Bridgeton incident

Bridgeton incident
Part of the Tanker War
The convoy's route
TypeNaval mining
Location
13 miles west of Farsi Island, Persian Gulf

27°58′N 49°50′E / 27.967°N 49.833°E / 27.967; 49.833
Targetthe US-escorted convoy
Date24 July 1987
Executed byIRGC Navy base in Farsi Island
OutcomeA mine successfully hit the escorted tanker
Bridgeton during Operation Earnest Will

The Bridgeton incident was the mining of the supertanker SS Bridgeton by Iranian IRGC navy near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf on July 24, 1987.[1][2] The ship was sailing in the first convoy of Operation Earnest Will, the U.S. response to Kuwaiti requests to protect its tankers from attack amid the Iran–Iraq War.[3]

The explosion of an Iranian mine in the Gulf's shipping channel damaged Bridgeton's outer hull but did not prevent it from completing its voyage.[4] Nevertheless, the incident was a propaganda victory for Iran.[5] The captain of the ship complained about the information given to the press, by United States politicians following a meeting with President Reagan, and the fact that four warships and a carrier group could not prevent Iran from placing a small minefield in the supposedly secret, but compromised, route of the tanker.[6]

  1. ^ Gibson, Bryan R (2010). Covert Relationship: American Foreign Policy, Intelligence, and the Iran-Iraq War, 1980–1988. Praeger. p. 202. ISBN 978-0313386107.
  2. ^ Haghshenass, Fariborz. "Iran's Asymmetric Naval Warfare" (PDF). washingtoninstitute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2016-01-12.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Peniston-2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cordesman, Anthony H; Wagner, Abraham (1991). The Lessons of Modern War, Vol. 2: The Iran-Iraq War (PDF). Westview Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0813313306. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-04. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
  5. ^ Cordesman, Anthony H; Wagner, Abraham (1991). The Lessons of Modern War, Vol. 2: The Iran-Iraq War (PDF). Westview Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0813313306. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-04. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
  6. ^ Stillwell, Paul (May 1988). "All Issues SS Bridgeton: The First Convoy". U.S. Naval Institute. Retrieved 24 July 2019.