Chapter 3 - A Changing Role

(Part 5)

The Gulf War

Since the end of World War II, there have been repeated debates as to the usefulness of the large conventional carriers. Some nations, most notably Great Britain, have decided that its needs can best be met by smaller ships carrying V/STOL aircraft. In the United States, the major argument against the large carriers has been their tremendous cost. The first super carrier, the USS Forrestal, cost about $100 million in 1955. The first nuclear carrier, the USS Enterprise, cost almost $500 million in 1961. And the latest Nimitz- class carriers today cost in excess of $2 billion. Other arguments against the large carriers have included their obsolescence in the age of the nuclear bomb and their vulnerability to missile attack.

Events in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf during the 1980s highlight the role of the super carriers and assault carriers. Terrorist activities sponsored by Arab countries, such as Libya, had escalated to the point where the United States felt that a retaliatory strike against that nation was warranted. Fifteen A-6 Intruders from the USS America and USS Coral Sea, which were patrolling in the Mediterranean, participated in the April 10, 1986 air attacks into Libya. The Navy planes attacked targets in Benghazi, while 16 Air Force FB-111's attacked targets in Tripoli. During the Iran-Iraq War, American carriers were also used to provide air cover for reflagged Kuwaiti tankers. During Operation Preying Mantis in April 1988, aircraft from the USS Enterprise attacked two oil platforms in the Persian Gulf being used by Iran for attacks on neutral shipping. The planes also sank several Iranian gunboats and a cruiser which attacked the American fleet.

The USS Enterprise CVN-65 was among the American carriers that provided protection to neutral shipping during the Iran-Iraq War

On August 2, 1990, Iragi tanks crossed the boarder into Kuwait, signalling the beginning of Iraq's invasion of that small country on the Persian Gulf. At the time, the United States had eight naval vessels in or near the Persian Gulf. The Royal Navy had six ships in the area, and the French Navy two. Additionally, the carrier USS Independence was in the Indian Ocean and the USS Eisenhower was in the Mediterranean. Within three days, the USS Independence had been moved to the Arabian Sea and the USS Eisenhower took up station in the Red Sea. They were there as a show of force to discourage further Iraqi aggression or moves into Saudia Arabia. The Allied naval forces also enforced the United Nations embargo against Iraq, intercepting over 7,000 vessels bound for Iraq.

Among the American carriers that participated in the Gulf War against Iraq were several ships of the nuclear-powered Nimitz-class

As tensions increased, other carriers were brought into the area. By the outbreak of open hostilities, the carriers USS Ranger, USS MIdway, and USS Theodore Roosevelt and the battleship USS Wisconsin were in the Persian Gulf, while the carriers USS America, USS Saratoga, and USS John F. Kennedy and the battleship USS Missouri were on patrol in the Red Sea. The British carrier HMS Ark Royal operated in the Mediterranean to counter any interference by Libya, which allied itself with Iraq.

When Saddam Hussein ignored the United Nations deadline for withdrawing his troops from Kuwait, an all-out air offensive was launched by the Allies at 2:30 a.m. (Iraq time) on January 16, 1991. The first strikes of Operation Desert Storm, against key strategic targets in Baghdad, were made by Air Force F-117 stealth fighters using laser-guided bombs. Throughout the conflict, the carriers in the Persian Gulf were used to strike targets in southern Iraq, Kuwait, and the Gulf. The Red Sea carriers were used for attacks against Scud launchers, anti-aircraft sites, and airfields in western Iraq. As the pace of the air campaign settled into a steady routine, each carrier was launching two 20 to 30-plane strikes each day.

In a typical carrier strike mission, F-14 Tomcats provided fleet defense and combat air patrols over sea areas (this being one reason why the number of Tomcat air-to-air kills was very small in comparison to the Air Force F-15 Eagles). Ahead of the strike aircraft went EA-6B Prowlers to provide radar jamming. The actual attacks were made by various combinations of A-6 Intruders, A-7 Corsair IIs, and F/A-18 Hornets. These were all under the watchful eyes of the E-2 Hawkeye airborne warning and control aircraft. Being the only Navy aircraft capable of using laser-guided bombs, the Intruders, rather than Hornets and Corsair IIs, were assigned high priority and sensitive targets.

When the Scud missile threat began to present itself, S-3 Vikings (normally used for anti- submarine warfare) were pressed into service to hunt for Scud launchers. Seventeen F- 14 Tomcats, equipped with camera pods, were used to supplement the Air Force RF-4 Phantoms on strike reconnaisance (bomb damage assessment) missions.

On January 29, Iraqi forces attacked across the Kuwait/Saudi border into the town of Khafji. As part of this attack, 17 Iraqi boats attempted to land troops from the Gulf into Khafji. However, American SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters, carrier-based A-6 Intruders, Royal Navy Lynx helicopters, and Royal Air Force Jaguars sank 14 of the Iraqi vessels and drove the other three away.

The amphibious assault carriers were not left out of Gulf War action. Six assault carriers -- USS Nassau, USS Tarawa, USS Iwo Jima, USS Inchon, USS Tripoli, and USS New Orleans -- also participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. U.S. Marines from these assault ships were among the first American troops to arrive in the theater of operations, and AV-8 Harriers and AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships provided close air support for coalition ground forces for the duration of the conflict. Once the ground assault began on February 22nd, the Harriers and Cobras proved deadly to Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles. Additionally, a key element of the planned Allied offensive was to use the threat of a massive Marine invasion of Kuwait from the assault carriers in the Persian Gulf to focus Iraqi attention away from the real action that was taking place on the western Iraq/Saudi border.

Amphibious assaults ships of the Iwo Jima and . . .

. . . Tarawa classes also participated in the Gulf War

One weak link in the use of naval forces in Operation Desert Storm was anti-mine warfare. The assault carrier USS Tripoli, with six MH-53 Sea Stallions equipped for the anti-mine role, was lead ship of the mine warfare forces. But, although some success was achieved in clearing mines from the northern Gulf, the USS Tripoli itself struck a mine on February 18 which blew a 16 by 20-foot hole in her side. The frigage USS Princeton also hit a mine that same day, putting her out of action for repairs.

By the time hostilities ended on February 28, 1991, Allied aircraft had flown a total of more than 100,000 combat sorties during Operation Desert Storm. Of these, about 30,000 were flown by carrier-based aircraft. The Navy lost five Intruders, three Hornets, and one Tomcat during the conflict. The Marines lost five Harriers, three helicopters, and three OV-10 Bronco observation planes. Hornets scored two MiG-21 kills, and a Tomcat shot down a Mil Mi-8 helicopter.

"Peacekeeping" Actions

Aircraft carriers have also been at the forefront of evacuations of American citizens in time of disaster. In August 1990, the amphibious carrier USS Saipan was sent to Liberia to evacuate Americans from that country, which was undergoing a violent political revolution. Within 24-hours of receiving a request for assistance from the U.S. ambassador in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, the USS Saipan and other ships of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit were on station off the Liberian cost, deploying helicopters to begin evacuation of the embassy. AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters orbited the landing zones to provide close air support if necessary. In June 1991, the fleet carriers USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Midway were sent to the Philippines to evacuate military personnel and dependents from the Clark Air Base and the Subic Bay Naval Base, which were being affected by the volcanic eruptions of Mount Pinatubo. Both of these operations further highlighted the capability of carrier forces to provide immediate response to unusual situations.

With the collapse of the former Soviet Union and a new Administration taking office in 1993, major changes in defense strategy are taking place in the United States. A bottoms-up review of defense needs recommended a "win-hold-win" strategy that would allow American military forces to face two simultaneous regional conflicts by focusing on winning one conflict, while holding ground in the second conflict until first-line forces could be transferred from the first conflict to then achieve victory in the second. Based on this scenario, the Navy would be required to reduce the number of active carrier battle groups from 14 to 10.

The Navy also began to implement its own new "From the Sea" strategy, which emphasized coastal, amphibious operations, rather than the deep water operations common during the Cold War era. Under this strategy, the U.S. Marines would play a key role as the United States' rapid deployment force in response to regional conflicts. As a result, in addition to the continued importance of the fleet of amphibious assault ships, Marine Air/Ground Task Forces were deployed aboard some of the large fleet carriers to test the effectiveness of the new strategy. During late-1993, the USS Theodore Roosevelt was deployed to the vicinity of Bosnia with a 600-man Marine unit and its 6 CH-53 Sea Stallion and 4 UH-1N Iroquois helicopters.

Continuing conflict between ethnic groups in Bosnia have also highlighted the importance of the aircraft carrier to world's navies. In the first months of 1994, as NATO threatened to take military action to force a termination of the Bosnian fighting, America's carrier USS Saratoga, Great Britain's HMS Ark Royal, and France's Foch were in the Adriatic Sea with a total of about 200 aircraft, ready to join land-based aircraft from the U.S. Air Force, Spain, Turkey, and the Netherlands in destroying artillery surrounding the Bosnia capital, Sarajevo. By mid-1995, NATO authorized massive air strikes against the Bosnian aggressors. Some of these missions were flown by aircraft from the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS America.

If nothing else, the presence of the carriers in regional conflicts throughout the world makes it a certainty that the aircraft carrier and naval airpower are here to stay. But the design, size, and propulsion of those carriers (at least as far as the U.S. Navy is concerned) is still open to question. A debate rages as to the fate of the last of the Nimitz-class carriers (CVN-77) and a still-to-be designed CVX "next generation" carrier for the 21st Century and beyond.

Three of the initial designs for the next generation of American carriers, originally designated the "CVX" (from Popular Mechanics based on U.S. Navy designs).

By 2007, the design for the next-generation carrier, now called "CVN-21" had been refined to one based on the modified-Nimitz design shown in the prior image (from Defense Technology International).

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Last Updated: May 29, 2007