Kidd (DDG 993) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE FIRST ESCORT cf! gr l The first escort mission began on 22 July with BRIDGETON and GAS PRINCE the escorted tankers. The me- dia was onboard for the uneventful trip through the straits and up the gulf. All went smoothly until BRIDGETON struck a mine on the 24th just south of Kuwait. Nobody was injured and the ship sailed on to finish the mission. 1 Sr oger crews. ore on olerr for low flyers 2 KIDD porrols of1 BRIDGETON'S porr side 3 GREENCHECKER seorcbes the worer ' lime for mme clomoge A OSSN Robb ood FC1 Hornmer keep on eye our for smoll boors 5 llprusleyu5TOCtvc0lACnOr1OHlCer DJ

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Tanker strikes but continues from the Wlro Ssrvkos AHOARD THE US KIDD 4- One of two Kuwatll tankers flying the American flag htt a mlne ln the Perslan Gulf today. No tnjurtes were reported. but the the ves- sel. the Hrldgeton. took on water. After a br1ef delay, the Hrtdgeton - the largest oll tanker In the Arab world - pro- ceeded to Kuwait. tts dcsllnatton. The explosion occurred on the port. or left. stde about 200 feet back from the bow. satd Navv Lt. Rlchard Vogel. who ls aboard the Brtdgeton. The blast was so strong aboard the 1.200- foot-long vessel that crew members standtng on the bridge. about l.000 feet from the stte of the exploslon. were almost knocked off thelr feet. Vogel sald. The explosion was clearly audlble as a loud boom aboard the Kldd, which was one mtle ld the left and about out'-hall mllc to llte rr-.lr of the Hrtdgetnn. Seconds after the boom, Vogel radloetl to the bridge of the Kidd. which ls the command shlp of the U. S. Naval convoy accompanying the Brtdgeton and the other tanker, the Gas Prince. We've been htt. We've been htt. he told the Kldd The Kldd's captaln, Cmdr. Daniel J. Mur- phy .lr.. ordered his ship slowed to ttve knots, It later plcked up speed again. Extra lookouts were posted aboard the KIdd's bow to look for mtnes. At least nlne satlors were on the bow, some armed with M- l-I rlfles to ftre at any susplctous objects tn the water. At the tlme, all Navy shlps were at general quarters, their htghest state of slert. because mine sailing they were passing near Farsl Island. lran has launched recent speedboat attacks from that Island against. Gulf slutpplng. Gulf-based shipping sources who were In touch with the Kuwait Oll Tanker Co. sald damage was mlnor. The mtne blasted an underwater hnle ln compartment No I on the port side, one shlpplng source reported. OnIy that compart- ment took on water, which dtd not constitute major damage. The sources said the convoy stopped for only a few mlnutes after the mlne exploded. The shtps. which had been traveling at about 16 knots. then moved off at half-speed. The convoy ls expected to srnve ln al- 1' dos O GULI' Page I Gulf: Iran threatens Iraq's allies Q Continued hom Page l Ahmad! alter nlghtfall. local tlme. lt had been scheduled to arrive around midday. The convoy was about 120 mtles southeast pf Kuwalt's Mtna al-Ahmad! otl terminal when the -101 .000-ton Brtdgeton, formerly al-Rek- kah. htt the mlne. The convoy rsn a gauntlet of lranlsn war- shtps. mlsslles and fighter-bombers wlthout tnctdent unttl strtklng the mlne. The orlgtn of the mlne was not Immediately known, but It Is suspected lran previously sowed mtnes ln the maln channel leading to Kuwatt. ln Washington, Whtte House spokeswoman leslyc Arsht sald Presldent Reagan was awak- ened st 2 a.m. EDT by national securtty adviser Frank Carluccl and notlfled of the explosion. She declined to characterize Res- gan'a reaction Rsfaltahbn is U. S. offlclsls have not laid how they would respond to an attack on s vessel flytng the Stars and Strlpes. but have hlnted mllttary retsltatton ls s posstbtltty. . In Tehran. lrsntsn Prtme Mtntster Hussein Musavt called the tncldent an irreparable blow to Amerlca's polltlcal and mllltary pres- tlge. He satd the mtne was planted by tnvlsl- ble hands. lrsn's lslamtc Republic News Agency. mont- tored ln Nlcosla. quoted Musavl as saytng he hopes the wise men In the Untted States have teamed a lesson and fwlll nowl put an end to thelr tenslon-creating adventures ln the Perslan Gulf. The U. S. ambassador to Kuwslt. Anthony Qustnton. sald damage to the Brldgeton will be Inspected upon an-tval tn sl-Ahmsdl. Kuwstt. There are no major d'ry docks here tn Kuwait. he sstd. sddlng the shtp's owner, the Kuwait Otl Tanker Co., will declde whether tt wtll be repaired tn Kuwait or moved some- where else. lt's a matter of considerable rqret that the Brtdgeton was htt. but l'm not ln a posltton to speculate on how lt will affect future tran- slts. Quatnton sald. lrsn has concentrated tts gulf attacks on Kuwaltt shtpplng. clalmtng Kuwait backs Iraq ln the nearly 7-year-old Iran-lrsq war. lt generally has attacked Kuwattl-bound shlpptng only after lrsqt attacks on lrsnlan otl termlnals or tanker traffic. U. S.. Saudi Arsblsn and Kuwsttl teams last week reported they had cleared mlnes tn the al-Ahmsdl shlpplng channels. where shlps prevtously have htt mines. The Brtdgeton was hlt 40 mtles south of that area. Brtdgeton and Ou Prtnce are the ftrst of l l Kuwattl tankers to be reflagged under the Amedcsn flag as part ol' Kuwalt's effort to protect tts oll exports from lranlan attacks. They entered the gulf Wednesday escorted by the destroyer USS Ktdd, the gutded mtsslle cruiser Fox and the frtgate Commeltn. All are part ofa nlne-unlt U. S. task force ln the gulf. The tankers had been expected to begin the retum joumey southward through the wtf sometime next week. What effect the mlne blast would have on that schedule ll not Immediately known. ln Tehran today. Hsshemt Rsfssnjlnl. lran's Parliament speaker. threatened strikes agalnst Arab countries In the gulf tf lrsq hlts lranlan oll Installations agatn. tru-rs news agency Bald. lt our economic centers and Installations are attacked tby lraqj thts tlme. we wtll htt back st eeonomlc centers belongtng to lrsq's allies. the agency quoted Rafsanjant as say- mg. Rafssnjanl dtd not name any countries. but Ssudt Arabia and Kuwslt have been providing ttnsnctsl std to lrsq and shtppt an estimated 300.000 barrels of oll s day orxzehatt of Inq. whose ports have been blocked. 23