanker York Marine. All of these vessels were damaged in different degrees.[9] The targets were part of the Mubarak off-shore Saudi oil field.[10] After the attacks, A-6E Intruder aircraft launched from USS Enterprise were directed to the speedboats by an American frigate. The two VA-95 aircraft dropped Rockeyecluster bombs on the speedboats, sinking one and damaging several others, which then fled to the Iranian-controlled island of Abu Musa.[9]
Action continued to escalate. Iranian fast-attack craft Joshan, an Iranian Kaman-class (La Combattante II type) fast attack craft, challenged Wainwright and Surface Action Group Charlie. The commanding officer of Wainwright directed a final warning (of a series of warnings) stating that Joshan was to "stop your engines, abandon ship, I intend to sink you". Joshan responded by firing a Harpoon missile at them.[11] The missile was successfully lured away by chaff.[12]
Simpson responded to the challenge by firing four Standard missiles, while Wainwright followed with one Standard missile.[13] All missiles hit and destroyed the Iranian ship's superstructure but did not immediately sink it, so Bagley fired another Harpoon. The missile did not find the target. SAG Charlie closed on Joshan, with Simpson, then Bagley and Wainwright firing guns to sink the crippled Iranian ship.[11]
Two Iranian F-4 Phantom fighters were orbiting about 48 km (26 nmi) away when Wainwright decided to drive them away. Wainwright fired two Extended Range Standard missiles, one of which detonated near an F-4, blowing off part of its wing and peppering the fuselage with shrapnel. The F-4s withdrew, and the Iranian pilot landed his damaged airplane at Bandar Abbas.[13]
Fighting continued when the Iranian frigate IRIS Sahand departed Bandar Abbas and challenged elements of an American surface group. The frigate was spotted by two A-6Es from VA-95 while they were flying surface combat air patrol for USS Joseph Strauss.
Sahand fired missiles at the A-6Es, which replied with two Harpoon missiles and four laser-guided Skipper missiles. Joseph Strauss fired a Harpoon missile. Most or all of the shots scored hits, causing heavy damage and fires. Fires blazing on Sahand's decks eventually reached its munitions magazines, causing an explosion that sank it.
Late in the day, the Iranian frigate IRIS Sabalan departed from its berth and fired a surface-to-air missile at several A-6Es from VA-95. The A-6Es then dropped a Mark 82laser-guided bomb into Sabalan's stack, crippling the ship and leaving it burning. The Iranian frigate, stern partially submerged, was taken in tow by an Iranian tug, and was repaired and eventually returned to service. VA-95's aircraft, as ordered, did not continue the attack. The A-6 pilot who crippled Sabalan, Lieutenant Commander James Engler, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by AdmiralWilliam J. Crowe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for the actions against Sabalan and the Iranian gunboats.[14]
In retaliation for the attacks, Iran fired Silkworm missiles, suspected to be the HY-4 version, from land bases against SAG Delta in the Strait of Hormuz and against USS Gary in the northern central Persian Gulf, but all missed because of evasive maneuvers and use of decoys by the ships. A missile was probably shot down by Gary's 76 mm (3.0 in) gun. The Pentagon and the Reagan Administration later denied that any Silkworm missile attacks took place, possibly in order to keep the situation from escalating further - as they had promised publicly that any such attacks would merit retaliation against targets on Iranian soil.[15]
After the attack on Sabalan, U.S. naval forces were ordered to assume a de-escalatory posture, giving Iran a way out and avoiding further combat. Iran took the offer and combat ceased, though both sides remained on alert, and near-clashes occurred throughout the night and into the next day as the forces steamed within the Gulf. Two days after the battle, Lynde McCormick was directed to escort a U.S. oiler out through the Strait of Hormuz, while a Scandinavian-flagged merchant remained near, probably for protection. While the ships remained alert, no hostile indications were received, and the clash was over.
By the end of the operation, US Marines and US Navy ships and aircraft had destroyed Iranian naval and intelligence facilities on two inoperable oil platforms in the Persian Gulf, and sunk at least three armed Iranian Boghammerspeedboats, one Iranian frigate, and one fast attack missile boat. One other Iranian frigate was damaged in the battle.[16]Sabalan was repaired in 1989 and returned to service, until she was sunk during the 2026 Iran war[17]. The fires eventually burned themselves out but the damage to the infrastructure forced the demolition of the Sirri platforms after the war. The site was built up again for oil production by French and Russian oil companies, after buying the drilling rights from the Iranian government.
The U.S. side suffered two casualties, the crew of a Marine Corps AH-1T Sea Cobra attack helicopter. The Cobra, attached to USS Trenton, was flying reconnaissance from Wainwright and crashed sometime after dark about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Abu Musa island. The bodies of the lost personnel 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.[18] In his book "Tanker War," author Lee Allen Zatarain indicates there was some evidence the helicopter may have crashed while evading hostile fire from the island.
Following the attack, Legal Advisor to the State Department Abraham Sofaer messaged his counterpart in Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Dr. Efthekar Jaromi, suggesting that they cancel their meeting scheduled in The Hague to address Iranian/U.S. claims. Dr. Jaromi responded that they meet as scheduled rather than “burn the only bridge between our countries.”[19]
A month later, the guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes arrived, summoned in haste to protect the frigate Samuel B. Roberts as it was hauled back to the United States. On 3 July 1988, Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, a commercial airliner flying a scheduled route, killing all 290 crew and passengers. The U.S. government claimed that the crew of Vincennes mistook the Iranian Airbus for an attacking F-14 fighter. The Iranian government alleged that Vincennes knowingly shot down a civilian aircraft and called for the deaths of its crew.
On 6 November 2003 the International Court of Justice dismissed a claim by Iran and a counterclaim by the United States'[7] for reparations for breach of a 1955 'Treaty of Amity' between the two countries. In short, the court rejected both claim and counterclaim because the 1955 treaty protected only "freedom of trade and navigation between the territories of the parties"[7] and because of the US trade embargo on Iran at the time, no direct trade or navigation between the two was affected by the conflict.
The court did state that "the actions of the United States of America against Iranian oil platforms on 19 October 1987 (Operation Nimble Archer) and 18 April 1988 (Operation Praying Mantis) cannot be justified as measures necessary to protect the essential security interests of the United States of America". The Court ruled that it "...cannot however uphold the submission of the Islamic Republic of Iran that those actions constitute a breach of the obligations of the United States of America under Article X, paragraph 1, of that Treaty, regarding freedom of commerce between the territories of the parties, and that, accordingly, the claim of the Islamic Republic of Iran for reparation also cannot be upheld;".[7]
Surface Action Group Bravo
Surface Action Group Charlie
Surface Action Group Delta
Air support
Ship maintenance and support