THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409160542
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
A Navy coastal patrol boat ran aground off Haiti on Thursday morning in an embarrassing prelude to the anticipated invasion.
The Cyclone-class ship Monsoon was hung up all day Thursday on what military officials said was an uncharted reef or sandbar along the Haitian coast in Port-au-Prince Bay. The ship was towed free about 6:45 p.m. by a Coast Guard cutter, military officials said.
The ships are designed to carry Navy SEAL teams and Special Boat Units, often among the first forces sent in during a sea invasion.
Earlier this month, the San Diego-based Monsoon and Hurricane relieved two Little Creek-based coastal patrol craft, the Cyclone and Tempest.
The vessels are 170 feet long and among the fastest in the Navy, capable of exceeding 35 knots.
With a draft of just under eight feet, the ships can cruise to within a few hundred yards of a beach, although in Haiti they usually stay about a mile offshore.
``Apparently they found a place that's too shallow for it to go,'' one military official said.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT BOAT U.S. NAVY HAITI by CNB