Editing USS Missouri (BB-63) (section)

=== Gulf War (January–February 1991) ===
{{Main|Gulf War}}
[[File:Missouri missile BGM-109 Tomahawk.JPG|thumb|right|''Missouri'' launches a [[Tomahawk (missile family)|Tomahawk missile]]]]

On 2 August 1990 [[Iraq]], led by President [[Saddam Hussein]], [[Invasion of Kuwait|invaded Kuwait]]. In the middle of the month US President [[George H. W. Bush]] sent the first of several hundred thousand troops, along with a strong force of naval support, to [[Saudi Arabia]] and the Persian Gulf area to support a multinational force in a standoff with Iraq.{{sfn|Stillwell|pp=306–307}}

''Missouri''{{'}}s scheduled four-month Western Pacific port-to-port cruise set to begin in September was canceled just a few days before the ship was to leave; after the cruise was completed, the ship was due to begin the process of inactivation. She had been placed on hold in anticipation of being mobilized as forces continued to mass in the Middle East. As part of the preparations for combat, a detachment of [[AAI RQ-2 Pioneer]] [[unmanned aerial vehicle]]s were transferred to the ship to improve her ability to direct her gunfire. ''Missouri'' departed on 13 November 1990 for the troubled waters of the Persian Gulf. She departed Long Beach, with extensive press coverage, and headed for Hawaii and the [[Philippines]] for more work-ups en route to the Persian Gulf. Along the way she made stops at [[U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay|Subic Bay]] and [[Pattaya]], Thailand, before transiting the [[Strait of Hormuz]] on 3 January 1991. Before [[Operation Desert Storm]] began later that month, ''Missouri'' prepared to launch Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and provide naval gunfire support as required. The ship fired her first Tomahawk missile at Iraqi targets at 01:40&nbsp;am on 17 January 1991, followed by 27 additional missiles over the next five days.{{sfn|Stillwell|pages=306–314}}

On 29 January, the [[frigate]] {{USS|Curts|FFG-38|2}} escorted ''Missouri'' northward. In her first bombardment action of Desert Storm, she shelled an Iraqi command and control bunker near the Saudi border, the first time her 16-inch guns had been fired in combat since March 1953 off Korea.<ref name="Desert Storm">{{cite book |chapter=V: "Thunder And Lightning"- The War With Iraq |title=The United States Navy in "Desert Shield" / "Desert Storm" |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/index.html |chapter-url=http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/ds5.htm |author=United States. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=United States Navy |date=15 May 1991 |access-date=26 November 2006 |oclc=25081170  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205205911/http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/index.html |archive-date=5 December 2006 }}</ref> The battleship bombarded beach defenses in occupied Kuwait on the night of 3 February, firing 112 main-gun rounds over the next three days until relieved by ''Wisconsin''. ''Missouri'' then fired another 60 rounds off [[Khafji]] on 11–12 February before steaming north to [[Faylaka Island]]. After [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweepers]] cleared a lane through Iraqi defenses, the ship fired 133 rounds during four shore bombardment missions as part of the amphibious landing [[feint]] against the Kuwaiti coast the morning of 23 and 24 February. The heavy pounding attracted Iraqi attention; in response to the battleship's artillery strike, the Iraqis fired two HY-2 [[Silkworm missile]]s at the battleship, one of which crashed shortly after launching. The other missile was intercepted by a GWS-30 [[Sea Dart missile]] launched from the British destroyer {{HMS|Gloucester|D96|6}}{{sfn|Stillwell|pages=316, 319–324}} within 90 seconds and crashed into the sea roughly {{convert|700|yd|m|abbr=on}} in front of ''Missouri''.<ref name="P&G">{{cite news |title=Pride & Glory |url=http://starbulletin.com/98/06/15/news/story1.html |first=Gregg K. |last=Kakesako |newspaper=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]] |date=15 June 1998 |access-date=24 December 2006 |archive-date=20 March 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060320005236/http://starbulletin.com/98/06/15/news/story1.html  }}</ref>{{sfn|Stillwell|pp=322-323}} Shortly afterwards, the battleship's Pioneer drones located the missile launchers and neutralized them with about fifty 16-inch shells.{{sfn|Stillwell|p=324}}

[[File:USS Missouri firing during Desert Storm, 6 Feb 1991.jpg|thumb|left|''Missouri'' firing her 16-inch guns during Desert Storm, 6 February 1991]]

During the campaign, ''Missouri'' was involved in a [[friendly fire]] incident with the frigate {{USS|Jarrett|FFG-33|2}}. According to the official report, on 25 February, ''Jarrett''{{'}}s Phalanx CIWS engaged the [[Chaff (radar countermeasure)|chaff]] fired by ''Missouri'' as a countermeasure against enemy missiles, and stray rounds from the firing struck the battleship, one penetrating through a bulkhead and becoming embedded in an interior passageway of the ship. One sailor aboard ''Missouri'' was struck in the neck by flying debris and suffered minor injuries.{{sfn|Stillwell|p=325}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_refs/n52en417/8023_034_0000001.htm |title=Lead Report #14246 |website=Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses, Department of Defense |date=23 January 1998 |access-date=3 December 2007  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218082715/http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_refs/n52en417/8023_034_0000001.htm |archive-date=18 December 2007 }}</ref>

During the operation, ''Missouri'' also assisted coalition forces engaged in clearing Iraqi naval mines in the Persian Gulf. By the time the war ended, the ship's crew had destroyed at least 15 naval mines.<ref name="P&G"/>

With combat operations out of range of the battleship's weapons on 26 February, ''Missouri'' had fired a total of 783 sixteen-inch shells and launched 28 [[Tomahawk (missile family)|Tomahawk cruise missiles]] during the campaign,{{sfn|Polmar|p=129}} and began patrolling the northern Persian Gulf until sailing for home on 21 March. Following stops at [[Fremantle]] and Hobart, Australia, the warship visited Pearl Harbor before arriving home in April. She spent the remainder of the year, hosting visitors in between training missions, the latter including a 7 December "voyage of remembrance" to mark the 50th anniversary of the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor attack]] in 1941. During that ceremony, ''Missouri'' hosted President Bush, the first such presidential visit for the warship since Harry S. Truman's in September 1947.{{sfn|DANFS}}{{sfn|Stillwell|pp=328–340}}