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[Oceanside50]

U.S. Missiles Hit Turkish Ship, Killing 5
By ERIC SCHMITT,
Published: October 2, 1992
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At least 5 Turkish sailors were killed and 15 injured early today when a United States warship accidentally fired two missiles and hit a Turkish destroyer during a NATO exercise in the Aegean Sea, the Pentagon said tonight.
At least one and maybe both missiles, believed to have been fired from the anti-air missile batteries of the aircraft carrier Saratoga, hit the Turkish destroyer Muavenet, setting the ship ablaze, officials in Washington said.
A Navy spokesman in London, Comdr. Charles Connor, said an investigation had been ordered to determine the cause of the accident, which occurred off the Turkish coast 80 miles west of Izmir.
There were no reports of American casualties, Commander Connor said. An Annual Exercise

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The two vessels were participating in the annual 10-day NATO exercise code-named Display Determination. The decade-old exercise typically involves 50 warships and dozens of aircraft from the United States, France, Italy and Turkey.
The exercise begins off the southern Turkish coast, moves east to a firing range near Crete, then advances into the northern Aegean, culminating in an amphibious landing drill near Istanbul.
Commander Connor said the Turkish destroyer was about three miles away from the Saratoga when it was hit in the bridge.
Two United States helicopters that were already airborne nearby were immediately directed to the Turkish ship to help look for survivors in the water. Also nearby, the Aegis cruiser Thomas Gates sent communications experts and equipment to the damaged vessel.
The helicopter carrier Iwo Jima, which has extensive medical facilities, was taking the injured Turkish sailors aboard, Commander Connor said.
The cruiser Belknap, the flagship of the United States Sixth Fleet and its commander, Vice Adm. Joe Lopez, were steaming to the scene of the accident from Naples, Italy.
A senior American admiral said the accident was one of the worst in the history of NATO exercises in the Mediterranean region.
The incident also recalled two other fatal accidents involving United States warships.
The cruiser Vincennes shot down an Iranian Airbus on July 3, 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 people aboard. The Vincennes was being engaged by Iranian gunboats and mistook the jetliner for a hostile warplane.
On May 17, 1987, the frigate Stark was fired on by Iraqi missiles in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war. Twenty-eight Americans were killed in what President Saddam Hussein of Iraq called an accident.
The NATO exercise is held annually in the eastern Mediterranean. A similar exercise involving about 50 ships from the United States, Italy, Spain, Britain and Greece, called Dragon Hammer, is held six months later in the western Mediterranean.
The ships typically practice NATO naval formations and steaming drills, and test communications equipment. Later in the exercise, off the coast of Crete, the ships occasionally conduct a strictly controlled missile test launch, a senior United States admiral said.

[Paphitis]

That was deliberate!

Oh well. What can Turkey do about it?

[Oceanside50]

The Turkish ship that was hit was the flagship during the turkish invasion in 74... Coincidence???

[Paphitis]

The Turkish ship that was hit was the flagship during the turkish invasion in 74... Coincidence???

That will depend on whether the Commanding Officer was an Erdogan type Islamist and the pilots were Kemalists.

If so, then without a doubt it was deliberate.

[B25]

That was deliberate!

Oh well. What can Turkey do about it?

Demand an apology and ludicrous compensation package for Erdogan and his cronies.

[Cap]

The Turkish ship that was hit was the flagship during the turkish invasion in 74... Coincidence???

No, but karma sure as hell takes its time.
Only this article is dated 1992

[Lordo]

ocienside i think you have been sunny side up for too long. there was no attack like the israilis. this was an accident the title should have reflected the real content. you have just stolen 2 minutes of my life.

[GreekIslandGirl]

The Turkish ship that was hit was the flagship during the turkish invasion in 74... Coincidence???

The cavalry was too late! Shame they didn't destroy it before the Invasion or during!

[Oceanside50]

ocienside i think you have been sunny side up for too long. there was no attack like the israilis. this was an accident the title should have reflected the real content. you have just stolen 2 minutes of my life.

The turk admiral at the time wanted the Americans to give a list of names from the ship that fired the missiles, they wanted to know whether Greek, Greek Cypriots or Armenians were on board. Unlike you, the admiral didn't think it was an accident..but Turkey did get a "sorry ah" from uncle Sam

[Lordo]

friendly fire is friendly fire, they also did the same to the brits in iraq and afghanistan and even to their own soldiers. they are very good at that sort of thing. they shoot first and ask questions later.