Flight to Baghdad
Some 35 years ago today. 17 January 1991. The morning that Desert Shield switched to Desert Storm.
USS Paul Foster (DD-964), USS Missouri (BB-63), and USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) on the horizon at 3 in the morning fire off the first missiles in the opening round of the Iraqi war. Described by one of the junior officers, “It looked like a Roman candle going off on the horizon as the missiles arced over on their way to Iraq.”
Painting, Watercolor on Paper; by John Charles Roach; 1991; Framed Dimensions 34H X 39W. NHHC Accession #: 92-007-J
As for the TLAM slingers, the WWII VJ Day host Missouri decommissioned for the final time in March 1992, just 14 months after her third war, and is a museum on Battleship Row in Pearl within sight of the old Arizona.
Bunker Hill decommissioned in September 2023, capping 37 years of naval service.
Foster?
Foster decommissioned on 14 March 2003 and was turned over before the end of the month to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, as the U.S. Navy’s new Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS). Ex-Foster still carries her hull number and recently just underwent a shoestring refurb to keep her in service another five years. She is the only ship of her class, the cursed Sprucans, still in existence.
Perhaps, when the Navy is finished with her, she will become a museum.
As seen against the backdrop of the Los Padres National Forest, the Self Defense Test Ship, formerly USS Paul F. Foster (DD-964), supports self-defense engineering, testing, and evaluation for the U.S. Navy. She is homeported at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, located at Naval Base Ventura County in Southern California. (U.S. Navy photo by Eric Parsons/Released)