Originally posted by Rino
From the dusty corners of my mind, I believe the CIWS on a CV strafed a
resupply ship alongside accidentally.
Good find.
A friendly-fire incident involving the USS Jarrett (FFG-33) and the USS Missouri (BB-63) took place February 25, 1991. Three US Navy warships and one UK Royal Navy warship (HMS Gloucester)(D-96) were shelling Iraqi-occupied Faylakah Island. A Seadart missile fired from the HMS Gloucester destroyed an incoming Silkworm anti-ship missile fired from one of Iraq's shore-based missile launchers. During the engagement, the USS Missouri fired off one or more chaff bundles (a standard countermeasure against radar-guided missiles). The USS Jarrett was two to three miles off the Missouri's port side. For some reason, the Jarrett's Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) operating in the automatic engagement mode, malfunctioned and fired a quick burst at the chaff. The USS Missouri's former executive officer estimated four of the 20mm rounds, which have not been confirmed as DU, struck the ship in the bulkhead above the famed "surrender deck" (where the Japanese formally surrendered in 1945). Because their energy was mostly spent, all but one of the rounds bounced off the bulkhead, leaving dents. One round penetrated the thin upper metal of the bulkhead and passed through a guest berth on the ship. No casualties resulted. The executive officer recalled that the Navy never recovered the round, which probably fell into the sea.
