Operation Praying Mantis was an April 18, 1988 attack by U.S. naval forces in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf and the subsequent damage to an American warship.
The battle, the largest for American naval forces since World War II, sank two Iranian warships and three armed speedboats. It also marked the first surface-to-surface missile engagement in U.S. Navy history.
On April 18, 1988, the Americans attacked with several groups of surface warships, plus aircraft from the carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65). The action began with coordinated strikes by two surface groups. One group, consisting of the destroyers USS Merrill (DD 976) and USS Lynde McCormick (DDG 8), plus the amphibious transport dock USS Trenton (LPD-14), neutralized the Sassan oil platform. The Iranian personnel on the platform were given the opportunity to abandon it for a tugboat waiting alongside, but instead chose to open fire on Merrill, whose 5 inch, 54 caliber guns quickly dispatched the smaller, platform-mounted Iranian gun. Immediately afterward, U.S. Marines from Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) 2-88 fast-roped onto the Sassan platform, gathered intelligence, and set explosives to render it unusable. The other group, which included a guided missile cruiser and two frigates, attacked the Sirri oil platform.
