The Iranian frigate Is Sahand burns after being attacked by aircraft from USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
Operation PRAYING MANTIS was a United States military operation against Iran in 1988. Following the mining of a U.S. Navy guided missile frigate, the U.S. attacked Iranian warships and oil platforms that Iran used as command and control bases for anti-shipping operations in the Persian Gulf. Several Iranian ships and two platforms were destroyed.
Did You Know?
USS Enterprise (CVN 65) in 2004
USS Enterprise (CVN 65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was only intended to serve for 25 years. Enterprise has served for 50 years and Sunday, she set out for her final cruise.
Dec. 27 in American Military History:
1846: Although heavily outnumbered, a force of Missouri militia led by Col. Alexander W. Doniphan called the "Doniphan Thousand" defeats the Mexican army at El Paso (present-day Texas) and captures the city in one of the major battles of the Mexican-American War.
1935: When a volcanic eruption threatens Hilo, Hawaii, Army Air Force planes drop bombs in order to divert the lava flow.
1942: 2nd Lt. (future Maj.) Richard I. Bong, flying a P-38 Lighting over Buna, scores his first of 40 kills against Japanese aircraft. Bong would become the United States' top ace of World War II and would earn the Medal of Honor.
1992: Lt. Col. Gary North shoots down an Iraqi MiG-25 in Iraq's southern no-fly-zone with an AIM-120A missile, marking the first beyond-visual-range kill and the first combat air-to-air victory for the F-16 Falcon.
