- Iran Ajr
"Iran Ajr", formerly known as the "Arya Rakhsh", was a Japanese-built [http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhonor/pic-iranajr.shtml NO HIGHER HONOR: Photos: Capture of the Iran Ajr] ]
amphibious assault ship used byIran to laynaval mine s during theIran–Iraq War . Built in 1978, the 614-ton, 54-meter ship was powered by twodiesel engine s and featured a bow ramp for unloading cargo.Iran–Iraq War
"Iran Ajr" was the focus of one of the most dramatic moments of
Operation Prime Chance , the covert part ofOperation Earnest Will , the mission to protect U.S.-flagged petroleum-carrying ships in thePersian Gulf .On
21 September 1987 , U.S. forces tracked the ship and dispatched Army helicopters from the Navy guided missile frigate USS "Jarrett" (FFG-33) to shadow it. When the aviators reported that people aboard the "Iran Ajr" were laying mines, the U.S. commander in the Persian Gulf ordered the Army pilots to "stop the mining." The helicopters fired on the ship, killing some of the mariners and chasing others into the water. A team ofNavy SEAL commandos later boarded the ship, confirmed the presence of mines, and detained the surviving Iranians. On 26 September, they scuttled the ship in international waters.When the USS "Samuel B. Roberts" (FFG-58) struck a mine the following April, Navy explosive ordnance specialists matched the serial numbers of nearby unexploded mines to the ones aboard the "Iran Ajr". This evidence of Iranian involvement in the "Roberts" mining led to the biggest surface-warfare battle since
World War II , the retribution campaign of18 April 1988 calledOperation Praying Mantis .The captured colors of the "Iran Ajr" are in the
U.S. Navy Museum .ee also
*
Iran–Iraq War
*Operation Prime Chance Further reading
*cite book
author=Wise, Harold Lee
title= [http://www.insidethedangerzone.com Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf 1987-88]
location=Annapolis | publisher=Naval Institute Press
year=2007
id=ISBN 1-59114-970-3Notes
External links
* [http://www.nightstalkers.com/history/4.html The attack on the Iran Ajr]
* [http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/defense/1281181.html Another narration of the attack]
* [http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhonor/pic-iranajr.shtml Photos of the captured Iran Ajr and its detainees aboard U.S. Navy warships]
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