USS Princeton (CG-59)

USS Princeton (CG-59): Mines in the Gulf

Commissioned on 11 February 1989, USS Princeton carried the name of a series of notable American warships including USS Princeton CV-37, the light carrier lost at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944 when a Japanese kamikaze detonated her bomb magazine and killed 229 men. The Aegis cruiser CG-59 would add her own chapter to the Princeton name's history in one of the most dramatic incidents of the Gulf War.

On 18 February 1991, five days before the ground offensive that would liberate Kuwait, USS Princeton was operating in the northern Persian Gulf as part of the naval force clearing the way for a potential amphibious assault. At 7:15 AM, she struck an Italian-designed influence mine. The explosion was severe enough to buckle her keel and cause serious structural damage. Three minutes later, a second mine detonated close aboard, adding to the structural damage. Twenty-four sailors were injured. Princeton was taken out of the operation and towed to Bahrain for emergency repairs.

Princeton became the first American warship to suffer serious mine damage since the Korean War , a reminder that passive, inexpensive weapons could neutralize a billion-dollar surface combatant. The mine threat in the northern Gulf complicated the operational planning for the potential amphibious assault and contributed to the decision not to execute a full-scale amphibious landing during Desert Storm.

After repairs, Princeton returned to service and continued operating through subsequent years. The mine damage did not end her career.

Tactically Acquired's USS Princeton (CG-59) collection honors the crew who held the ship together on 18 February 1991 and the lessons their experience wrote into every subsequent naval mine warfare doctrine.