WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:02.508 - [JOCS Paul Waldrop]Just days after 00:02.508 --> 00:04.243 USS Samuel B. Roberts hit the mine. 00:06.148 --> 00:07.000 President Reagan ordered U.S. Forces to strike back. 00:07.000 --> 00:09.801 Petty Officer Chuck Moore has the story. 00:09.801 --> 00:12.180 - [ Chuck Moore] President Reagan ordered defensive action 00:12.180 --> 00:15.880 in response to the mining of USS Samuel B. Roberts. 00:15.880 --> 00:19.960 On the morning of April 18th, two Iranian oil platforms, 00:19.960 --> 00:22.450 Sassan and Sirri, were destroyed by 00:22.450 --> 00:24.836 naval gunfire and demolitions. 00:24.836 --> 00:26.860 - [President Reagan] They must know that we will 00:26.860 --> 00:28.067 protect our ships, and if they threaten us, 00:28.067 --> 00:29.760 they'll pay a price. 00:29.760 --> 00:32.800 - Evacuate the platform immediately. 00:32.800 --> 00:35.693 I repeat evacuate immediately. 00:40.990 --> 00:44.648 - [Chuck Moore] In response an Iranian patrol boat fired on 00:44.648 --> 00:46.618 U.S. Forces at the Sirri platform, only to be sunk 00:46.618 --> 00:50.530 by USS Simpson and USS Wainwright. 00:50.530 --> 00:53.410 Further south in the Gulf, Iranian frigates fired on 00:53.410 --> 00:56.173 U.S. ships and aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz. 00:56.173 --> 00:58.260 - [CDR Edward Mann] I don't know if anybody else 00:59.712 --> 01:01.983 was surprised about the response from the Iranians, 01:02.944 --> 01:04.310 but I certainly was. 01:04.310 --> 01:05.260 - While these attacks 01:05.260 --> 01:08.807 may have been unexpected, the Navy was not unprepared. 01:08.807 --> 01:10.670 - [ADM Carlisle Trost} Well we of course had no way 01:11.520 --> 01:12.993 of knowing just what their reaction might be, 01:14.970 --> 01:16.430 on the other hand it would not be prudent not to have 01:17.279 --> 01:20.104 planned what to do in the event of a reaction. 01:20.104 --> 01:21.590 Of course our ships are prepared and have the 01:21.590 --> 01:23.650 necessary guidance to permit them to defend themselves 01:23.650 --> 01:25.660 against any hostile action 01:25.660 --> 01:28.895 and they took the necessary action very successfully. 01:28.895 --> 01:31.010 - This is a warning. 01:31.010 --> 01:33.543 Stop and abandon ship. 01:33.543 --> 01:35.325 I intend to sink you. 01:35.325 --> 01:36.319 Over. 01:36.319 --> 01:38.040 - [VADM John Nyquist] I think that the performance 01:38.040 --> 01:43.040 of our ships and the Persian Gulf incidents 01:43.120 --> 01:48.120 of the last several days prove that if you're ready 01:48.330 --> 01:50.470 you don't need a lot of planning. 01:50.470 --> 01:53.343 It's a Come-As-You-Are situation and the ships 01:53.343 --> 01:56.730 were prepared and when the whistle blew 01:56.730 --> 01:58.178 they were ready to go. 01:58.178 --> 02:00.320 (blast) 02:00.320 --> 02:02.324 - During the nine hour class between U.S. 02:02.324 --> 02:05.909 and Iranian Forces, Navy ships and aircraft made 02:05.909 --> 02:08.524 successful strikes against Iranian frigates 02:08.524 --> 02:10.033 and speed boats. 02:12.370 --> 02:15.778 Naval officials all missiles but one was 02:15.778 --> 02:16.611 fired on target. 02:16.611 --> 02:19.893 Meanwhile when the Iranians were launching missiles 02:19.893 --> 02:22.290 at U.S. ships, sailors fired metal shrap in to the air 02:22.290 --> 02:25.060 to confuse those missiles guidance system. 02:25.060 --> 02:26.960 (blast) 02:26.960 --> 02:31.160 The result, all of the Iranian missiles fired missed. 02:31.160 --> 02:32.233 - You can't do that without well trained crews 02:32.233 --> 02:36.460 who've been working hard to get themselves 02:36.460 --> 02:38.050 into a high state of readiness as 02:38.050 --> 02:40.160 all our ships out there are. 02:40.160 --> 02:42.750 - Naval aviators were also ready. 02:42.750 --> 02:44.921 All of the A6 Harpoons were direct hits with the 02:44.921 --> 02:47.223 laser guided bombs. 02:48.100 --> 02:50.650 - [VADM Robert Dunn] We also used other ordinanates 02:52.548 --> 02:55.330 against the Boghammar, a very high speed speedboat difficult 02:55.330 --> 02:57.770 to hit and maneuvering target at sea is very difficult 02:57.770 --> 03:00.630 thing to hit, but our pilots showed their skill 03:02.168 --> 03:04.413 our ordinates men showed how well they could do the job. 03:06.865 --> 03:07.979 - Officials say this kind of success, 03:07.979 --> 03:09.010 both in the air and on the sea, 03:09.010 --> 03:11.440 prove that Navy Weapons Programs are 03:11.440 --> 03:13.650 just what the doctor ordered. 03:13.650 --> 03:15.700 - What it tells me is that we're building 03:16.769 --> 03:18.175 the right weapons to do the job. 03:18.175 --> 03:19.578 They work and they worked as advertised. 03:19.578 --> 03:21.870 They worked in a tough environment, 03:21.870 --> 03:24.410 they worked on little notice, 03:24.410 --> 03:26.900 they worked when the pressure was on 03:26.900 --> 03:30.944 when our ships are being fired at, we fired and we hit. 03:30.944 --> 03:33.590 - [ADM Carlisle Trost} When one sees nearly every 03:33.590 --> 03:37.860 weapon launched by our forces, successfully engage the enemy 03:39.205 --> 03:41.630 and sink or knock down the opposition, that's a mark 03:41.630 --> 03:45.450 not only of good competent hardware, both sensors 03:45.450 --> 03:47.490 as well as the weapons systems themselves, 03:47.490 --> 03:50.320 but people who are trained to operate those systems, 03:50.320 --> 03:52.520 react instinctively and professionally to the 03:52.520 --> 03:54.090 challenge that comes up. 03:54.090 --> 03:56.493 - That instinctive response comes from training. 03:56.493 --> 03:59.217 - It's often been said that the reaction, 03:59.217 --> 04:02.790 the initial reaction from an individual is 04:04.788 --> 04:06.082 highly dependent on his training. 04:06.082 --> 04:09.077 - And the CNOAD at the events of last week prove that 04:09.077 --> 04:10.570 not only Naval personnel are well trained. 04:10.570 --> 04:13.150 - I think all of our people, and by this I have to say 04:13.150 --> 04:15.487 the people of all the services involved in that 04:15.487 --> 04:17.878 engagement, that series of engagements last Monday, 04:17.878 --> 04:19.868 all of them demonstrated a very high level 04:19.868 --> 04:22.029 of professionalism, good coordination, 04:22.029 --> 04:25.900 good professional confidence. 04:25.900 --> 04:29.163 - For Navy News this week, I'm Petty Officer Chuck Moore. 04:30.144 --> 04:31.540 - [JOCS Paul Waldrop] During the fighting a Marine Cobra 04:31.540 --> 04:34.870 Helicopter was lost at sea due to unknown circumstances. 04:34.870 --> 04:37.880 An extensive search was conducted without success 04:40.473 --> 04:41.403 and the two crewmen have been listed as officially missing.