Sign in or 
Share this
BOOK REVIEWS
Attention all sailors ...
Dallas - a retired cruiser captain and at the time of the "tanker war" a frigate driver, has passed along some great info here. Looks like a great read so put it on your list. Dallas and I were comm officers in USS O'Callahan and USS Bainbridge in 1972 off Haiphong for the "Christmas Bombing". This is a chapter in my book "JUNCTION" at http://tinyurl.com/ofsjq(free to read here) section "the military and me".
vic
PS .. USS GARY is the frigate you see starrig in the movie RED OCTOBER. The ship was named for Lt. Gary of USS Franklin - see story about USS Franklin at http://ussocallahan.wetpaint.com/page/Our+Videos(the photo )
From: Dallas Bethea
Vic,
Wanted to give you a head's up on this. It should hit the street from the publisher within the next two weeks and is available to order now on Amazon.com for a pretty good price. The most recent issue of USNI "Proceedings" had a book review on it.
It is the firstcomprehensive look at what happened in the gulf from Stark through Vincennes and is the firstdetailed history of the Tanker War from 1987-1988. Nobody has taken a sweeping look at this period of naval history except in bits and pieces despite Praying Mantis being the largest at sea naval engagement since Leyte Gulf.I think it will be a fascinating read.
Chapter 24 deals exclusively with USS Gary and your oldbuddy herewhen the Fighting Frigate stepped up to the plate & strapped on whatthe authorsays was a Silkworm. I don't know what thehell it was for certain, but it sure quacked like a duck, walked like a duck, and flew like a duck. Maybe it was a duck. But let's just put it this way: I saw my life pass in front of my eyes and I damn well thought the end was near.
You may want to get a copy of this thing.
Dallas
TANKER WAR
America’s First Conflict with Iran, 1987–88
Lee Allen Zatarain
In May 1987 the US frigate Stark, calmly sailing the waters of the Persian Gulf, was suddenly blown apart by an Exocet missile fired from a jet fighter of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. A fifth of the ship’s crew were killed and many others horribly burned or wounded. This event jumpstarted one of the most mysterious conflicts in American history: “The Tanker War,” waged against Iran for control of the Persian Gulf.This quasi-war took place at the climax of the mammoth Iran-Iraq War, during the last years of the Reagan administration. Losing on the battlefield, Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran had decided to close the Persian Gulf against shipping from Iraq’s oil-rich backers, the emirate of Kuwait. The Kuwaitis appealed for help and America sent a fleet to the Gulf, raising the Stars and Stripes over Kuwait’s commercial tankers.The result was a free-for-all, as the Iranians laid mines throughout the narrow passage and launched attack boats against both tankers and US warships. The sixth largest ship in the world, the tanker Bridgeton, hit an Iranian mine and flooded. The US Navy fought its largest surface battle since World War II against the Ayatollah’s assault boats.Meanwhile, US Navy Seals had arrived in the Gulf, setting up shop aboard a mobile platform from which they would sally out in fast craft to combat the Iranians. As Saddam Hussein, who had instigated the conflict, looked on, Iranian gunners fired shore-based Silkworm missiles against US ships, actions which, if made known at the time, would have required the US Congress to declare war against Iran.In July 1988, nervous sailors aboard the cruiser USS Vincennes shot an Iranian airliner out of the sky, killing 300 civilians. This event came one month before the end of the war, and may have been the final straw to influence the Ayatollah to finally drink from his “poisoned chalice.”In Tanker War, Lee Allen Zatarain, employing recently released Pentagon documents, firsthand interviews, and a determination to get to the truth, has revealed a conflict that few recognized at the time, but which may have presaged further battles to come.
REVIEWS
"...not only an exciting work but an essential one for those wishing to understand America’s vast naval and air capability as well as its enduring vulnerability.” —Stephen Tanner, author of Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban and The Wars of the Bushes
"...an amazingly detailed look inside the U.S. Navy during the period it encountered a myriad of threats from Iranian ships, aircraft and missiles in the Persian Gulf. Given the fact that a reprise of the conflict is just beyond the horizon, this book should be essential reading for all U.S. policymakers as well as—and even more so—the current leaders of Iran." —Samuel A. Southworth, author of U.S. Armed Forces Arsenal and U.S. Special Warfare
"...does an excellent job of describing the tension aboard US ships and helicopter/ air crews... a good read and a fast one, especially for those of us unfamiliar with the "war" in the first place." Magweb.com 05/2008
America’s First Conflict with Iran, 1987–88
Lee Allen Zatarain
In May 1987 the US frigate Stark, calmly sailing the waters of the Persian Gulf, was suddenly blown apart by an Exocet missile fired from a jet fighter of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. A fifth of the ship’s crew were killed and many others horribly burned or wounded. This event jumpstarted one of the most mysterious conflicts in American history: “The Tanker War,” waged against Iran for control of the Persian Gulf.This quasi-war took place at the climax of the mammoth Iran-Iraq War, during the last years of the Reagan administration. Losing on the battlefield, Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran had decided to close the Persian Gulf against shipping from Iraq’s oil-rich backers, the emirate of Kuwait. The Kuwaitis appealed for help and America sent a fleet to the Gulf, raising the Stars and Stripes over Kuwait’s commercial tankers.The result was a free-for-all, as the Iranians laid mines throughout the narrow passage and launched attack boats against both tankers and US warships. The sixth largest ship in the world, the tanker Bridgeton, hit an Iranian mine and flooded. The US Navy fought its largest surface battle since World War II against the Ayatollah’s assault boats.Meanwhile, US Navy Seals had arrived in the Gulf, setting up shop aboard a mobile platform from which they would sally out in fast craft to combat the Iranians. As Saddam Hussein, who had instigated the conflict, looked on, Iranian gunners fired shore-based Silkworm missiles against US ships, actions which, if made known at the time, would have required the US Congress to declare war against Iran.In July 1988, nervous sailors aboard the cruiser USS Vincennes shot an Iranian airliner out of the sky, killing 300 civilians. This event came one month before the end of the war, and may have been the final straw to influence the Ayatollah to finally drink from his “poisoned chalice.”In Tanker War, Lee Allen Zatarain, employing recently released Pentagon documents, firsthand interviews, and a determination to get to the truth, has revealed a conflict that few recognized at the time, but which may have presaged further battles to come.
REVIEWS
"...not only an exciting work but an essential one for those wishing to understand America’s vast naval and air capability as well as its enduring vulnerability.” —Stephen Tanner, author of Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban and The Wars of the Bushes
"...an amazingly detailed look inside the U.S. Navy during the period it encountered a myriad of threats from Iranian ships, aircraft and missiles in the Persian Gulf. Given the fact that a reprise of the conflict is just beyond the horizon, this book should be essential reading for all U.S. policymakers as well as—and even more so—the current leaders of Iran." —Samuel A. Southworth, author of U.S. Armed Forces Arsenal and U.S. Special Warfare
"...does an excellent job of describing the tension aboard US ships and helicopter/ air crews... a good read and a fast one, especially for those of us unfamiliar with the "war" in the first place." Magweb.com 05/2008
|
me3tv |
Latest page update: made by me3tv
, Aug 16 2008, 10:05 AM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by me3tv
843 words added 1 image added view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
None
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
