Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

The Navy Department Library

Related Content
Topic
Document Type
Wars & Conflicts
File Formats
Location of Archival Materials

War Chronology: September 1990

1 Sept
USS BLUE RIDGE, command ship for Commander, SEVENTH Fleet, arrives in the Persian Gulf.

3 Sept 
Operation SHARP EDGE continues as 63 more people are evacuated. This brings the total number of people evacuated from Liberia to 1,858, including 147 Americans. USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER and USS TICONDEROGA transit Strait of Gibraltar en route East coast homeports.

4 Sept 
Department of Defense announces that there have been about 550 intercepts and about 20 boardings since maritime intercept operations began. USS GOLDSBOROUGH (DDG 20) intercepted and an embarked U.S. Coast Guard Detachment boarded the Iraqi bound and Iraqi registered motor vessel ZANOOBIA. The motor vessel, loaded with tea, had refused orders to either return to its port of origin or proceed to a non prohibited port. Amphibious ships USS SHREVEPORT, USS TRENTON, USS GUNSTON HALL, USS PORTLAND, and USS SPARTANBURG COUNTY, with components of the 4th MEB embarked, transit Suez Canal. The Fast Sealift Cargo Ship ALGOL, with elements of the 24th (Mechanized) Infantry Division embarked, arrives in Saudi Arabia.

5 Sept 
The Navy lifts the firing suspension for USS WISCONSIN's 16 inch guns. USS ACADIA (AD-42) departs San Diego with crew of 1,260, including 360 women. This is the first war-time test of the combined male- female fighting force.

6 Sept 
Department of Defense announces that there have been about 580 intercepts and about 25 boardings since maritime intercept operations began. Amphibious ships USS NASSAU, USS RALEIGH, USS PENSACOLA and USS SAGINAW, with components of the 4th MEB embarked, transit the Suez Canal. The Fast Sealift Cargo Ship DENEBOLA, with elements of the 24th (Mechanized) Infantry Division embarked, arrives in Saudi Arabia. Effective today, Liberia and Kuwait are designated as countries at which Imminent Danger Pay is authorized. Operation SHARP EDGE continues as 76 more people are evacuated. This brings the total number of people evacuated from Liberia to 1,936, including 151 Americans.

7 Sept 
ARG ALFA units USS OKINAWA, USS OGDEN, USS FORT MCHENRY, USS DURHAM and USS CUYUGA, with the 13th MEU embarked arrive in the Gulf of Oman. Hospital Ship USNS COMFORT arrives in Gulf of Oman. 

8 Sept 
Amphibious ships USS IWO JIMA, USS GUAM, USS LA MOURE COUNTY and USS MANITOWOC, with elements of the 4th MEB embarked, transit Suez Canal. Hospital Ship USNS COMFORT arrives in the Persian Gulf 

9 Sept 
Operation SHARP EDGE continues as 94 more people are evacuated, including 10 Americans. This brings the total number of people evacuated from Liberia to 2030, including 161 Americans.

11 Sept 
ARG BRAVO units USS DUBUQUE, USS SCHENECTADY and USS SAN BERNADINO, with the 1/6 Battalion embarked, arrive in the Gulf of Oman. Amphibious ships USS SHREVEPORT, USS TRENTON, USS GUNSTON HALL USS PORTLAND, and USS SPARTANBURG COUNTY, with components of the 4th MEB embarked, arrive in the Gulf of Oman. 

12 Sept 
Operation SHARP EDGE continues as 12 more people are evacuated, including 6 Americans. This brings the total number of people evacuated from Liberia to 2042, including 167 Americans. USS BIDDLE (CG-34) diverts freighter in N. Red Sea.

13 Sept 
ARG BRAVO units USS DUBUQUE, USS SCHENECTADY and USS SAN BERNADINO, with the 1/6 Battalion embarked, arrive in Saudi Arabia.

14 Sept 
USS JOHN F. KENNEDY Carrier Battle Group transits Suez Canal into Red Sea. Hospital ship USNS MERCY arrives in the Gulf of Oman. Amphibious ships USS NASSAU, USS PENSACOLA and USS SAGINAW, with components of the 4th MEB embarked, arrive in the Gulf of Oman.

16 Sept 
USS O'BRIEN (DD-975) intercepted the Bahamian-flagged merchant tanker DAIMON, logging the 1,000th intercept since the multinational operations began (averaging 40 intercepts and 4 boardings per day). Amphibious ships USS IWO JIMA, USS GUAM, USS RALEIGH and USS LA MOURE COUNTY, with the remainder of the 4th MEB embarked, arrive in the Gulf of Oman.

20 Sept 
SECDEF announces that effective 17 Sept 1990, personnel on duty in the Middle East will receive Imminent Danger Pay (IDP). USS MONTGOMERY (FF-1082) diverts freighter in N. Red Sea. 

21 Sept 
Off the coast of Liberia, Operation SHARP EDGE units embark 25 additional evacuees, including one American. This brings the total number of evacuees to 2,116, including 162 Americans.

23 Sept 
USNS MERCY (T-AH-19) and USNS COMFORT (T-AH-20) steam together for the ffrst time in the Arabian Gulf, making Naval medical history. 

27 Sept 
With Operation SHARP EDGE, U.S. Marine helicopters carried more than a ton of emergency medical supplies from the U.S. Embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia. The USS BARNSTABLE COUNTY and the USS WHIDBEY ISLAND, the two amphibious ships remain off-shore. To-date, the number of evacuations is 2100, and that included more than 200 U.S. citizens.

USS ELMER MONTGOMERY (FF-1082) fires the first warning shots by U. S. forces during a merchant interception, and then boarded the Iraqi tanker TADMUR, as it was proceeding south out of the Gulf of Aqaba.

29 Sept 
USS MONTGOMERY diverts a freighter in N. Red Sea.

Return to Desert Storm introduction

Published: Mon Mar 02 11:17:10 EST 2015