USS Stark (FFG-31)

USS "Stark" (FFG-31), twenty-third ship of the "Oliver Hazard Perry" class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark (1880–1972). In 1987, it became the victim of the only successful anti-ship missile attack on a U.S. Navy warship.

Ordered from Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington on 23 January 1978 as part of the FY78 program, "Stark" was laid down on 24 August 1979, launched on 30 May 1980, and commissioned on 23 October 1982, CDR Terence W. Costello commanding. Decommissioned on 7 May 1999, "Stark" was scrapped in 2006.

Missile attack

"Stark" was deployed to the Middle East Force in 1984 and 1987. Captain Glenn R. Brindel was the commanding officer during the 1987 deployment. The ship was struck on May 17, 1987, by two Exocet antiship missiles fired from an Iraqi Mirage F1 fighter during the Iran–Iraq War. The fighter had taken off from Shaibah at 20:00 and had flown south into the Persian Gulf. The fighter fired the first Exocet missile from a range of 22.5 nautical miles, and the second from 15.5 nautical miles, at about the time the fighter was given a routine radio warning by the "Stark".citation|url=http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/research/theses/kelley07.pdf|title=Better Lucky Than Good: Operation Earnest Will as Gunboat Diplomacy|author=Stephen Andrew Kelley|date=June 2007|publisher=Naval Postgraduate School|accessdate=2007-11-09] The frigate did not detect the missiles with radar and warning was given by the lookout only moments before the missiles struck. [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/reading_room/65.pdf Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Attack of the USS Stark in 1987] ] The first penetrated the port-side hull; it failed to detonate, but spewed flaming rocket fuel in its path. The second entered at almost the same point, and left a 3-by-4-meter gash—then exploded in crew quarters. Thirty-seven sailors were killed and twenty-one were injured.

No weapons were fired in defense of "Stark". The Phalanx CIWS remained in standby mode, Mark 36 SRBOC countermeasures were not armed, and the attacking Exocet missiles and Mirage aircraft were in a blindspot of the defensive STIR (Separate Target Illumination Radar) fire control system, preventing use of the ship's Standard missile defenses. The ship failed to maneuver to bring its weapons batteries to bear prior to the first missile impact.

On fire and listing, the frigate was brought under control by its crew during the night. The ship made its way to Bahrain where, after temporary repairs by the tender USS "Acadia" (AD-42) to make her seaworthy, she returned to her home port of Mayport, Florida, under her own power. The ship was eventually repaired at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi for $142 million.

The question of whether or not Iraqi leadership authorized the attack is still unanswered. Initial claims by the Iraqi government (that "Stark" was inside the Iran–Iraq War zone) was shown to be false, so the motives and orders of the pilot remain unanswered. Though American officials claimed he had been executed, an ex-Iraqi Air Force commander since stated that the pilot who attacked "Stark" was not punished, and was still alive at the time. [ cite book|last=Fisk|first=Robert|title=The Great War For Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East|year=2005|publisher=Knopf Publishing]

The attack was the U.S. Navy's second-most-deadly peacetime disaster, after the gun turret explosion on board the battleship USS "Iowa". Citing lapses in training requirements and lax procedures, the Captain was relieved of command and recommended for court-martial along with Tactical Action Officer Lieutenant Basil E. Moncrief by the board of inquiry. Instead, they received non-judicial punishment from Admiral Frank B. Kelso II and letters of reprimand. Brindel and Moncrief opted for early retirement, while Executive Officer, Lieutenant Commander Raymond Gajan Jr. was detached for cause and received a letter of admonition. [cite news|work=The New York Times|title=Navy Forgoes Courts-Martial for Officers of Stark|url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6DD1439F93BA15754C0A961948260 |date=1987-07-28]

1990s

"Stark" was part of the Standing Naval Forces Atlantic Fleet in 1990 before returning to the Middle East Force in 1991. She was attached to UNITAS in 1993 and took part in Operation Support Democracy and Operation Able Vigil in 1994. In 1995, she returned to the Middle East Force before serving in the Atlantic in 1997 and in 1998.

"Stark" was decommissioned on May 7, 1999. A scrapping contract was awarded to Metro Machine Corp. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 7 October, 2005. The ship was reported scrapped on June 21, 2006. [Naval Vessel Register. [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/FFG31.htm STARK (FFG 31)] . Accessed April 4, 2007.]

Casualties

Further reading

*cite book
author=Levinson, Jeffrey L. and Randy L. Edwards
title=Missile Inbound
location=Annapolis | publisher=Naval Institute Press
year=1997
id=ISBN 1-55750-517-9
*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 1-59114-970-3

References

External links

* [http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhonor/pic-stark.shtml Photos of the damaged "Stark"]
*Host page for PDF version of report: [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/reading_room/65.pdf Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Attack of the USS Stark in 1987]
* [http://www.dcfp.navy.mil/mc/museum/STARK/Stark3.htm US Navy's Damage Control Museum] page on the USS Stark
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/07/0731.htm navsource.org: USS "Stark" (FFG-31)]
* [http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id344.htm Information on Operation Earnest Will]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/frigates/pages/uss_stark_ffg_31_page_1.htm MaritimeQuest USS Stark FFG-31 pages]
* [http://www.americanmemorialsite.com/stark.html Memorial Site for USS Stark casualties]