The World - News from Feb. 9, 1988
Officers aboard the U.S. battle cruiser Richard K. Turner watched an Iraqi jet fire an Exocet missile and saw the missile explode, possibly on target, as the Turner sailed up the Persian Gulf, U.S. military sources said. The Iraqi plane, a Soviet-built Badger, was only 8 miles from the American vessel when the the missile was fired, and “for a moment, it looked as if the missile had been fired at the ship,” said one source. “It was a pretty tense moment.” The firing reportedly occurred about 100 miles south of Bahrain. Official Baghdad Radio reported that Iraqi warplanes had hit a “very large maritime target,” its customary term for a tanker, and it was this attack that the U.S. officers apparently saw.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Feb. 10, 1988 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday February 10, 1988 Home Edition Part 1 Page 2 Column 6 Foreign Desk 1 inches; 31 words Type of Material: Correction
An item in the World column on Page 2 of Tuesday’s Times misidentified the U.S. Navy vessel that reportedly witnessed an Exocet missile attack by the Iraqi air force. It was the Richmond K. Turner, a guided-missile cruiser.
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