The U.S. Navy's Savage 8-Hour War Against Iran 

The point here is that weakness invites attacks; but setting an example like this stops the trouble very, very quickly.

Still get cracked up over the soviet ship basically being on vacation watching a boxing match between a amateur and the heavyweight champ

One of the most impressive things about the Roberts that stand as a testament to the leadership, training, and performance of the crew came after she was out of the theater and being repaired. Every simulation and model done by military think tanks of the event, the ship never survived. The crew of the Roberts truly did the impossible of saving that ship.

That CO is a straight G.O.A.T.!!! Calm, cool, collected.? There was no hesitancy in his voice, only resolve and complete control of a hellish situation. Bravo Zulu to you and your sailors sir!

Was stationed on the Roberts, arrived just after the blast when she was in Portland, ME for repairs. Rinn was legend and the stories of that day from my shipmates were something to hear. Impressive leadership and a damn fine crew. Once repairs were complete, under Sestak, DC was of course paramount. We took her back into the Gulf after Desert Storm, proudly and fearlessly. No Higher Honor! Another great long form talk from one of my favorite Brownshoes. Well done Mooch!

I was a 21-year old reactor operator trainee on the Enterprise that day. Although we had all been told at a high level what was going on, we certainly weren't aware of many of the details that were told in this presentation. It's very interesting to learn so many years later what actually happened. After the Samuel B. Roberts hit that mine, we knew the other shoe was going to drop, but we didn't know when. Strange things started happening. For example, we conducted an underway replenishment... with us actually playing the role of the oiler. The Linde McCormick pulled along side us and took on JP-5 from us, which was normally reserved for our aircraft. I had never seen that before or since. Normally, planes on deck had a minimum of armament installed. However, on the morning of April 18th every plane was loaded to the max with weaponry. Guys wrote notes on the missiles like "I'd fly a thousand miles to smoke a Camel". We knew the day had come. It wasn't long before flight ops began, and the flight deck crew seemed to work a very long day. From my point of view, it was almost boring. We were ordered to suspend all our normal reactor maintenance activities, which was highly unusual. The captain didn't want any risk of accidentally tripping a reactor off line while performing calibration checks, which occasionally happened. We just stood our watches in the propulsion plants and got a little extra sleep in between. For several days we were at modified Zebra, meaning that all the large hatches between decks were closed and we had to use the little "scuttle" hatches to get anywhere. It was quite inconvenient, but necessary to be able to quickly protect the ship in case of attack. One of the main concerns was the threat of mustard gas. Every man was issued a Mark V gas mask and encouraged to carry it with him everywhere. Though my role in the event was trivial, it's a day I will always remember.

Condolences to the families of the two KIA USMC Cobra aviators lost in this action.

Calm, competent, confident. Three qualities of good leadership the captain demonstrated quite well under stress.

9:50 CDR Paul Rinn's address to his crew is a textbook example of great leadership.

Was stationed on the Enterprise during this whole thing. Remember this day very well. Can remember Captain " Rocky" Spane briefing the crew on what was going to happen and when.

CAPT Rinn was the real deal! His historical presentations during SNA National Symposiums were the highlight of the week

I was a 22 year old operations specialists not even a year out of A school serving onboard the U.S.S Enterprise when this happened and I was on duty for the whole event. I was aware of everything that was happening in real time and I heard the Iranian vessel being told to abandon ship again in real time. We were shown the video showing the the bomb going down the stack of the Sabalan.

"Rigging for Revenge" has to be the most Navy sentence I've ever heard. Hail and well met, sailors of the Sammy B.!!!

I was an OS on board the USS Merrill on my first deployment and was in CIC during the action. Thank you for putting this video out there and bringing back a flood of memories.

This was a GREAT presentation. When you work with your guest to share a story it is really enjoyable and flows well.

One more thing about this sequence of events Brad did not mention: as a result of Roberts' mining, and in case the Iranians decided to strike back immediately in the wake of Praying Mantis, we diverted one of our then-rare Aegis cruisers, the Vincennes (CG-49), from the Seventh Fleet to provide area air cover for the remainder of Earnest Will. Unfortunately, on July 3, the Iranians decided to harass her with a couple of boghammers, and in the midst of the gun battle, her crew misidentified an Iran Air A300 on a regular flight (IA 655) as an incoming Iranian F-14. A combination of issues with the early Aegis interface, crew training failures, and the chaotic situation around them caused the mistake, but it was not caught and Vincennes then fired a pair of SM-2s, causing 290 civilian deaths in the deadliest airliner shootdown until MH17 was downed in 2014. Arguably, this incident, more than Praying Mantis or Nimble Archer, is what brought Iran to the negotiating table, as it demonstrated the danger they were posing to even their own civilians through asymmetric warfare and creating intentionally-confusing situations. The ceasefire was agreed to just 2 weeks later, and although it doesn't take away from the triumph of Praying Mantis, it's a grim reminder that technology doesn't replace training, and why we need to train our sailors well: being the best in the world doesn't mean we can't do better.

I was on active duty in the USAF then, on TDY status in WA state. We were all hoping Mr. Reagan would pull out all the stops against Iran, but at the same time we were apprehensive because we worried about the wider regional possibility of igniting a war with numerous other Islamic nations. It was a heady, tense time and, in retrospect, I’m glad we didn’t push Iran to the point of all-out war. Episodes like this make me wish I was still in the military. Great episode, Commander, thank you! 🤙🏼🌹

BZ to the crew of the Sammy B. 👍🇺🇸 They exemplified the spirit of Samuel B Roberts and the USN. 🇺🇸🇺🇸

Thanks for taking this on -- good show! I was aboard USS Joseph Strauss (SAG D). We were the air control ship in the gulf. Aircraft from Enterprise checked in with us for tasking. You described it well after the first Harpoon hit on Sabalan. It became a Sinkex -- all the aviators had visions of Air Medals dancing in their heads. It was all we, onboard Joseph Strauss, could do to keep our foot in the door to get off our Harpoon shot. Keep up the good work.

The DC1 who taught me most everything I knew about fire fighting and damage control as a new HT3, was a major player is saving the Samual Roberts. Great guy.

This is without a doubt one of your very best videos to date, Ward. I was literally on the edge of my seat! Great stuff!

I was a LtJG on the O'Brien (DD-975) during Operation Praying Mantis. Hell of a way to spend 8 hours. Excellent presentation of the events of that day. We then provided cover for the recovery of the cobra crew.

Man, listening to the CO give that little speech over the 1MC just made you FEEL like, yeah we got this. You can tell he actually cared for his crew as well. Looking out for them if they are getting exhausted. Just awesome leadership and that translated to the training and moral of the crew.

I've read "No Higher Honor"- A great read! My cousin's husband was flying SH-60s from another frigate out there at the same time. He described the gulf as "Not a place you'd want to hang out"... Another great episode!

Excellent presentation...in an increasingly frustrating political climate, it is enormously reassuring to learn about the occasional effectiveness of our national assets. Not within your purview but another "slam dunk" has been the James Webb telescope. These outstanding outcomes make me proud to be American.

Mooch, good topic. To add to the last commentary regarding transition from single service to joint warfare, when I deployed to the Gulf with a west coast FFG in '86-87 and '88-89, we got the Navy Expeditionary Medal. When I went back to serve on the AGF (LASALLE) in '89, we got the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for EARNEST WILL.

I was in Abu Dhabi at the time. We had access to a couple of local English papers and BBC radio driving to the military base in the mornings. We did not pick up what happened until U.S. newspapers were brought in as part of weekly mail shipment (no cable tv yet, no cell phones, no internet). Those were primitive times. Great content. My head is spinning remembering this but it took 7-10 days to get about a 10% understanding of what took place.

So far I haven't served...my biggest regret. Thanks to all who served and serve. Another great episode!

Story time with Uncle Mooch is always a fascinating listen with excellent visuals and even better Naval insights that you can't get anywhere else. Thank you!!!

Wow....what a valiant heritage and legacy. From the Wiki article, Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), a Butler class destroyer escort, was sunk in the Battle off Samar, in which a small force of U.S. warships prevented a superior Imperial Japanese Navy force from attacking the amphibious invasion fleet off the Philippine island of Leyte. The ship was part of a relatively light flotilla of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers called "Taffy 3" which was inadvertently left to fend off a fleet of heavily armed Japanese battleships, cruisers, and destroyers off the island of Samar during the Battle off Samar, one of the engagements making up the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf of October 1944. Steaming through incoming shells, Samuel B. Roberts scored one torpedo hit and several shell hits on larger enemy warships before she was sunk. After the battle, Samuel B. Roberts received the appellation "the destroyer escort that fought like a battleship." In June 2022, Victor Vescovo''s team located the wreck of the Roberts at 22,621 feet, making it the deepest wreck ever discovered.

I participated in this during 1988, I was on an oil platform building barge called Hercules owned by KBR in the northern gulf near Farsi Island where Iran launched their boats to attack the tankers. They were Boston Whaler with a pair of 100 hp Mercury outboards and a pair of 23mm anti-aircraft guns bolted to the floor. They had to stop before they shot otherwise the recoil would flip their boats. I was attached to a special boat unit using PB MK3 patrol boats. We also had Army OH-58, Marine Stinger man pads, 25mm Bushmaster and 20mm Gatling guns for defense. Our patrol boats along with the Kiowa would launch at night to intercept boats leaving Farsi Island.

I was on the Merrill (SAG Bravo) for Praying Mantis. As a side note, the MEF (Marine Expeditionary Force) that boarded the Sason Oil Platform, brought back a life preserver ring from the platform and gave it to the commodore of the SAG. Our MMC Chief who was great in Calligraphy, dated the preserver and the names of the ships that comprised of SAG Bravo along with Operation Praying Mantis. He did a great job and I am sure the commodore still has it hanging in his home. I was also in CIC when we tracked that Russian Frigate and went to GQ thinking it was the Iranian Destroyer. I then saw our CO leaning over to our Missile Officer sitting the Harpoon Fire Control console and told him "Now Mr. Everett, this one is for the port side and this one is for the starboard!". Lt. Everett nervously acknowledge our CO's instructions. Luckily we never used them, but the T-Hawkers (Tomahawk Missile Team) was anxious to launch one at Iran since they shot those Chinese Silkworm Dumb missiles at us during our attack on the platform, which fell short.

Outstanding walkthrough. I really enjoy the supplemental commentary on the platforms and their capabilities - one sees why they’re chosen to meet specific goals.

Always love it when you look back on historical navy events and operations, great work!

Really great to see my old command USS Trenton LPD 14 🇺🇸⚓️

WOW!... What a great video...Im an old guy and served with HC-1, and listening to this brought back a flood of memories... Thank you for this. Now... if you ever show up in Texas, please give me a holler, as I could not help but admire over all the guitars in the background. I play, as well as piano and would love to have a beverage and make some music while talking about time in the Navy! God Bless Sir!

This need to be made into a movie

Outstanding history lesson given Mooch! Thank you sir! I love how you two synchronized your narration back & forth & the editing in of the combat footage (archival, pics & videos) helped tell the story perfectly! Learned a ton...

Dang... you two guys really tell a good tale.

Fantastic episode Mooch and Brad, I was active duty during this time onboard USS Austin (LPD-4) as well. Perhaps a follow up episode is to get Captain Larry Seaquist (ret) to talk about commanding the Battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) and their time on station the Gulf. Bravo Zulu!!!

Well done, Ward and Brad! Excellent presentation with informative explanations that have long been forgotten. I believe you when you say that the Iran/Iraq war was incredible costly. I was attending San Jose State University and had several Iranians in my classes. One girl told me that two of her four brothers had been killed in the war.

“We’re not coming back to the deck with this ordnance”. Safety first!

No mention of the silkworm missiles fired at sag Delta After the ceasefire. I was the helmsman on board the USS O Brien D975 and was on the bridge for the whole operation. Your video was well presented and there's not enough out there about operation praying mantis. Thank you very much.

Brilliant video. I’ve had a huge interest in this op for some time. It combines all the levels of command from president to flight lead, and every type of combatant, aircraft, ships, soldiers/marines. Remarkable operation.

Love the detailed presentation. Really, really well done in style and content (a thriller !). Thank you!

So glad the exploits of the FFG Roberts was brought up, they truly deserved recognition for saving their ship. Incredible to think this was 35 years ago. Ships were still carrying the SM1 and the Harpoon had been first deployed 11 years earlier. If the Sabalan launched SAMs against the Intruder it must have been a MANPAD.

Excellent coverage of this event! You guys did an excellent job, I remember this well since I was in the offshore oil business at the time.

Amazing episode. Excellent to hear such a detailed account of the engagement. Thanks for posting.

Mooch, your content just keeps teaching me details I lived through as a common citizen; thanks to you and Brad!

Brilliant. Your nailing your target audience with gr8 research, perfect story telling, and proper length to tell this story. Looking forward to more. Ty for this bit of knowledge. God Bless 🙏.

Thanks for the audio of SBR's captain. Fantastic. The minute I heard his voice, I thought, "This guy is from the northeast." After reading about him online, wasn't surprised he was born and raised in the The Bronx, NYC

I was a reactor operator on the Enterprise for that event. What a great day!

I was on the USS Cape Cod AD-43, deployed to the Gulf of Oman just before this operation. Our sister ship, the USS Acadia (AD-42) just a couple days before this all went down. They did an admirable job doing repair work and prepping the Sammy B for transport back home. Our Captain asked to go back and help the Acadia but was told to continue back home.

I served on a perry frigate the Kaufman ffg59 and can seriously picture all this happening like it was yesterday. Amazing video boys this was my first visit to your channel and I'm a new subscriber. I especially appreciate the detail and editing in of video cuts specifically what the topic is

I loved the way you guys played tag team. I looked at the video length and I said "42 minutes, way too long" but because of the fluidity of your tag team approach it went so fast.

Was there.... On Enterprise supporting air wing and operations during this one. Thank you Ward. I am still learning more and more of what happened that very busy Monday. (After a very bad Thursday for the Roberts) Thank you for all you do.

Ward, thank you for your informative video. Note, as a former USMC Aviator, I can tell you that your video clip of the AH-1T shooting TOW was probably not FLIR. More likely it was just video taken through , or somehow patched from, the aircraft’s Telescopic Sight Unit. The TOW system on the AH-1T was designed to be a daylight-only system, as the aircraft didn’t have FLIR. I had the privilege of flying the last three USMC AH-1Ts in 90 and 91. Due to the lack of FLIR, our methodology for shooting TOW during NVG ops was to operate in a section with 2.75” FFAR illumination rockets to light the target for TOW. One A/C would light up the target with a series of illum rounds while the other would shoot TOW, after which they would switch. To really grasp how archaic our equipment was, we had to fly NVGs with green chem sticks duct taped on to our instrument panel because the A/C only had red cockpit lighting.

Great story. Always appreciate the unique angle that you and your guests bring. Strong work.

History repeats itself. I was on USS Truxtun as the CICWO during Praying Mantis. NTDS was awesome!

I was a QMSA fresh out of A-School on my first WESTPAC stationed on the Lynde McCormick DDG-8 . We were on a port visit on the beautiful islands of Seychelles. I believe we had completed that visit and were in route to Australia for another port visit when the incident with the FF the Roberts occurred. We were immediately ordered to abandon our current trip and make a B-line to the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. Once arriving in the hot muggy I O, there we had the privilege of 2 beer days patrolling an area of the region awaiting our call to relieve another destroy that has been on patrol in the Gulf. Any Navy person knows what the requirements are for a crew to have a beer day out to sea. We had two of them in tha blazing t sauna called the Indian Ocean. Of course running drills and training the entire time for war at under GQ conditions, fully geared up most of the time. Finally the day came when we were called to relieve another weary crew in patrolling the Gulf. GQ, port and starboard watches, frequent calls for Nav Detail, hot, irritating, little sleep and always on high alert. The morning DDG-8 earned it's Combat Action Award I was on the Deck Log on the Bridge for the entire event. I turned 21 in the Persian Gulf and got the message my daughter was born while on watch, late night on the plot there as well. Needless to say I will never forget the details of Operation Preying Mantis. It's remarkable hearing the operational details of that event in this video.❤

Great content Ward! I served aboard the USS Ford FFG-54 during Operation Ernest Will, Aug-87 to Feb-88. We carried 2 SOAR MH-6 Little Birds (SEABAT) and had the first encounter and sinking of Boghammers in Oct 87. This was during Operation Prime Chance which ran concurrent with Ernest Will. We had crew shirts made that said "I got my tan off the shores of Iran". Perhaps you could do an in depth look at Prime Chance?

I was on USS Enterprise CVN-65, Battlegroup Foxtrot. I kept our ship's newspaper "Shuttle" dated 4/19/1988 with a burning Iranian SAAM frigate on the front page. The article states the ship was destroyed by combined missile fire from Enterprise aircraft and USS Strauss DD-16. A second Iranian ship was also destroyed. Iirc, the second ship was destroyed by 500 lb Rockeyes and cluster bombs from Enterprise as well.

As a SBR plankowner, and mine hit survivor, it was interesting to hear you guys talk about this stuff like it was history. It was just yesterday for me!

Thanks for making this video. This historical nugget gets overlooked with the passing of time. Props to the US Navy.

I couldn’t help but notice the peavey amp behind your guest. I was waiting for you guys to break out the guitars. This kind of storied naval battle could easily serve as fodder for song! Love your channel - great to see you on Twitter as well.

So cool. Commander Bud Langston, Mr. Langston to me, was my Commanding Officer of VA-145 Swordsmen from 1985 to 86 when I rotated from sea to shore duty. I knew about CDR Langston's Vietnam carrier and knew nothing about his participation in Operation Praying Mantis.

This was a fantastic presentation. I loved the back and forth, aviator to sailor, handling each of your respective topics. It lent a specific voice to each part of the operation. Great work.

Great overview and takeaways Ward. For those wondering about the lost Cobra/crew (from Wikipedia): “The U.S. side suffered two casualties, the crew of a Marine Corps AH-1T Sea Cobra helicopter gunship. The Cobra, attached to USS Trenton, was flying reconnaissance from Wainwright and crashed sometime after dark about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Abu Musa island. The bodies of the lost personnel were recovered by Navy divers in May, and the wreckage of the helicopter was raised later that month. Navy officials said it showed no sign of battle damage.[14] In his book "Tanker War," author Lee Allen Zatarain indicates there was some evidence the helicopter may have crashed while evading hostile fire from the island.”

Another Great Story. Loved the 1MC address by the Capt. of the Roberts Pure Leadership. On aside note I noticed over your guest right shoulder on the shelf was a A-4/C-1 Cod half Tee bar ( Yellow & Blue) and a A-6/ C-2 half Tee Bar (White). I'm guessing he had at least two cat shots.

One of your best videos on the military conflicts between Iran and the U.S.. Would love to see more of those types of videos. Thanks for sharing. Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya

Really a well told account! Fascinating and well produced. Thanks.

Loved this episode! The detail and depth of explanation and providing the context is well done. Growing up in Iran till 17 before moving here, I’ve seen this story on both sides accounts multiple times and it’s so obvious to me what’s what now. Thank you for these great stuff you publish.

Boghammar (Bow Hammer) Marin is a Swedish shipyard just outside stockholm. They normally build smaller vessels like ferries for commuter service. But also speedboats. If you took a boat as a tourist in Stockholm its highly likely its built by Boghammar.

Great video! It was like a Tom Clancy novel, in that I could not stop watching. Action packed and very informative. Also, the first time I had seen any news in this action. No internet back then. Thank you!

WOW!! What a great story and presentation. Loved your story telling and time sequencing.

Thank you. I was the TAO on USS Enterprise (CVN-65) on that day and on the days leading up to it. When you are part of such an operation, you only see your piece and the knowledge of what you saw and heard. Thanks for showing the big picture albeit lacking some of the humanity.

I was on the Forestall we finished up as we finally ported I believe in August 88, I was part of the 108 on the deck. That was my last cruise I was in VA-37 it was the longest time in the heat launching aircraft and we literally had been in the North Sea and froze ourselves to death, talk about one extreme to another. I remember the Roberts being hit and we were all angry about the Roberts being hit since the Forestall was based out of Mayport and we knew some of the sailors on the Roberts.

Thank you for going so in-depth on this topic. A really specalculator and professional display, glad to learn more about it!

What a fantastic narrative and stimulating story! I was tingling all over and pumped up as if I were watching the events unfold. Great job Gentlemen!

I do wish you had mentioned the fun and games the USS Gary (FFG-51) had up in the Northern Gulf that day. We where providing cover for a couple of oil service barges which where being used as small boat bases by US Special Forces personnel. The Iranians lobbed a couple of Silkworm missiles our way (launched from Khark Island). One seemed to malfunction and went into the drink and the other was either knocked down by our 76mm or crashed itself too, can't be sure which.

What an inspiration to hear his speech!!

At the time I was an instructor at SWOS, Newport, RI. It was a real treat to hear CDR Rinn's presentation to the instructor staff, as well as later seeing SBR return to Newport aboard the heavy lift ship. As for Ward's question about what happens to an ultra-modern warship when it hits a WW I era mine, you get a WW I era size hole blown in your shiny new ship.

Excellent video, as always! Thanks, Ward.

Frigates (or destroyer escorts) named Samuel B. Roberts have pretty tough careers! That said, I don't think the USN should ever be without a frigate/destroyer named Samuel B Roberts!

Thanks for this, a very interesting piece of history. I used to work for Plessey, a British electronics company. Before the Shah was deposed, I was sent with a colleague to work with the Iranian navy during Exercise Midlink, which involved a US carrier (Midway, I think) and a Spruance class frigate, the British frigate HMS Rothesay, and two of the Iranian Saam-class Vosper Mk V frigates, Faramarz (later renamed Sahand) and Rostam (later Sabalan). The captain of Farmarz was Prince Shafiq, the Shah's nephew, who was later assassinated in Paris. We were supposed to join Faramarz, but after being taken in a small boat out to the Faramarz in Bandar Abbas harbour, we were refused access at the point of machine guns! Anyway, to cut a long story short, we were then taken aboard Rostam. We helped out with some maintenance tasks, including getting the WW2 era sonar working with the help of some WD40 (yes, really!) and adjusted the 3-barrel AS mortar electro-mechanical computer, which was supposed to be fired during the exercise, but thank providence it never was. When we arrived the barrels just pointed vertically and oscillated wildly, a tad disconcerting! At that time, the British ran a maintenance team in Bandar Abbas harbour. The Saam-class ships mainly did day-running out of the harbour, and when they returned the Brits would go aboard and fix the things that were broken. The Iranians apparently thought that maintenance work was too menial to dirty their hands with. Even when the ships were still in the UK, they were regarded by the authorities as a total nightmare. They were very fast ships, powered by twin Olympus gas turbines and could do about 40 knots at full speed. During the official work-up in Portland Harbour, they would cast off and immediately cross the harbour at full speed (I think the official speed limit was about 6 knots). The Queen's Harbourmaster was definitely unamused. Anyway, Rostam set off into the Persian Gulf to join the exercise Midlink. The first night, a fuel pipe came off one of the Olympus engines and we spent an hour rolling about until it was fixed. The next day, the exercises commenced, including a gunnery exercise shooting at aircraft-towed drogues using the 4.5" Vickers Mk 8 gun. For the exercise, there was a guy from Vickers there to help. It is a feature of this gun that it has about 6 ready-use rounds, and the next rounds have to be fed from the magazine once the gun crew have closed up. The gun could be fired remotely, I assume from the ops room. When it was Rostam's turn to fire at the target, there were six bangs and then everything went silent. They had failed to close up the gun crew before the exercise. Needless to say the Iranians then blamed the Vickers guy! The ship also had a twin-barrel 35mm gun on the after-deck. At night, we went onto the after deck to get some air and were alarmed that the gun crew seemed to think it hilarious to point this lethal device at anybody walking on the deck. We just prayed that the safety interlocks worked, because the guns were loaded, but knowing the state of the rest of the ship, we did not hang around to find out. This characterised the whole ethos of the ship's crew - with a few honourable exceptions, they were volatile, unprofessional, lazy and just totally dangerous. Having worked extensively with the UK Royal Navy, the contrast could not have been more stark. At the end of the exercise, we went back to Bandar Abbas and were told that Prince Shafiq wanted to talk to us about our impressions. But he did the usual thing, of getting us to hang about until some unspecified date that suited him. After our experiences, we decided to take the first plane back to Teheran and then on the next available flight back to the UK. A few months later, the Shah was deposed.

The first time to come by your channel, the experience was riveting together with synchronized narrative. Thank you, you have a new UK sub.

OK...OK!!!! This stuff is just TOO good! Enough with the guilty conscience for watching for free! This video is sending me to Patreon! Excellent presentation sirs! Kim

The Death Ride of the Sammy B, the Johnston and the Hoel off Samar against Yamato and her heavy cruiser escorts was the ultimate David V Goliath battle of the Pacific war and was clearly the US Navy's finest hour. Captain Rinn had no doubt been brought up with this famous legacy and was determined not to fail in the eyes of the world and of such proud naval history. Many accounts have been written of the desperate efforts made to save the Roberts and it is to their great credit the ship was able to be saved and live to fight another day. I often wonder why a major motion picture depicting the heroics off Samar has never been made. The brilliant book "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" by James D. Hornfischer tells the story beautifully and I would love to see Tom Hanks play the part of Capt Evans of the Johnston as his awesome acting skills would be on full display in this story of courage and sacrifice, rarely surpassed in history. Assemble the team that made Apollo 13, with Ron Howrad directing and it would be superb. Thanks for posting this tribute to the "Sammy B" of the 1980s Navy, Ward.

As a former crew member of the USS Lynde McCormick DDG-8 (Lynde is pronounced as Line). Also I was in the Crew of the USS Ranger CV-61 for the last 6 months of ADM Less tenure as the Commanding Officer we all knew he was going a lot further in the Navy.

Oh, and of course - another Moochtastic piece. Your guests are great.

Excellent episode! I was a DC3 onboard the U.S.S. Bagley FF-1069 at the time.

The Oliver Hazard Perry class weren't viewed by Navy rank and file with much admiration. But after the Stark and the Roberts were returned to service someone pointed out that the Perry class was the only warship class with a proven record of battle damage survivability. Something you'd want in a ship you were on.

Dude. I’ve been fascinated with this period of naval history for years. There’s just not that much out there. This is so good.

Ward, my thanks to you & Brad for this very interesting & informative video about Op Praying Mantis! During the 1980s I heard snippets about this engagement on the National news. Much later I saw a program on the Military Channel about the Samuel B. Roberts encounter with the minefield & the heroic actions of the ship's leadership & crew to save the ship. However, this is the first time that I have seen a more comprehensive & detailed account of this operation. I thoroughly enjoyed the video, & I'm grateful for what I learned!!!

Excellent overview of this! I was high school senior with an AF ROTC opportunity at the time, so I was interested but didn't follow the details of this 'Navy war' against Iran. Always something to learn.

You do realize that the flag ship of the Russian Black Sea fleet was sunken by a country with NO navy?

It is hard to believe that it has been 35 years since this happened. The "Operations Room" also has a good graphic summary of this war at sea exercise.

Excellent history Thank you for making and posting. This is not about who was right and who was wrong, but rather on an unknown/murky part of history.

Thank you ward....my father was on the wainwright and was in desert storm. I've never served only because I watched what my late father endured and so. I was lucky to fall upon your video and feel a bit more understanding as to what he went through! I remember him talking about torpedoes screaming next to the wainwright that sounded like freight trains and....now I know why....thank you

Hardly "proportional" but absolutely the way to go.....hit 'em back hard enough to know to think twice before challenging the US Navy! Semper Fi.