Iraqi Pilot Fires Cruise Missile Near U.S. Destroyer Escorting Convoy

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The Associated Press

February 13, 1988, Saturday, PM cycle

Iraqi Pilot Fires Cruise Missile Near U.S. Destroyer Escorting Convoy

BYLINE: By ALY MAHMOUD, Associated Press Writer

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 784 words

DATELINE: MANAMA, Bahrain

An Iraqi jet bomber fired a cruise missile within eight miles of the USS Chandler in the Persian Gulf after the American destroyer warned the warplane away with flares, the warship's captain said.

The Chandler, which went to full alert, was escorting four U.S.-flagged Kuwaiti tankers, and neither it nor the merchant ships were hit. No injuries were reported.

The Chandler and the tankers were not the apparent targets.

The incident occurred Friday night and was reported today by the Pentagon's Persian Gulf media pool.

Pool reporters said the incident occurred at about 9 p.m. and that the Iraqi Badger bomber was on a trajectory toward the Iranian oil terminal of Sirri island. The Iraqis reported hitting a "very large maritime target," or supertanker, at Sirri island at about the same time.

Reporters could not determine whether any targets were actually struck at Sirri.

Iraqi planes occasionally have mistakenly hit fishing trawlers and other neutral vessels.

Last May, an Iraqi jet fired a missile into the frigate USS Stark, killing 37 American sailors. Iraq said the pilot mistook the Stark for an Iranian warship, and Washington accepted its apology.

Determining that the Soviet-made Badger was too close for comfort, the Chandler fired two flares from its 5-inch guns, said the pool report, filed through Washington by Norman Kempster of the Los Angeles Times.

Cmdr. Steve Smith, captain of the Chandler, said he was concerned because Iraqi pilots often fire at radar blips without making sure what their targets are.

"Having watched the geometry of their attacks for some time, I was concerned that he would be firing his missile while he was heading toward us," Smith said over the ship's public address system after the incident.

He told pool reporters that the Iraqi pilot fired two C-601 missiles, a 50-mile-range, air-launched version of the Styx, which China copied in producing its better-known Silkworms.

Smith said both missiles passed astern of the Chandler, the last ship in the convoy, but one suddenly changed course and Page 2 Iraqi Pilot Fires Cruise Missile Near U.S. Destroyer Escorting Convoy The Associated Press February 13, 1988, Saturday, PM cycle passed along the starboard side of the ship before veering away. Seconds later it detonated, producing a bright flash.

Cruise missiles can have several guidance systems, ranging from radio to infrared control.

In a report monitored in Cyprus, the official Iraqi News Agency said Iraqi warplanes struck their target at 9:08 p.m. Friday. It gave no other details. Smith said Friday night's incident was the closest approach of a missile to the Chandler, which has been in the gulf since Nov. 25. U.S. warships have been escorting reflagged Kuwaiti tankers through the gulf since July to protect them from attacks by Iran, which accuses Kuwait of helping Iraq in the 7-year-old Iran-Iraq war.

Smith placed his crew on "general quarters," the highest state of alert, after the Badger, which had earlier passed the convoy on a flight south along the gulf from Iraq, turned back north and headed straight for the ship.

Smith said he was prepared to try to shoot down the missile if it appeared to be on a course that would strike any ship in the convoy. He said he readied the Standard-1, anti-aircraft missile, shoulder-fired Stinger missiles and the automatic-firing Phalanx Gattling gun.

Smith said he informed the Badger by radio that it was approaching a U.S. convoy and ordered it to turn back. He said the Iraqi pilot, who did not speak English very well, did not seem to understand.

Smith said he then warned the Iraqi jet that he planned to fire two "illumination rounds." As soon as the flares went off, Smith said, the Iraqi jet turned sharply away from the ship and fired the C-601s.

Iraqi warplanes usually fire radar-guided missiles at Iranian naval targets and Iraq later announces the hits. The planes are equipped mainly with heat-seeking, water-skimming Exocet missiles supplied by France.

Shipping executives said today that a Danish supertanker struck late Thursday in an attack initially blamed on Iran now appears to have been hit by Iraqi warplanes.

The executives had said Friday that the 339,000-ton Kate Maersk, laden with Saudi oil, was hit by an Iranian helicopter. A Danish seaman was killed and three others were injured.

Salvage tugs that rushed to the aid of the Kate Maersk said there was a gaping hole above the ship's waterline, indicating it had been hit by an Exocet.

Iraq has been attacking Iranian tankers and oil facilities to cut off its oil revenues, which finance its war. The two have been fighting since September 1980.

Iran retaliates by attacking neutral merchant shipping, mainly vessels involved in commerce with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which Tehran accuses of supporting Iraq.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH