THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509230251
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
The San Diego-based guided missile cruiser Vincennes, which mistakenly shot down an Iranian airliner in 1988, killing 290, will not be sent back to the Persian Gulf on its upcoming deployment for fear of reprisals.
Instead, the Navy is taking the unusual step of swapping the Vincennes' 380-member crew with that of the Norfolk-based cruiser Ticonderoga and making the Ticonderoga available for Persian Gulf duty, The Virginian-Pilot has learned.
The Vincennes ultimately will transfer from the Pacific to the Atlantic Fleet and take up residency in Pascagoula, Miss., according to Navy sources who asked not to be identified.
Atlantic Fleet officials in Norfolk said Friday that no final decision to move the ships has been made.
``Are we looking at swapping those two ships? Yes,'' said Capt. George Farrar, the senior public affairs spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet.
``Has a final determination been made? No,'' he added, saying that all home port changes must be approved by the chief of naval operations and secretary of the Navy. That has not been done, he said.
The ships, which are nearly identical, will be swapped early next year, according to sailors from the Ticonderoga. They were told of the plan this week upon their return to Norfolk from a six-month Mediterranean deployment.
Although unusual, the Navy apparently believes the decision to swap the ships is justified in part because of past terrorist incidents, some of them possibly related to the Vincennes' 1988 airliner tragedy.
In addition, the U.S. government is sensitive to the desires of its Middle Eastern allies, such as Saudi Arabia, and other friendly nations in the Persian Gulf region.
It would be awkward for those countries to have to work with the Vincennes while trying to maintain stability with other nations in the region, including Iran, said one naval officer.
``This is not bowing to pressure from Iran,'' he said. ``That's not it. We need to continue our good relations and progress and ties with other Gulf nations.''
Others said the possibility of reprisals from Iran also has to be considered.
After the airliner was downed, then-Iranian President Ali Khamenei told a crowd in Tehran that Iran would avenge the Vincennes missile attack ``with all our might . . . wherever and whenever we decide.''
Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who were blamed for organizing the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon that left 241 Americans dead, are also suspected of playing a role in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland, in which 270 people were killed. The Revolutionary Guards also held numerous Americans hostage in Lebanon.
In addition, on March 10, 1989, a van being driven by the wife of the Vincennes' commanding officer was bombed in San Diego. Sharon Rogers, wife of Capt. Will Rogers III, was not injured. She managed to escape from the van just before it exploded. While the FBI initially suspected an Iranian link, none was proved.
The United States subsequently offered $30 million to compensate the families of the 290 people killed in the Vincennes incident.
While some Navy officials in Norfolk expressed surprise Friday at the crew-and-ship swap, they also said it would be fairly painless for the crews and their families.
Plans had been announced in July for the Ticonderoga to move to Pascagoula, where it was to have joined the newly formed Western Hemisphere battle group, responsible for contingencies in the Caribbean.
Rather than disrupt those crew members and their families, as well as those on the West Coast, the Navy decided to swap the ships and crews.
The move is seen as an attempt to avoid a sensitive foreign affairs issue with Iran and to forestall any attempt at revenge against the ship.
The Vincennes mistakenly fired a missile at an Iran Air Airbus on July 3, 1988. All 290 civilians aboard were killed.
The episode occurred at a time when U.S. warships were stationed in the gulf to protect shipping and trade during the Iran-Iraq war. A military investigation concluded that the crew of the Vincennes thought the aircraft they had spotted was hostile and preparing to attack their ship.
At the time, the Vincennes was under attack by Iranian gunboats, according to reports. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
The Incident
The Vincennes, which was in the Persian Gulf to protect shipping
and trade during the Iran-Iraq war, mistakenly shot down an Iranian
passenger jet on July 3, 1988.
290 civilians were killed.
A U.S. military investigation concluded that the crew thought the
aircraft was hostile and preparing to attack.
by CNB