When Iraqi Troops Dared to Challenge America’s Most Colossal Battleships (and Paid the Price)

By late February 1991, two of the most legendary battleships in history, USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin, lay just off the Kuwaiti coast. Silent but ready. After years in mothballs, these ships had re-emerged at the president's behest, this time as fully modernized war machines, with Tomahawk cruise missiles, advanced radar systems, and even drones now lining their decks. The anxious Iraqi forces watched these World War 2 Veterans bring the beginning of an amphibious invasion right to their shores. With a single command, Missouri unleashed her firepower, reminding everyone that their most powerful asset needed no update. Her massive 16-inch guns, the same that had hammered enemy fortifications at Iwo Jima, roared to life. 2,700-pound shells tore through the air, crashing into Iraqi defenses along the coast. Moments later, Wisconsin joined the assault, her guns adding to the destruction. For the Iraqis watching from the shore, the sheer force of the assault of the sister ships was overwhelming. What they didn't know was that these 887-foot-long behemoths were just one piece of a much larger, more complex strategy. As the thunderous guns of Missouri and Wisconsin held their attention, elsewhere, unseen and unexpected, the true nature of the coalition's plan was about to unfold…