WASHINGTON -- A senior officer aboard the USS Stark twice dismissed suggestions to warn the Iraqi pilot who shot at the ship, killing 37 American sailors, Knight-Ridder Newspapers reported Sunday.
Rep. Larry Hopkins, R-Ky., who is investigating the incident, told Knight-Ridder the Stark monitored the approach of the Iraqi warplane for 10 minutes, but did not try to warn the jet away until more than a minute after two missiles were fired at the frigate.
Pentagon records show that two nearby U.S. ships also notified the Stark that the Iraqi Mirage F-1 was closing in, Knight-Ridder said. Six minutes later, the Stark issued its two radio warnings to the jet.
The events leading up to the May 17 attack on the Stark, compiled by Knight-Ridder from U.S. and Iraqi records and from remarks by Hopkins, seemed to contrast with accounts given by U.S. officials shortly after the incident.
Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger has characterized the incident as a 'sneak attack.'
The Knight-Ridder story indicated the Stark first detected the Iraqi plane, 80 miles away and flying south, on radar shortly before 10 p.m. the night of the attack.
A few minutes later, the destroyer USS Coontz relayed a message to the Stark and other ships in the Navy's Middle East force that the jet fighter was bearing down on the Stark. The flagship USS LaSalle asked the frigate whether it was monitoring the plane.
The Stark replied, 'Affirmative.'
Minutes later, a petty officer in the Stark's combat information center monitoring radar scopes expressed concern over the plane's intentions as it drew within 43 miles of the frigate, Hopkins, a member of the House Arms Service Committee, told Knight-Ridder.
The senior officers present in the ship's combat information center were Stark Capt. Glenn Brindel and the ship's tactical action officer, a lieutenant both Hopkins and the Navy declined to name.
'At about 43 miles out, the petty officer asked: 'Should we warn this plane?'' Hopkins said. 'He was told 'no' by the tactical action officer.'
'At 40 miles out, the petty officer asked again: 'Should we warn?'' Hopkins said. 'He was told at that time, 'No, he'll be turning north soon.''
The ship's crew did nothing to deter a possible attack as the plane continued its course toward the Stark for at least 20 more miles, U.S. and Iraqi data showed.
The Iraqi jet fired its first surface-skimming Exocet missile from about 25 miles away, then launched a second missile about 70 seconds later from 15 miles off the Stark's port bow. The pilot then broke into a hard right turn and headed home.
At 10:09 p.m., more than a minute after the second missile was fired, the Stark sent its belated warning over the international radio warning frequency identifying the frigate as a U.S. Navy warship. Thirty-seven seconds later, the Stark issued a second warning to the now-fleeing plane.
Sixty-five seconds after the first radio warning, the first missile plowed into the portside hull of the ship just below the main deck, followed by the second missile about 25 seconds later.
