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An
RAN Petty Officer surveys the rail system used to launch
sea mines from the deck of a captured Iraqi tug. The tug,
with a number of mines, was captured by boarding parties
from HMAS Kanimbla and US Navy personnel in the Northern
Arabian Gulf. LUG mines are amongst the most numerous in
Iraq’s arsenal and carry a charge of 145kg. The mines
are anchored at a minimum of 3 metres from the surface and
are designed for maximum damage to the ship’s hull.
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By CAPT
Phil Pyke
The
tug and barge had been plying a steady route between the Persian
Gulf and Iraq’s Khawr Abd Allah (KAA) waterway for weeks.
Tugs
in the region are normal, using their powerful engines to push
the large oil tankers into position on the two Iraqi oil platforms
off the coast.
As
Royal Australian Navy boarding parties sped past on their searches
for illegal goods out of Iraq on cargo vessels, the tug crews
watched impassively — all was seemingly normal as it had
been for the past months.
As
operations against Iraq commenced, the tugs took on a more sinister
role — counteracted only by a dose of Aussie attitude.
The
tugs were sighted in the KAA after hostilities had commenced and
were boarded by two other Coalition parties and searched.
Again
all appeared normal, until the RAN decided to reboard one of the
tugs, which had a barge alongside.
As
the crew were kept together, they were asked if there were any
weapons or explosives on board. The boarding party was surprised
when one of the crew replied “yes”.
He
led them into the hull of the barge through a false floor in a
shipping container.
In
the darkened hull, set in rows and on rails, were many large spiked
Manta and smaller mines — enough to cause major damage to
Coalition ships during their operations in the region.
Designed
to deploy the mines through a rail system out of the rear of the
barge, mines could be placed into the water without drawing attention
from Coalition patrols.
Many
breathed a sigh of relief that these mines hadn’t been deployed
but there is caution over ones that could be hidden in the muddy
waters of the KAA.
On
another Iraqi tug, more mines were located on rails, disguised
under cut away 44-gallon drums and plastic sheeting. All tugs
had weapons secreted around them.
These
mines may have well posed a major threat to Australian and Coalition
ships, save for an RAN member who simply asked.
