The Battle of Bubiyan (Also known as the Bubiyan Turkey Shoot) was a naval engagement of the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

that occurred in the waters between

Bubiyan Island Bubiyan Island ( ar, جزيرة بوبيان) is the largest island in the Kuwaiti coastal island chain situated in the north-western corner of the Persian Gulf, with an area of . Bubiyan Island is part of the Shatt al-Arab delta. The Mubarak A ...

and the

Shatt al-Arab The Shatt al-Arab ( ar, شط العرب, lit=River of the Arabs; fa, اروندرود, Arvand Rud, lit=Swift River) is a river of some in length that is formed at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the town of al-Qurnah in ...

marshlands, where the bulk of the

Iraqi Navy The Iraqi Naval Forces (Arabic: القوات البحرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed forces of Iraq. Formed in 1937, initially as the ''Iraqi Coastal Defense Force,'' its primary resp ...

, while attempting to flee to Iran, much like the Iraqi Air Force, was engaged and destroyed by Coalition warships and aircraft.

History

The battle was completely one-sided.

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

helicopters of the

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

using

Sea Skua The Sea Skua is a British lightweight short-range air-to-surface missile (ASM) designed for use from helicopters against ships. It was primarily used by the Royal Navy on the Westland Lynx. Although the missile is intended for helicopter use, Kuw ...

missiles were responsible for destroying 14 vessels (3 minesweepers, 1 minelayer, 3 TNC 45

Fast Attack Craft A fast attack craft (FAC) is a small, fast, agile, offensive, often affordable warship armed with anti-ship missiles, gun or torpedoes. FACs are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the seakeeping and all-round defensive ...

, 2

Zhuk-class patrol boat The Zhuk-class patrol boat, also known as Project 1400M "Grif", is a small border patrol vessel of less than 40 ton displacement built in the Soviet Union and later in Ukraine. Over 300 boats were built between 1969 and 1991. Out of those, 110 we ...

s, 2

Polnocny-class landing ship The Polnocny (or Polnochny)-class ships are amphibious warfare vessels. They were designed in Poland, in cooperation with the Soviet Navy and were built in Poland between 1967 and 2002. They now serve in several different navies, and some ha ...

s, 2 salvage vessels, 1 Type 43 minelayer, and 1 other vessel) during the battle."The Grey Lynx at War"
The battle saw 21 separate engagements over a course of 13 hours. A total of 21 of the 22 ships that attempted to escape were destroyed. A Canadian

CF-18 The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

Hornet fighter recorded an official victory in the beginning of the battle against the Iraqi Navy. Also related to the Bubiyan action was the

Battle of Khafji The Battle of Khafji was the first major ground engagement of the Persian Gulf War. It took place in and around the Saudi Arabian city of Khafji, from 29 January to 1 February 1991 and marked the culmination of the Coalition's air campaign ov ...

, where

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

sent an amphibious assault to

Khafji Ras al-Khafji ( ar, رأس الخفجي ') or Khafji (الخفجي) is a town on the border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It lies in what was before 1970 the Saudi Arabian–Kuwaiti neutral zone. The Japanese-owned Arabian Oil Company Ltd s ...

to reinforce the city against the Coalition attack. This too was spotted by the Coalition naval forces and subsequently destroyed. The last action of the Iraqi Navy was to fire a

Silkworm missile The SY (), and HY () series were early anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) developed by the People's Republic of China from the Soviet P-15 Termit missile. They entered service in the late 1960s and remained the main ASCMs deployed by the People's L ...

from an inland launcher at the battleship . It was intercepted mid-flight by a

Sea Dart missile Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers (United Kingdom and Argentina), Type 82 destroyer and s of the Royal Navy. Originally ...

from the British destroyer and successfully destroyed. This marked the first time a ship-launched anti-air missile intercepted an incoming enemy missile in combat at sea. After the Bubiyan action, the Iraqi Navy ceased to exist as a fighting force at all, leaving Iraq with very few ships, all in poor condition.

References

Bubiyan Bubiyan Island ( ar, جزيرة بوبيان) is the largest island in the Kuwaiti coastal island chain situated in the north-western corner of the Persian Gulf, with an area of . Bubiyan Island is part of the Shatt al-Arab delta. The Mubarak A ...

Maritime incidents in 1991 History of the Persian Gulf

January 1991 events in Asia February 1991 events in Asia {{US-Navy-stub