Word: fleets
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...twelve-mile limit, the A-6s attacked. Two hours later, at 1:15 a.m. Libyan time, the Aegis system aboard the Yorktown spotted a French- built Combattante patrol boat cruising the darkened waters of the gulf north of the "line of death." As the ship neared the American fleet, it speeded up. Kelso ordered the firing of two Harpoon missiles. "They saw a flash," said one official, "but we really aren't sure what we hit." The Navy S-3 Viking aircraft sent to investigate found nothing. It has been suggested that the Libyans may have fooled...
Aboard the Sixth Fleet, the sailors and flyers were experiencing an adrenaline rush. Said one pilot: "Finally you're doing what you've been trained to do." The Navy had learned something: how its men and its hardware functioned in battle. Kelso, for one, was pleased with both. Later Reagan telephoned his congratulations: "You have sent a message to the whole world that the United States has the will and, through you, the ability to defend the free world's interests." Yet some felt sympathy mixed with pride. Noted one airman: "We recognize that they are human beings...
...Gaddafi, seemingly pumped up by the battle, was still on a high Friday, when he appeared on the balcony of his well-protected bunker in Tripoli. "We will impose our sovereignty on the Gulf of Sidra with our blood!" he proclaimed, declaring that he had vanquished the Sixth Fleet...
Reagan announced the end of the exercises on Thursday when he stepped from Air Force One in New Orleans for a political speech. In all, the U.S. had sunk at least two vessels and temporarily shut down a missile base. The Libyans had not touched the U.S. fleet. The number of Libyan casualties was not known. Weinberger summed things up: "It was in every way a successful operation...
...read between the lines." When the attacks were launched, the Soviets apparently were not around. "Maybe they were taking a coffee break," said one official wryly. The Soviets had one communication ship anchored at Surt and kept it lit up like a country carnival so that the U.S. fleet would know not to shoot it. But in the event of a more strenuous fight, the U.S. had made an explicit decision not to be deterred by the risks of Soviet casualties. Said a U.S. official: "This wasn't our intent, but if it happened, that...