The Gulf Tangling with Tehran

The warning issued by U.S. Navy Captain James Chandler could hardly have been plainer. If the Iranian patrol boat Joshan approached any closer to the U.S. guided-missile cruiser Wainwright, Chandler warned the Iranian craft by radio, "it is my intention to sink you." The Joshan's reply came quickly in the form of a deadly antiship missile. Chandler immediately ordered his crew to fire a hail of aluminum chaff into the air, which deflected the missile by confusing its radar guidance system. Moments later a second ship in the U.S. gulf convoy, the frigate Simpson, unleashed an SM-1 missile. It scored a...