"Tomorrow morning at dawn, I will become just a flash of light," hummed 20-year-old Abdullah, directing his fragile canoe towards "the citadel of the crusaders and world Zionism."
A gray hulk under a stars-and-striped flag was serenely dozing in the port of Aden, not suspecting that a hellish boat filled with 300 kg of explosives was already on its "combat course" - two obsessed Arab youths prepared to give their lives in a holy war with the infidels. Inshallah!
On October 12, 2000, at 11:18 local time, a monstrous explosion struck the left side of the USS Cole (DDG-67), making a hole in the skin measuring 9 by 12 meters. Having torn apart the "tin" side of the destroyer, the shock wave and hot explosion products spread through the inner compartments of the ship, destroying everything in its path. Having crippled the engine room, the blast wave reached the upper deck and burst into the ship mess. The Yankees were not lucky - at that moment there were a large number of sailors and foremen gathered for lunch; this circumstance significantly increased the number of casualties among the destroyer personnel.
In total, as a result of the attack on the American ship, 17 sailors were killed, another 39 crew members were injured of varying severity and were urgently evacuated by a special flight to Landstuhl (the largest American military hospital in the Old World, located near Ramstein airbase, Germany).
Over the next few days, frigates and destroyers of the US Navy and NATO countries arrived in Aden, the landing ships Anchorage, Duluth and Tarawa, transports and tugs of the Shipping Command, transport aircraft from base in Bahrain, a detachment of marines was urgently delivered.
The explosion caused catastrophic changes in the design of the destroyer: "Cole" immediately lost power and power; the engine rooms and adjacent spaces of the ship were flooded, the gas turbines and the propeller shaft were out of order, the AN / SPY-1 radar was damaged. A fire broke out and a roll of 4 ° to the port side. The formidable destroyer completely lost its combat effectiveness and turned into a beaten pile of metal with negative buoyancy - only the colossal efforts of the crew aimed at fighting for the survivability of their ship, as well as active assistance from the NATO ships that arrived in time, allowed the destroyer to be retained 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 in the course of real hostilities, the crew would have been removed, and the mortally wounded destroyer would have been immediately finished off by fire from its colleagues.
On November 3, 2000, Cole was loaded onto a specially hired Norwegian transport vessel MV Blue Marlin and on November 24 of the same year arrived at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoul, Mississippi.
Inspection of "Cole" by shipyard specialists showed that the explosion did not touch the keel - the ship must be restored. The modular design of the destroyer made it possible to completely replace the damaged equipment with large blocks weighing up to 550 tons - repair and restoration work lasted 16 months and, according to official data, cost the Pentagon $ 243 million.
On April 19, 2002, Cole returned to the US Navy.
"Vereshchagin, leave the launch!" or some additions to the story with USS Cole
Destroying a warship like the USS Cole in open naval combat is a billion dollar question. You will need no less powerful ships and nuclear submarines, you need volleys of cruise missiles, surgically accurate artillery fire or lethal torpedo weapons.
No less difficult is the attack of a ship in the harbor of a prepared naval base. Examples from the history of Italian submarine saboteurs (Alexandria, Gibraltar, possible participation in the death of LK Novorossiysk) indicate that to break through the anti-sabotage protection of a large naval base (nets, booms, patrols on motor boats) requires unique diving equipment and knowledge of special techniques - mini-submarines and human torpedoes, special camouflage and breathing skills, magnetic mines. Only top-class specialists could do this.
It should be noted that for the success of sabotage sorties against highly protected surface ships (TKR and LK), it was necessary to strike in the underwater, most vulnerable part of the ship, outside the armored belt - otherwise, the mine charge 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) is very indicative. Despite the apparent resemblance to Arab terrorists, the Italians used a special technique: in a collision with a target, the boat broke and plunged into the water - the mine was activated only at a certain depth. Obviously, the cruiser's light armor played a certain role, both in complicating the attack scheme and in minimizing damage - two powerful explosions (2 x 300 kg of explosives) mutilated the York hull, but the crew lost only … 2 people!
Agree, not much like the Cole incident.
The Cole bombing is a one-of-a-kind incident in which a ship worth over $ 1 billion was completely destroyed by a $ 300 boat filled with bags of homemade explosives. As for the carcasses of the two suicide bombers, their lives cost nothing for Arab terrorist organizations.
No tricks with the submersion of the mine in the water - the explosion thundered on the surface, next to the side of the ship. The damage from the explosion exceeded $ 200 million, while 17 people from the destroyer's crew were killed.
How did this become possible?
USS Cole is the 17th Orly Burke-class Aegis destroyer and belongs to the 1st (outdated) Berkov sub-series. The main armament - 90 UVP systems Mk.41: "Tomahawks", anti-submarine rocket torpedoes, long-range missiles of the "Standerd" family.
The destroyer is named after the hero of the Second World War, Marine Corps Sergeant, machine gunner Darrell S. Cole.
Bookmark - February 1994, launching - February 1995, accepted into the fleet in June 1996.
Studies of numerous expert commissions of the Navy, Congress and US foreign intelligence have shown that the terrorist attack that happened is the result of a combination of many circumstances. The flaring war in the Muslim East, in which the United States is at war with an invisible and omnipresent adversary, the lack of a clear front line, the ability of fanatics to easily sacrifice their lives, insufficient precautions, as well as negligence on the part of foreign intelligence - all this led to the largest tragedy in modern history of the American navy.
In the course of the investigation, documents and reports from CIA informants in the Middle East were found, from which it was clearly indicated that even nine months before the Cole explosion, suicide bombers were preparing to carry out a similar terrorist attack against the destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) during its visit to Aden January 3, 2000. When the boat with the suicide bomber had already reached its starting position, it suddenly banked and overturned, taking the unlucky saboteur to the bottom - apparently, blinded by their own rage, the terrorists loaded the fragile floating craft with explosives (or maybe they just bought a boat that was too full of holes).
There was evidence that another terrorist group was preparing a similar attack on US Navy ships in the port of Kuala Lumpur - al-Qaeda planned to celebrate the onset of the "new millennium" on a grand scale.
The report of the Congress expressed confidence that all these messages got to their destination - and the story with "Cole" might not have happened: with a clear orientation towards terrorists, the command of the Navy was able to prevent a terrorist attack.
At the same time, the report notes that it is extremely difficult to prevent such episodes - in the case of the Cole, the terrorists' motor boat until the last moment was hidden from the eyes of the sailors on duty outside the garbage-collecting barge.
It is noteworthy that the Cole's crew was not brought to justice - on the contrary, the sailors were recognized as heroes. Specialists and investigators were amazed at the competent actions of the personnel to localize flooding, fires, organize medical assistance to the victims and take other measures in the fight for survivability. This is despite the fact that the average age among sailors and foremen was only 22-24 years old, and many were hardly 19.
When the surviving sailors were asked how they managed not to get confused and take competent actions to save the ship, everyone answered as one: we went through this in the "training". The answer is quite logical - the American Navy has always paid increased attention to the fight for survivability. As the joke goes, the second specialty of an American sailor is a firefighter.
In order to prevent such attacks and minimize the damage caused, the US Navy has developed two main areas of work:
To repel possible terrorist attacks, a whole complex of melee fire weapons was installed on board the ships: in addition to the standard "Browning" 50 caliber, on each destroyer an even more formidable and destructive weapon appeared - automatic cannon "Bushmaster" of caliber 25 or 30 mm - one hit of such ammunition is enough to smash a fiberglass boat or motor boat to shreds. Promising self-defense systems are being developed based on powerful lasers, as well as non-lethal infrasonic and acoustic weapons to prevent provocations.
Browning M2, a 12.7mm bullet pierces concrete walls like cardboard
Mk.38 Bushmaster 25 mm mount
But, most importantly, the general attitude among the crews: recently, American ships began to shoot at any suspicious objects without any hesitation - it looks like the sailors received new instructions regarding the rules for opening fire, they were relieved of all responsibility for the actions they took in relation to foreign boats and yachts venturing to approach American warships.
The warship "Global Patriot", en route from the Persian Gulf region to Europe, was awaiting permission to sail from the port of Suez towards the Mediterranean Sea. At this time, small boats with Egyptians, intending to sell their goods, began to move in its direction.
Ignoring warnings from the ship with the requirement to stop, the boats continued to move, after which the American sailors opened fire. Immediately after the incident, a crowd of angry local residents gathered in the port of Suez, demanding to punish those responsible. Currently, the Global Patriot has already left the Red Sea and moved through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
- news of March 25, 2008
Associated Press - A spokesman for the US Consulate in Dubai confirmed the death of one person as a result of the shelling of a motor fishing boat by a US warship.
The safety team aboard the Rappahannok opened fire on the motorboat after the vessel ignored all warnings and began to quickly approach the side of the ship. The incident took place near the port city of Jebel Ali, 35 kilometers southwest of Dubai.
- news from July 17, 2012
So, citizens vacationing on the seas, Be vigilant!
In addition to the rule "to shoot at everything that moves", the US Navy command was concerned with the problem of localizing the damage caused - if, nevertheless, the Arab "kamikaze" manages to get close to the board of the US Navy ship and strike with a power of a couple of hundred kilograms of TNT.
For a high-quality practice of actions aimed at fighting for the survivability of the ship, a life-size model-simulator of the destroyer Orly Burke was built at the Great Lakes naval base (Illinois)! $ 80 Million "5D Multiplex Cinema"!
Before you is the most heroic ship in the world - USS Trayer (BST-21). Every day he "falls" under heavy enemy fire, receives hits from anti-ship missiles and torpedoes - after which, his no less heroic "crew" rushes to the pumps and cannons, and begins to localize the damage.
The $ 80 million was not spent in vain - the subwoofers installed below the deck broadcast the roar and groans of the wounded, from the gas nozzles installed everywhere, flames beat out, strobe lights rush, water spurts from the walls, sparks fly from the ceiling, the suffocating smell of burning oil is felt … stretchers through the smoky passages and the ruined premises of the ship, the recruits unexpectedly stumble upon … Yo-My !!!
What are you yelling, you foolish people, it's just a corpse!
A mutilated human "body" hangs from the ceiling in scraps of cables - everything should be like in reality.
The actions of the recruits are strictly monitored by the eyes of video cameras - instructors from the Control Center assess the actions of a group of recruits and launch a new plot … A torpedo hit the starboard side, the engine room flooded!
A radical solution?
Well, the efforts of the American command aimed at training the personnel of the fleet command 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 Orly Burke destroyer construction program, the Yankees were proud that the Berks' 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, as well as 130 tons of Kevlar armor created a stunning illusion of a highly protected destroyer. Alas, as the incident with the Cole showed, the detonation (according to various estimates) of 200-300 kg of explosives at the side of the Orly Burke causes catastrophic damage to the structure and leads to heavy losses among the ship's crew. As a result, a situation arises when a suicide bomber on an ordinary boat is able to disable a giant ship.
The solution can only be a radical increase in the ship's security with the introduction of heavy armor.
"Most Heroic Ship" USS Trayer (BST-21)
A "bloody" mannequin is visible among the scenery of the "torn up cockpit"
Blast-damaged HEADLIGHT radar (destroyer Cole)
"Tin" side of the destroyer USS Porter (DDG-78) after a collision with a Japanese oil tanker, Strait of Hormuz, 2012
