I remember how President Reagan responded to Liyba’s “Line of Death.” He made a very loud statement about our right to sail in any international water we want. He didn’t need to launch complaints through the State Department.
SARATOGA’s 18th deployment was anything but ordinary. After departing Mayport in August 1985, SARATOGA steamed toward the Mediterranean for what was scheduled to be a routine deployment. But on 10 October, SARATOGA was called into action.
Arab terrorists had found and struck an Italian luxury liner, ACHILLE LAURO. The ship had just departed Alexandria, Egypt, on a pleasure cruise of the Mediterranean. A few hours later, terrorists from the Palestinian Liberation Front hijacked the ship. After tense negotiations and the killing of an American tourist, the hijackers traveled in a battered tugboat to the city of Port Said, Egypt, after ACHILLE LAURO anchored just off the coast. Egyptian authorities made hasty arrangements for the terrorists to depart the country. They boarded an Egypt Air 737 jet at the Al Maza Air Base, northeast of Cairo.
On orders from President Ronald Reagan, seven F-14 Tomcats from the VF-74 “Bedevilers” and VF-103 “Sluggers” were launched from SARATOGA. Supporting the Tomcats continuously were VA-85 KA-6D air tankers and VAW-125 E-2C Hawkeye aircraft. Off the coast of Crete, the F-14s, without the use of running lights, eased up beside and behind the airliner. On command, the Tomcats turned on their lights and dipped their wings - an international signal for a forced landing. The E-2C Hawkeye radioed the airliner to follow the F-14s. Realizing they were in a “no-win” situation, the hijackers allowed the pilot to follow the Tomcats to Naval Air Station, Sigonella, Italy.
One hour and 15 minutes later, the jet landed and the hijackers were taken into custody. Seven hours after the fighter jets were scrambled, all SARATOGA aircraft returned home without a shot fired.
On 23 March 1986, while operating off coast of Libya, aircraft from the SARATOGA, USS CORAL SEA (CV 43) and USS AMERICA (CV 66) crossed what Libyan strongman Mohammar Khadafi had called the “Line of Death.” The very next day at noon, three U.S. Navy warships crossed the same 32° 30’ navigational line.
Two hours later, Libyan forces fired SA-5 surface-to-air missiles from the coastal town of Surt. The missiles missed their F-14 Tomcat targets and fell harmlessly into the water. Later that afternoon, U.S. aircraft turned back two Libyan MiG-25 fighter planes over the disputed Gulf of Sidra. Soon after, aircraft from the three carriers fought back in defense.
A heavily-armed A-6E Intruder fired Rockeye cluster bombs and a Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile at a Libyan missile patrol boat operating on the “Line of Death.” Later that night, two A-7E Corsair II jets attacked a key radar installation at Surt. At the conclusion, three Libyan patrol boats and a radar site were destroyed by Navy aircraft.
God Bless America! God Bless our Troops!