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Iran Ajr with mines visible on deck and a U.S. Navy landing craft alongside, 22 September 1987
History
Iran
Name	Iran Ajr
Builder	Teraoka Shipyard - Minamiawaji, Japan
Christened	Arya Rakhsh
Acquired	by purchase, 1978
Renamed	Iran Ajr (1980)
Fate	Seized and scuttled by U.S. Navy, 26 September 1987
Notes	Originally acquired by Imperial Iranian Navy as part of pre-1979 Revolution defense build-up. Was intended to be the first of a class of four.
General characteristics
Type	Landing ship/Minelayer
Displacement	list error: <br /> list (help) 614 t (604 long tons) empty 2,274 t (2,238 long tons) full load
Length	53.85 m (176 ft 8 in)
Beam	10.81 m (35 ft 6 in)
Draft	3 m (9 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	2 × diesel engines, 2 screws
Speed	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement	30
Armament	list error: mixed text and list (help) 2 × 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine guns Variable number of mines of various types

Iran Ajr, formerly known as the Arya Rakhsh, was a Japanese-built landing craft used by Iran to lay naval mines during the Iran–Iraq War. Built in 1978, the 614-ton, 54-meter ship was powered by two diesel engines and featured a bow ramp for unloading cargo. She was scuttled in 1987.

Iran–Iraq War

On 21 September 1987, U.S. forces involved in Operation Prime Chance tracked Iran Ajr and dispatched army helicopters from the Navy guided missile frigate USS Jarrett (FFG-33) to shadow it. Prime Chance was the covert part of Operation Earnest Will, the mission to protect U.S.-flagged petroleum-carrying ships in the Persian Gulf. When the aviators reported that people aboard the Iran Ajr were laying mines, the U.S. commander in the Persian Gulf ordered the army pilots to "stop the mining." The helicopters fired on the ship, killing some of the mariners and chasing others into the water. A team of Navy SEAL commandos later boarded the ship, confirmed the presence of mines, and detained the surviving Iranians. On 26 September, EOD MU5 Detachment 5 scuttled the ship in international waters.

When the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) struck a mine the following April, navy explosive ordnance specialists matched the serial numbers of nearby unexploded mines to the ones aboard the Iran Ajr. This evidence of Iranian involvement in the Roberts mining led to the biggest surface-warfare naval battle since World War II, the retribution campaign of 18 April 1988 called Operation Praying Mantis.

The captured colors of the Iran Ajr are in the U.S. Navy Museum.

See also

• Iran–Iraq War
• Operation Prime Chance

References

1. ^ 7807196 IRAN AJR Maritime Connector
2. "Iran Ajr/Hejaz Class". globalsecurity.org. 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
3. ^ Peniston, Bradley (2006). "Photos: Capture of the Iran Ajr". No Higher Honor. Retrieved 2006-03-08.

Further reading

• Wise, Harold Lee (2007). Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf 1987-88. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-970-3.

External links

• The attack on the Iran Ajr
• Another narration of the attack
• Photos of the captured Iran Ajr and its detainees aboard U.S. Navy warships

• Amphibious warfare vessels of Japan
• Minelayers of Japan
• Amphibious warfare vessels of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
• Ships built in Japan
• 1978 ships
• Iran–Japan relations
• Minelayers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
• Operations involving special forces
• Military history of the United States
• History of the United States Navy
• Iran–United States relations
• Shipwrecks in the Persian Gulf
• Maritime incidents in 1987
• Vessels captured by the United States Navy
• Iran–Iraq War