Battle of Bubiyan

The Battle of Bubiyan was a naval engagement of the Gulf War, that occurred in the waters between Bubiyan Island and the Shatt al-Arab marshlands, where the bulk of the Iraqi Navy, while attempting to flee to Iran, much like the Iraqi Air Force, was engaged and destroyed by Coalition warships and helicopters.

Battle of Bubiyan
Part of the Persian Gulf War
Date29 January – 2 February 1991 (4 days)
Location
Persian Gulf
Result

Coalition victory

  • Iraqi Navy and Air Force disabled and largely destroyed
Belligerents
 Iraq United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Commanders and leaders
Saddam Hussein
Ali Hassan al-Majid

Norman Schwarzkopf
Peter Billière
Kenneth Summers

Ronald J. Zlatoper
Strength
Around 22 naval vessels of various types (Including FPB-53, FPB-70, and a TNC-45 ) Several frigates, cruisers, Lynx helicopters and CF-18 Hornets
Casualties and losses
21 naval vessels (see text) None

History

The battle was completely one-sided. Lynx helicopters of the British Royal Navy using Sea Skua missiles were responsible for destroying 14 vessels (3 minesweepers, 1 minelayer, 3 TNC 45 Fast Attack Craft, 2 Zhuk-class patrol boats, 2 Polnocny-class landing ships, 2 salvage vessels, 1 Type 43 minelayer, and 1 other vessel) during the battle.[1] The battle saw 21 separate engagements over a course of 13 hours. A total of 21 of the 22 ships that attempted to escape were destroyed.[2]

A Canadian CF-18 Hornet fighter recorded an official victory in the beginning of the battle against the Iraqi Navy.[3]

Also related to the Bubiyan action was the Battle of Khafji, where Saddam Hussein sent an amphibious assault to Khafji to reinforce the city against the Coalition attack. This too was spotted by the Coalition naval forces and subsequently destroyed.[4]

The last action of the Iraqi Navy was to fire a Silkworm missile from an inland launcher at the battleship USS Missouri. It was intercepted mid-flight by a Sea Dart missile from the British destroyer HMS Gloucester and successfully destroyed. This marked the first time a ship-launched anti-air missile intercepted an incoming enemy missile in combat at sea, by any navy.[4]

After the Bubiyan action, the Iraqi Navy ceased to exist as a fighting force at all, leaving Iraq with very few ships, all in poor condition.[5]

gollark: Weird how it shows as dodecahedron~1.
gollark: doxxing bad<:dodecahedron:724652722623873082> emoji good
gollark: mwahahahanow i have obtained the staff color
gollark: https://onelook.com/?w=*mals&ssbp=1
gollark: Mammals are some of my favourite things ending in -mals.

References
  1. "The Grey Lynx at War" Archived 13 September 2012 at Archive.today
  2. "The Navy in the Gulf War." Archived 1 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine history.navy.com. Retrieved: 9 September 2010.
  3. Morin, Jean H.; Gimblett, Richard Howard (1997). Operation Friction, 1990–1991: The Canadian Forces in the Persian Gulf. Dundurn Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-55002-257-5.
  4. "Final trip for HMS Gloucester after Falklands' duties and Saxon Warrior exercise". MercoPress. 23 May 2011. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2015. In 1997, Gloucester took part in Ocean Wave 97. A deployment of 8 months which saw her visit countries including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UAE as well as taking part in Exercise Flying Fish as part of the FPDA (Five Powers Defence Agreement) She sailed as part of Task Group 327.01 along with the flagship HMS Illustrious and other ships such as HMS Richmond and support ships. Part of the role of the Task Force was to oversee the peaceful handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese. 11 January 2012
  5. Gulf War of 1991. Rosen Publishing. 1996.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.