9 U.S. Ships Scour Gulf for Missing Copter, Crew of 2 : Situation ‘Quieting’ --Reagan

President Reagan said today that nine ships are taking part in a search for a missing Marine helicopter in the Persian Gulf, and declared that the situation in the volatile area appears to be “quieting down” after Monday’s clash between U.S. and Iranian naval forces.

In the gulf, a marine executive said the waterway appeared “ghostly” from lack of shipping. He and others said commercial vessels were avoiding the gulf, where the U.S. Navy destroyed two Iranian oil platforms and sank or damaged six Iranian vessels Monday.

Reagan, when asked for any news on the helicopter that did not return to the cruiser Wainwright Monday after a reconnaissance mission, said, “There are nine ships right now trying to find the answer to that.”

“We haven’t found it yet. We’re continuing to look,” Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci told reporters.

The Pentagon identified the helicopter crew as Capt. Stephen C. Leslie, of New Bern, N.C., and Capt. Kenneth W. Hill, of Thomasville, N.C. They were assigned to the Marine Corps Air Station in New River, N.C.

Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency, monitored in Cyprus, said Monday night that Iranian warships “in a heroic clash with the aggressor American helicopters in the Persian Gulf shot down one of them Monday afternoon.”

But the Pentagon reiterated today that there were no confirmed casualties Monday.

Escort to Continue

Reagan, who has held out the threat of further action in the gulf if U.S. interests are threatened, was asked whether he expects a further show of U.S. military force.

“It seems to be quieting down,” Reagan said at a photo session at the White House with Republican members of Congress. “We hope it continues that way.”

On Monday, after the most serious clash yet between Iran and American forces placed in the gulf to keep commercial shipping lanes open, Reagan said: “(Iranians) must know we will protect our ships. And if they threaten us, they’ll pay the price.”

At the Pentagon, spokesman Dan Howard today repeatedly and flatly denied press reports that the United States is temporarily suspending its escort operations for reflagged Kuwaiti tankers until the gulf calmed down again.

“When we get ready to do a convoy, we’ll do it,” he declared. Reports of a suspension are “simply not true.”

Ship Spots Mines

Gulf-based maritime salvage experts reported that the Iranians attacked two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz today. Monday they fired on three neutral ships.

The salvage experts said one of the two tankers put out a distress signal at mid-morning and gave its name as Meltem. They could not secure additional details.

The other tanker, the 12,125-ton Fal-5 from the United Arab Emirates, was set ablaze, but Omani coast guard patrol boats rescued the crew.

Mines were spotted by a passing vessel in a central gulf area where no explosives had earlier been noted, and shipping executives predicted that commercial vessels will be discouraged from sailing in the region.

Pentagon officials today said Iran fired five land-based missiles at U.S. warships during Monday’s fighting.

Navy officers identified the missiles as Chinese-made Silkworms, but the Pentagon said it had yet to confirm what kind of missiles whistled past the warships.

In avoiding the missiles, the three-ship convoy led by the frigate Jack Williams took evasive action and fired chaff into the air, which confused the rockets’ radar guidance system and caused the missiles to miss the convoy in the southern gulf.