Commander Daniel Murphy (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Original gilt-titled blue grained cloth 23x29cm with blindly impressed Gulf map and grey cameo of the USS Kidd to the front. 96pp illustrated with 2 double-page colour route maps, and colour and b/w photos throughout, with (1)pp of related ms notes laid in. Covers very good with short closed tears at the corners, interiors near fine with some foxing. The USS Kidd was commissioned for the Shah of Iran in 1978, but upon completion after the Revolution, the USN kept it, and deployed it instead to the Gulf and Mediterranean. The lead ship in her class of destroyers, Kidd-class became known informally as the "Ayatollah" or "dead admiral" class. This book records the USS Kidd's round trip from Norfolk during 6 June to 4 December 1987, most notably its deployment to the Gulf "on short notice to fill a mission that was not as yet defined" (p5). With its home base at Manama in Bahrain, it initially escorted Kuwaiti tankers in response to Iran's threats to close the shipping lanes. It was then sent to patrol the highly strategic waters around Abu Musa Island (controlled by Iran, claimed by the UAE) close to the Strait of Hormuz, where it monitored all air activity in the southern Gulf, and trailed Iranian frigates. It was twice called away to participate in major operations, including scuttling the landing craft Iran Ajr which had been captured while laying mines in waters close to Qatar, and shelling the Rashadat 2 command and control platform in the Rostam Oil Field east of Bahrain in retaliation to an attack on one of the Kuwaiti tankers. Among other awards, in September it received its 3rd Battle "E" Award in recognition of its maximum readiness and capability to perform wartime tasks. This account with an opening statement by USS Kidd's Commander Daniel Murphy, describes its Atlantic crossing and stopovers, Suez, refuelling in Djibouti, Bahrain, Gulf operations (with several newspaper articles reproduced), Abu Dhabi, Abu Musa, turnover, the return leg, and homecoming.