European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 6, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                February 6/1991 the stars and stripes Allied naval forces a major water desalination Plant x Allied planes Oil Slicks Allied bombing War in the Gulf Page 3 l in Ciurlik a Lebanon p Syria Turkey \ Baghdad was rocked monday night by another Allied bombardment that sent fire Ioto the sky and sent residents fleeing to bomb shelters. Saddam Hussein s Hometown of Cikrit also was under intense attack. The battleship Missouri s 16-Inch guns tuesday hit iraqi artillery positions on Kuwait a persian Gulf coast. Steaming through the Gulf to join the Missouri was the Wisconsin. British military officials tuesday said one third of the key Bridges in Iraq have been destroyed by Allied air raids including a Bridge Over the euphrates River. . Warplanes Are attacking fuel trucks on highways in Western Iraq on the Assumption that even civilian vehicles May be carrying military cargoes a military official said tuesday. Baghdad radio tuesday said Iraq is suspending All fuel sales to the Public until further notice citing Quot technical damage to Oil  syrian artillery forced iraqi troops in Kuwait to withdraw after the iraqi soldiers fired rocket propelled grenades at syrian  s guns signal fiercer Navy role Dhahran saudi Arabia apr two weeks into the War with Iraq even the Navy brass was beginning to concede Center stage to the air  this is really and truly an air Force Effort. And we re participating and we re trying to add to it As Best we can a said rear adm. Douglas j. Katz. But on sunday the venerable battleship Missouri snuck up close to the kuwaiti coastline and lobbed >evfcn/2,000-Pound shells Fronzi its 16-Inch guns at an iraqi command and control Center near the saudi Border. A  a \   a the 47-year-old battleships thunderous performance served notice that the Navy too is a major player in operation desert storm. A we have done our Job of Clearing the coastline and now we Are going to move in close a said cmdr. Mark Lawrence intelligence officer aboard  Carrier  that the Navy Hasni to been Active already. R with a permanent presence in the persian Gulf Region the Navy was called on Early to enforce the embargo against Trade with Iraq ordered by the United nations after Saddam Hussein a aug. 2 Conquest of Kuwait. \. In War the Navy is charged with patrolling the her a Sian Gulf and the red sea and lending the warplanes aboard its six carriers in the Region to the relentless air assault on Iraq and its occupation forces in Kuwait. Nearly three weeks into the War the Navy which has More than 100 ships in the Region has    flown 22 percent of operation desert storms More than 44,000 bombing and air missions. That figure does not include thousands of additional sorties to provide routine air combat Protection for Carrier Battle groups. A  . A  a. Quot a launched scores of Tomahawk cruise missiles from both ships and submarines at targets in Iraq. A participated in the capture of the first chunk of Kuwait the tiny Island of Baruh and in the capture of 23 iraqi prisoners during assaults on 11 kuwaiti offshore Oil platforms being used by iraqi troops. A Sank 41 iraqi ships including 23 combatant vessels. A damaged 42 iraqi ships 34 of them combatants. A from what we can Tell their Navy has Given up a said Lawrence. A we have accomplished the bottling up of the  a. Now the Navy is targeting iraqi missile and artillery batteries along the kuwaiti coast perhaps to Clea the Way for a Marine amphibious Landing. With the 58,000-ton Missouri and sister ship Wisconsin the Navy has the potential to deliver devastating blows to iraqis heavily fortified positions in Kuwait. Navy jets already Are making coastal artillery and silkworm missile Sites priority targets. The Navy a combat air patrols also Are taking on added significance these Days because of the roughly 100 iraqi warplanes that have taken Refuge in Iran. Although the Tehran government says they will be impounded for the rest of the War there is always the possibility that Iran co hid provide the warplanes a and j iraqis ship killing expect missiles  potential sneak attack Fouteen ships in the Gulf. A the exocet is what we re really worried about a said Navy it. Chris Eagle 27, of Wheaton my. For Good reason. It was an iraqi exocet that hit the guided missile frigate Stark in 1987, killing 3tsailors in what Iraq at the time called a Case of mistaken identity. A the Stark probably nags in the Back of the mind of every commanding officer of any ship a said capt. Glenn Montgomery of the frigate Curts like the Stark a frigate. A a the Navy a isolation from some aspects of the combat a makes it easy to Overlook. Even sailors feel set apart. A you look outside and you just see water you done to see bombs going off or dead bodies a said Janice Evans of new Brighton pa., an operations specialist aboard the Supply ship Niagara. But the Navy was bound to be heard from eventually. It. Bill Harrop 26, of fort Myers fla., said a the air Force can to do  editor s note portions of this Story were taken from Pool reports submitted to military authorities Tor Security review