THE USS COLE

USS COLE, NAVY SHIP in Yemen

USS COLE, NAVY SHIP in Yemen

Introduction

The USS Cole is a guided missile destroyer that is part of the battle group of the carrier USS George Washington. The Destroyer is 505 feet long with a top speed of more than 33 mph. It has a crew of 350. It is armed with the Aegis weapons system, the latest in anti-aircraft and anti-submarine technology. The USS Cole was named in honor of Marine Sgt. Darrell S. Cole, a machine gunner killed in action during the Second World War.

Discussion

On August 8, 2000 the USS Cole departed the Norfolk Naval Station for a five-month deployment to the Persian Gulf to participate in the US-led operation enforcing UN sanctions against Iraq. It was scheduled to return to the United States on December 21, 2000.

It sailed through the Suez Canal on October 9, 2000 and docked in Aden, Yemen to refuel. On October 12, 2000, a small boat filled with explosives blew up alongside the USS Cole, blowing a 40-foot hole in its side. Seventeen of the USS Cole's crew were killed and 39 were injured.

Various Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organizations claimed responsibility for the bombing but this could not be verified. A prime suspect for the bombing of the USS Cole is considered to be Saudi Arabian terrorist Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing more than 224 people, and the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, resulting in the deaths of more than 3,000 people.

The investigation provides a comprehensive account of the actions taken on board USS Cole before, during and after the attack. JAGMAN investigations provide the Navy an effective means to gather the facts ...