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Defense Department photos show the USS Tripoli operating in the Gulf Jan. 29, 1991, during Desert Storm (above); and in dry dock after returning to the United States following the mine blast (below); At bottom: Tripoli Capt. Bruce McEwen examines the damage.
By David Alexander
ABOARD THE USS TRIPOLI, Northern Persian Gulf (UPI) – The flagship of one of the biggest mine-sweeping operations since the Korean War strayed into a minefield and hit one of the devices off Kuwait Monday, ripping a 16-by-25-foot hole 10 feet below water and flooding several compartments.
Thirty sailors were taken to carrier's medical ward, most requiring removal of paint that sprayed them during the blast. Military officials in the Saudi capital of Riyadh reported four injuries, none serious.
Following several hours of repairs and a search of the waters that uncovered another half-dozen mines, the 10,000-ton USS Tripoli had partial power restored.
“I wish I were home now,” said Adonis Oldenburg, 19, of Las Vegas, a damage control worker and a fireman apprentice. “I've been in the Navy six months and this is wild. ... It (the explosion) threw me out of my rack.”
Shortly after the 4:36 a.m. blast, those aboard the helicopter carrier were further rattled when they received word that the USS Princeton had just struck a mine about 10 miles away.
The Princeton shut down half its power as a precaution because of damage to one of its propellers. Three sailors were injured, one seriously.
Capt. Bruce McEwen updated the crew of the Tripoli in a videotape played over the ship's television shortly past noon.
“We've encountered a number of mines,” he said. “It appears to be a very complex minefield that we struck this morning. The ship is stable. ... The ship is at no risk.”
The impact of the explosion jarred the entire crew awake and sent the vessel into general-quarters alert with all hands ordered to report to their battle stations.
The ship was dead in the water until crews shored up the hole in the forward starboard section of the hull and pumped out water that flooded a diesel room, a pump room, and a dry storage locker on three different decks.
Crews wearing breathing apparatus and fire-retardant flash hoods moved in and out of the damaged areas while pumps drained off water and fans blew paint and thinner fumes from below deck.
An executive officer said a half-dozen mines were thought to be in the water ahead of the ship and three were marked by smoke canisters for disposal by underwater demolition teams dispatched from the carrier.
Meanwhile, British and U.S. helicopters from others ships in the area circled the carrier searching for even more mines.
McEwen said the mine that the USS Tripoli struck appeared to be moored just below the surface of the water.
The Tripoli is the flagship for the U.S. Mine Countermeasures Group, which was being protected by a screen of U.S. warships that apparently included the USS Princeton.
“I'm not aware of an effort this big since the Korean War,” said Capt. David Grieve, the commodore of the group.
He said the contact mines previously found in the waters are based on a 1900 Russian design that costs less than $500.
“They are extremely cheap and very effective,” Grieve said. “That's some of the reasons that the mine-sweeping forces are important. Look at what you can tie up or deny based upon very old technology.”
Officials aboard the ship would not say whether the mine-sweeping operation was being conducted to clear the way for an amphibious landing by U.S. Marines once the long awaited ground war begins.
But any sort of amphibious landing would probably require such an operation and Grieve told a group of visiting correspondents that the task force was headed west and clearing a 20-mile swath off Kuwait.
One seaman said the dry storage room had been destroyed. The compartments contained gray paint, and the rush of water through the room created a gray paint slick that trailed the vessel.
Chief Hospital Corpsman Chris Belluto, 37, of San Diego, said nearly 30 crewmen were taken to the carrier's medical ward, most needing to have paint cleaned off them.
Oldenburg said he was beginning his duties in the mess hall when the explosion occurred. He said he reported to his battle station, but had to abandon it because of the paint fumes. He said there were two people in sleeping quarters in the vicinity.
“The two guys ... had a hard time coming up,” Oldenburg said. “Ladders were twisted; hatches, we couldn't get them open. When we finally got them out they were just drenched in paint and paint thinner and water and you name it.”
Monday marked the first time that any U.S. warship had struck a mine in the gulf.
The Tripoli blast happened less than an hour after Jesse Thomas, a 21-year-old airman from Los Angeles got off his mine watch.
“I consider myself fairly lucky,” Thomas said. “I was expecting a lot worse ... I was expecting the ship to turn upside down, something really dramatic.”
“I was relieved to finally have it happen rather than anticipate it,” he added.
Monday, February 18, 1991
U.S. warships in Gulf rocked by Iraqi mine blasts