It was a quiet Sunday evening in May 1987. The USS Stark (FFG-31), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate, was patrolling the Persian Gulf. It was a standard mission. The "Tanker War" between Iran and Iraq was screaming in the background, but the U.S. wasn't officially a combatant. Then, everything changed in a matter of seconds. Two Exocet missiles, fired by an Iraqi F-1 Mirage, slammed into the ship’s port side.
Thirty-seven American sailors died.
Most people today barely remember the attack on USS Stark. If they do, they usually think it was an Iranian hit. It wasn't. Our "ally" at the time—Saddam Hussein’s Iraq—was the one who pulled the trigger. Honestly, the whole thing was a mess of diplomatic awkwardness, technical failure, and a terrifying glimpse into how vulnerable modern warships can be to cheap, fire-and-forget technology.
Why the Attack on USS Stark Caught Everyone Off Guard
The context matters. The U.S. was basically running interference for Kuwaiti oil tankers because Iran was trying to choke off Iraq’s economy. We were technically neutral, but everyone knew we were leaning toward Iraq. This made the attack on USS Stark feel like a glitch in the Matrix. Why would an Iraqi pilot target a U.S. Navy vessel?
The Mirage F-1 took off from Shaibah Air Base. It flew south, hugging the coast. The Stark’s radar picked it up 200 miles out. Captain Glenn R. Brindel was informed. The ship’s crew watched the "blip" move closer. They didn't go to General Quarters. Why? Because Iraqi planes flew these routes every single day. They were looking for Iranian tankers, not American frigates. It was routine until it wasn't.
At 22:09, the pilot squeezed the trigger.
The first missile didn't even explode. It didn't have to. It ripped through the hull near the bridge and spilled burning rocket fuel everywhere. The second missile hit thirty seconds later in the same general area and definitely went off. The fireball was massive. Sailors were literally incinerated in their sleep.
📖 Related: The Racial Breakdown of America Explained (Simply)
The Technical Failures: Why Didn't We Shoot Back?
This is the part that still haunts naval historians. The Stark was a sophisticated warship. It had the Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapon System)—that R2-D2 looking Gatling gun designed specifically to shred incoming missiles. It had the Mark 75 76mm OTO Melara gun. It had chaff launchers.
None of it worked in time.
The Phalanx was in "standby" mode. The Mark 75 gun wasn't even manned. The ship’s SLQ-32 electronic warfare system didn't detect the Mirage’s radar locking on because the Iraqi pilot was likely using a "manual" or "dead reckoning" approach, or the system simply failed to recognize the specific signature of the Iraqi radar in that mode. Basically, the Stark was blindfolded in a knife fight.
By the time the lookout on the bridge yelled "Missile inbound!" it was already over. You've got to understand how fast an Exocet moves. It’s sea-skimming, flying just above the waves at Mach 0.9. From the moment it clears the horizon, a crew has maybe 20 to 60 seconds to react. On the Stark, the reaction time was zero.
The Firefight After the Fire
If you want to talk about heroism, look at the damage control teams. The attack on USS Stark should have sunk the ship. The fires reached temperatures over 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The aluminum superstructure began to melt. That’s a nightmare for a sailor—fire above you, water below you, and the very walls of your "home" turning into liquid.
They fought that fire for 24 hours.
They used "P-500" pumps and buckets. They crawled through smoke so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. While the political fallout was starting in Washington, these guys were just trying to keep their friends' bodies from being consumed by the flames. The ship eventually limped into Bahrain, leaning heavily to port, a charred wreck of its former self.
The Diplomatic "Whoops"
The aftermath was weird. Saddam Hussein apologized. He called it a mistake. He said the pilot thought the Stark was an Iranian tanker. The U.S. government—oddly enough—accepted the apology pretty quickly. We were so focused on containing Iran that we basically gave Iraq a "my bad" pass for killing 37 of our sailors.
Captain Brindel and the Tactical Action Officer, Lieutenant Basil E. Moncrief, were recommended for court-martial. They weren't eventually tried, but they were forced into early retirement. The Navy’s conclusion was that they were "complacent."
But was it just complacency? Or was it a failure of the "Rules of Engagement" (ROE)? The ROE at the time were incredibly murky. If the Stark had shot down that Iraqi plane before it fired, Brindel might have been fired for starting an international incident with a friendly nation. He was stuck in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" loop.
Key Takeaways and Lessons Learned
The attack on USS Stark changed how the Navy operates in "littoral" or confined waters. We learned the hard way that technology is not a suit of armor if the humans behind it aren't ready to use it.
- The Aluminum Problem: The Navy moved away from using as much aluminum in ship superstructures because it simply can't handle the heat of modern missile strikes. Steel is heavier, but it doesn't melt while you're trying to put out a fire.
- Phalanx Readiness: After 1987, the "auto" mode on defense systems became a lot more common in high-threat areas. You don't wait for a human to confirm a missile that's traveling at 700 mph.
- The Human Element: No matter how many millions of dollars of radar you have, a bored lookout or a distracted officer can negate it all.
Actionable Insights for History and Defense Enthusiasts
If you’re researching this or looking for the broader implications of naval surface warfare, keep these points in mind:
- Check the Deck Logs: If you ever get the chance to read the declassified reports, look for the "Warning" messages sent to the Iraqi aircraft. The Stark did warn the pilot, but it was on a frequency the pilot might not have been monitoring.
- Study the Exocet: The French-made Exocet missile became a legend after the Falklands and the Stark incident. It proved that a small, relatively cheap missile can "mission kill" a multi-million dollar destroyer or frigate.
- Analyze the ROE: Look at how Rules of Engagement have changed since 1987. Today’s commanders have much more leeway to engage "perceived threats," a direct result of the tragedy on the Stark.
- Memorialize the 37: Visit the memorials if you’re near Mayport, Florida. The names on that wall represent the cost of "routine" patrols in a world that is anything but routine.
The attack on USS Stark remains a stark (pun intended) reminder that in the world of modern warfare, the line between "patrol" and "combat" is paper-thin. We often think of the 80s as a time of Cold War posturing, but for the crew of the FFG-31, it was a very hot, very real war.
To truly understand the incident, you have to look past the missiles and look at the damage control manuals. Those manuals were rewritten in the blood of the Stark’s crew. Every sailor who goes to sea today in the U.S. Navy is safer because of the failures and the subsequent heroism that took place on May 17, 1987. The ship was eventually repaired and served until 1999, but it never really lost the ghost of that night in the Gulf.