“Tomorrow morning, at dawn, I’ll become just a flash of light,” sang 20-year-old Abdullah, directing his fragile canoe towards “the citadel of the crusaders and world Zionism.”
The gray hulk under the star-and-striped flag was serenely dozing in the port of Aden, not suspecting that the infernal boat filled with 300 kg of explosives was already on the “combat course” - two obsessed Arab men were ready to give their lives in a holy war with the infidels. Inshallah
October 12 2000 of the year, in 11: 18 local time, at the left side of the USS Cole (DDG-67) exploded a monstrous force explosion, which made a hole in the casing with 9 dimensions on 12 meters. Having torn up the “tin” side of the destroyer, the shock wave and hot products of the explosion spread through the internal compartments of the ship, destroying everything in its path. Having exploded the engine room, the blast wave reached the upper deck and burst into the ship's dining room. The Yankees were unlucky - at that moment there were a large number of sailors and foremen who had gathered for lunch; This circumstance significantly increased the number of casualties among the destroyer personnel.
In total, 17 seafarers were killed as a result of an attack on an American ship, 39 people were injured of varying degrees of gravity and were immediately evacuated by a special flight to Landstuhl (the largest American military hospital in Old World, located near Ramstein Air Base, Germany).
Over the next few days, frigates and destroyers of the US Navy and NATO countries arrived in Aden, amphibious assault ships Anchorage, Duluth and Tarawa, transports and tugs of the Shipping Command, transport aircraft with the base in Bahrain was urgently brought a detachment of marines.
The explosion caused catastrophic changes in the design of the destroyer: “Cole” immediately lost its travel and electric power; the engine rooms and adjacent spaces of the ship were flooded, the gas turbines and the propeller shaft failed, and the AN / SPY-1 radar was damaged. There was a fire and a roll of 4 ° on the port side. The terrible destroyer completely lost his combat capability and turned into a battered metal pile with negative buoyancy - only the crew’s tremendous efforts to fight for the survivability of their ship, as well as active assistance from the rescued NATO ships, allowed the destroyer to be saved and evacuated to the United States.
A significant role was played by the peaceful situation and the absence of a repetition of enemy attacks - if this happened during real hostilities - the crew would be removed, and the mortally wounded destroyer would immediately finish off his colleagues with fire.
3 November 2000 of the year Cole was loaded onto a specially hired Norwegian transport ship MV Blue Marlin and 24 in November of the same year, arrived at the Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard in Pascagoula (Mississippi).
Inspection of "Cole" by the shipyard experts showed that the explosion did not hurt the keel - the ship is subject to recovery. The modular design of the destroyer allowed to completely replace the damaged equipment with large blocks weighing up to 550 tons - repair and restoration work continued for 16 months and, according to official data, cost the Pentagon 243 million dollars.
19 April 2002, the Cole returned to the US Navy.
"Vereshchagin, leave the launch!" Or some additions to stories with USS Cole
Destroying a warship like the USS Cole in an open sea battle is a billion question. No less powerful ships and nuclear submarines will be needed, salvoes of cruise missiles, surgical precision artillery fire or slaughter torpedo weapon.
The attack of a ship stationed in the harbor of a prepared naval base is no less difficult. Examples from the history of Italian underwater saboteurs (Alexandria, Gibraltar, possible participation in the death of LC Novorossiysk) indicate that in order to break the anti-sabotage protection of a large naval base (nets, booms, patrols on motorboats), unique equipment and knowledge of special techniques are required - mini-submarines and man-torpedoes, special skills of masking and breathing, magnetic mines. This was only possible for top-class specialists.
It should be noted that for the success of sabotage attacks against highly protected surface ships (TKR and LK), it was necessary to strike in the underwater, the most vulnerable part of the ship, outside the armor belt - otherwise, the charge of mines would not cause critical damage.
In this case, the special operation of Italian saboteurs against the British cruiser "York" with the use of exploding boats (1941 year) is very indicative. Despite the apparent similarities with the Arab terrorists, the Italians used a special technique: in a collision with a target, the boat broke and sank into the water - the mine was activated only at a certain depth. Obviously, the easy booking of the cruiser played a certain role, both in complicating the attack pattern and in minimizing damage — two powerful explosions (2 x 300 kg BB) mutilated the Yoros corps, but the crew lost only ... 2 people!
Agree, a little like the incident with the "Cole".
The case with the undermining of the Cole is a unique incident in which a ship worth more than 1 billion dollars was completely incapacitated with the help of an 300 dollar boat with bags of improvised explosives. As for the carcasses of two suicide bombers - their lives were worth nothing for Arab terrorist organizations.
No tricks with the immersion of mines in the water - an explosion thundered on the surface, next to the ship. The damage from the explosion exceeded 200 million dollars, while 17 killed a man from the crew of the destroyer.
How did this become possible?
USS Cole - 17-th in a row Aegis-destroyer of the type "Orly Burk", refers to the 1-th (obsolete) sub-series "Berkov". The main armament is 90 of the Mk.41 system of emergency protection: “Tomahawks”, anti-submarine missile torpedoes, long range missile systems of the Standerd family
The destroyer is named in honor of the hero of the Second World War, a sergeant of marines, machine gunner Derrell S. Cole.
Bookmark - February 1994, launching - February 1995, accepted fleet June 1996 year.
Studies of numerous expert commissions of the Navy, the US Congress and foreign intelligence have shown that the terrorist attack that has occurred is the result of a combination of many circumstances. The inflaming war in the Muslim East, in which the US is fighting an invisible and omnipresent enemy, the lack of a clear front line, the ability of fanatics to easily sacrifice their lives, insufficient precautions, and negligence on the part of foreign intelligence - all this led to the largest tragedy in modern American fleet history.
During the investigation, documents and reports of CIA informants in the Middle East were found, of which it was clear that even nine months before the bombing of Cole, the suicide bombers were preparing to carry out a similar terrorist attack against the destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) during its entry into Aden 3 January 2000. When the boat with the suicide bomber had already reached its initial position, he suddenly tilted and rolled over, carrying the hapless saboteur to the bottom - apparently blinded by his own rage, the terrorists overloaded the fragile floating craft with explosives (or maybe just bought a boat that was too full of holes).
There was evidence that another terrorist group was preparing a similar attack on the ships of the US Navy in the port of Kuala Lumpur - Al-Qaeda planned to celebrate on a grand scale the onset of the "new millennium."
The report of the Congress expressed confidence that getting all these messages on purpose - and the story of Cole might not happen: if there was a clear orientation on terrorists, the command of the Navy had the opportunity to prevent a terrorist attack.
At the same time, the report notes the extreme difficulty of preventing such episodes — in the case of Cole, the motorboat of the terrorists until the last moment hid from the watch of the watchmen behind the barge-garbage collector.
It is noteworthy that the crew of the Cole was not brought to justice - on the contrary, the sailors were recognized as heroes. Specialists and investigators were struck by the competent actions of personnel on the localization of flooding, fires, the organization of medical care to victims and the adoption of other measures in the struggle for survivability. This is despite the fact that the average age among the sailors and foremen was only 22-24 of the year, and many were hardly 19.
When the surviving sailors were asked how they managed not to become confused and take competent actions to save the ship, they all answered as one: we went through this in the “training”. The answer is quite logical - in the US Navy, there has always been an increased focus on the struggle for survivability. As the joke goes, the second specialty of an American sailor is firefighter.
In order to prevent such attacks and minimize the damage, the command of the US Navy has developed two main areas of work:
To repel possible attacks by terrorists, an entire complex of melee weapon systems was installed on board the ships: in addition to the standard Browning of the 50 caliber, on each destroyer an even more menacing and destructive weapon appeared - automatic guns of the BushMaster of 25 or 30 caliber mm - it is enough one hit of such ammunition to smash a fiberglass boat or a motor boat to shreds. Advanced self-defense systems based on high-power lasers, as well as non-lethal infrasonic and acoustic weapons to prevent provocations are being developed.
Browning M2, 12,7 caliber bullet mm punches concrete walls like cardboard
Mk.38 Bushmaster 25 mm mount
But, the main thing is the general attitude among the crews: recently, the American ships began to shoot without any hesitation at any suspicious objects - the sailors seemed to have received new instructions regarding the rules of opening fire, they were removed from all responsibility for actions taken by them against foreign boats and yachts who dared to approach the US warships.
The Global Patriot warship, en route from the Persian Gulf to Europe, waited for permission to ship from the port of Suez to the Mediterranean. At this time in his direction began to move small boats with the Egyptians, intending to sell their goods.
Ignoring warnings from the side of the ship demanding to stop, the boats continued to move, after which the American naval sailors opened fire. Immediately after the incident, a crowd of angry locals gathered in the port of Suez, demanding punishment for the perpetrators. Currently, Global Patriot has already left the Red Sea and advanced through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean.
Ignoring warnings from the side of the ship demanding to stop, the boats continued to move, after which the American naval sailors opened fire. Immediately after the incident, a crowd of angry locals gathered in the port of Suez, demanding punishment for the perpetrators. Currently, Global Patriot has already left the Red Sea and advanced through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean.
- news from 25 March 2008 of the year
Associated Press - A representative of the American Consulate in Dubai confirmed a report about the death of one person as a result of the shelling of a motor fishing boat by an American warship.
The security team aboard the Rappahannock opened fire on the motorboat after the ship ignored all warnings and began to quickly approach the board of the ship. The incident occurred near the port city of Jebel Ali, 35 kilometers southwest of the city of Dubai.
The security team aboard the Rappahannock opened fire on the motorboat after the ship ignored all warnings and began to quickly approach the board of the ship. The incident occurred near the port city of Jebel Ali, 35 kilometers southwest of the city of Dubai.
- news from 17 July 2012 of the year
So citizens, resting on the seas, Be vigilant!
In addition to the rule of “shooting at everything that moves”, the command of the US Navy preoccupied itself with the problem of localizing the damage caused - if, nevertheless, the Arab “kamikaze” manages to get close to the board of the US Navy and deliver a blow with a power of a couple hundred kilograms of TNT.
For high-quality development of actions aimed at fighting for the survival of the ship, a life-size simulator of the Orly Burk destroyer was built at the Great Lakes naval base (Illinois)! "Multiplex 5D cinema" worth 80 million dollars!
Before you the most heroic ship in the world - USS Trayer (BST-21). Every day he “gets” under heavy fire of the enemy, gets hit by PKR and torpedoes - after which, his equally heroic “crew” rushes to the pumps and hose and begins to localize the damage.
80 million dollars were spent not in vain - the subwoofers installed beneath the deck broadcast the roar and groans of the wounded, from the gas nozzles installed all over the place beat flames, strobe lights, water splashes from the walls, sparks fly from the ceiling, smelling the smell of burning oil smelling from the walls… stretchers through the smoke-filled passages and the ship's ruined premises, the recruits unexpectedly stumble upon ... Yo-Moe !!!
What are you yelling, stupid, it's just a corpse!
A disfigured human "body" hangs from the ceiling in scraps of cables - everything should be as in reality.
The actions of the recruits are strictly monitored by the eyes of the video cameras - instructors from the Control Center assess the actions of the group of recruits and launch a new storyline ... A torpedo hit the starboard, flooding the engine room!
A radical decision?
Well, the efforts of the American command to train fleet personnel are commands of respect. However, in the opinion of many people related to the fleet, this problem is a consequence of the low security of all modern warships without exception.
At the very beginning of the construction of the Orly Berk destroyers, the Yankees were proud that the Berkov design implemented maximum measures to increase survivability and took into account the experience of modern local wars - competent internal layout, dispersal and duplication of important mechanisms, and 130 tons of Kevlar armor created Awesome illusion of high security destroyer. Alas, as shown by the Cole incident, the exploding (according to various estimates) 200-300 kg of explosives at the Orly Burk board causes catastrophic structural damage and leads to heavy losses among the ship’s crew. As a result, a situation arises where a suicide bomber on a conventional boat is able to disable a gigantic ship.
The solution can only be a radical increase in the security of the ship with the introduction of heavy booking.
"The most heroic ship" USS Trayer (BST-21)
Among the decorations of the "torn cockpit" is visible "bloodied" mannequin
Damaged by the blast wave of the radar phased array (destroyer Cole)
"Tin" board destroyer USS Porter (DDG-78) after colliding with a Japanese oil tanker, the Strait of Hormuz, 2012 year