A terrorist bomb ripped open the Aegis destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67) while the warship was mooring in the port of Aden about noon on 12 October. The blast tore a hole approximately 40 by 40 feet in the port side of the amidships hull, killing 17 sailors outright and injuring 39 others.
All indications when this issue of Proceedings went to press pointed to a terrorist attack. The ship, in transit from her home port of Norfolk, Virginia, to the Persian Gulf, had entered Aden in the country of Yemen for a brief refueling stop. A small craft, apparently operated by two men, was helping with lines as the ship prepared to take on fuel from a "dolphin" or refueling pier in the center of the harbor. The small craft then came alongside the warship, the two men reportedly stood at attention, and detonated several hundred pounds of high explosives.
The crew immediately took action to control damage and help the wounded. The ship appears to have been in no immediate danger of sinking, although she did take on a slight list.
Following the blast, British and French as well as U.S. military aircraft flew into Aden to provide medical assistance. This response was followed by scores of U.S. security personnel as well as investigative and forensic specialists, the latter attempting to determine the source of the damage and who was responsible.
Because of the Palestinian riots that began a few days earlier in Israel and the reaction of Israeli military forces, some pundits immediately connected the attack with that situation. The Israelis used U.S.-provided AH-1 Cobra helicopters to attack Palestinian facilities. Television footage of the Cobras firing rockets were seen around the world. The assault on the Cole obviously took many days to plan and for arrangements to be made, hence a direct connection with the Palestinian rioting is unlikely.
Meanwhile, questions were being asked: Why was the Cole sent into an Arab port, especially since less than two years earlier the U.S. State Department had declared Yemen a terrorist-supporting state? Why aren't Navy oilers used to refuel ships in forward areas? Why wasn't security on the ship more alert? Why were small craft allowed near a U.S. warship in a foreign port?
Most questions—and some charges—reveal how little the public, and even some politicians, understand about how the United States uses its Navy in peacetime. In this specific case, Aden has been used by U.S. ships for more than a year as a refueling stop; four ships called there in the past six months. Apparently the Cole had the required armed guards posted on deck. Obviously, there are scores of small craft in any harbor—helping ships tend lines, taking pilots to and from ships, loading and unloading cargo, transporting crews, etc. Keeping such craft away from a ship in a crowded harbor is nearly impossible.
So long as the Navy supports national, political, economic, and military interests around the world, the only feasible method of protecting our ships from such terrorist attacks are providing reasonable onboard security and having better intelligence concerning terrorist activities. The latter appears to have been the failing in the case of the attack on the Cole.
A final factor in dealing with terrorism, of course, is retaliation. Once the identification of the perpetrators has been made, it is vital that U.S. military retaliation against the group—or nation—be swift, unambiguous, and deadly.
The Cole will be transported back to the United States aboard the Blue Marlin, a commercial heavy-lift ship that recently brought two U.S. minehunters to the Persian Gulf. The Blue Marlin will require about 25 days to carry the Cole back to the United States for rebuilding.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the 17 dead—including two female sailors—are being returned to the United States for military funerals. These losses are further evidence of the challenges that face the U.S. Navy in the post-Cold War era as the United States continues as a world power. [See"Combating Terrorism" by Lieutenant Commander Thomas Racich,] —Norman Polmar
Click here for details on the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer from Combat Fleets of the World.
Terrorism Strikes the U.S. Navy
By Norman Polmar