WASHINGTON – An apparent terrorist bomb tore into a U.S. Navy destroyer Thursday, killing at least five Americans and leaving 12 missing, the Defense Department said. Authorities said the explosion was triggered by a small boat that was assisting in mooring the ship in Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula.
President Bill Clinton said the attack on the USS Cole, one of the worlds most advanced warships, appeared to be an act of terrorism. We will find out who was responsible and hold them accountable, he pledged.
He dispatched to Yemen investigative teams from the FBI, the State Department and the Pentagon. Defense Secretary William Cohen said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack, which also injured 36. Cohen said he knew of no other specific threats against U.S. forces in the region, but said he ordered an increased alert level for all U.S. forces around the world, including those in the United States.
Our vigilance cannot eliminate all risk, Cohen said, while praising the Coles crew for responding quickly to the explosion and stabilizing the ship even as water rushed into the main engine room and other compartments.
Calling the attack a despicable and cowardly act, Clinton told reporters at the White House that he had ordered all Navy ships in the region to pull out of port as a safety precaution. The Cole, with a crew of about 350, was in port at Aden, Yemen, for refueling when a small craft came alongside and an explosion followed, said Lt. Cmdr. Daren Pelkie, spokesman for the Navys 5th Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain. Pelkie said the explosion occurred about 12:15 p.m. local time, or 5;15 a.m. EDT.
The explosion ripped a large hole 20 feet by 40 feet in the side of the 505-foot long, 8,600-ton U.S. ship, said Pentagon officials. The destroyer is built of steel and fortified with 70 tons of armor.
Adm. Vern Clark, chief of naval operations, said the attack boat had been helping moor the Navy ship at a fueling station in the middle of the Aden harbor. After returning from delivering a line to one of the buoys, the small boat turned and came directly toward the ship and struck it at midhull, he said.
A boat that was involved in mooring would not be expected to be a threat, Clark told reporters at the Pentagon, adding, I have no reason to think that this was anything but a senseless act of terrorism. He said the destroyer was on Bravo alert, a moderate security alert level that requires posting guards, controlling entry and other security measures, and the Cole was in compliance.
That included armed personnel on deck as it entered the port, he said. The admiral said arrangements for assisting the Coles refueling were made through the U.S. Embassy in Aden, as is standard procedure for any Navy ship refueling at any port in the world. Clark said it was too early to say whether U.S. ships would continue using Aden for refueling. He said the Cole was the fourth ship to use the port this year.
The Pentagon released photos showing a gaping, jagged hole in the midsection of the destroyer. Water was flowing freely into the engine compartment that was blown open. Clark said the steel was a half-inch thick at that point of the heavily fortified ship. Obviously this was a significant explosion, he said.
He said the Cole had notified local authorities 10-12 days earlier that it would port in Yemen. Two men were seen standing in the small boat before the explosion, according to a Pentagon official familiar with military reports from the scene.
The Cole is a ship of the Arleigh Burke destroyer class and carries sophisticated Aegis weaponry. Its home port is Norfolk, Va. It was en route to the Persian Gulf. The destroyer was commissioned in June 1996 and is named after Marine Sgt. Darrell Cole, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945.
The damage, at midhull along the water line, was concentrated in one of the engine rooms and adjacent eating and living quarters, and flooding was controlled quickly, Clark said. The Cole was listing four degrees to its port side after the explosion. The injured were taken to a local hospital and U.S. Navy medical teams were dispatched to the scene from Bahrain.
Clinton had a message for those responsible for the attack: If their intention was to deter us from our mission of promoting peace and security in the Middle East, they will fail utterly.
At the State Department, officials were preparing warnings telling Americans worldwide to be cautious in their travels and urging them to take special care and avoid crowds on the West Bank, in Gaza and in the Old City of Jerusalem. Another advisory warned against travel to Yemen.
Because the Cole had just arrived in Aden and was due to remain there only for four hours to take on fuel, U.S. officials said they believed the attack was a planned act of terrorism. The ship had passed through the Suez Canal on Monday and sailed down the Red Sea before arriving in Aden on the Gulf of Aden, Pelkie said.
The region has been swept in recent days by demonstrations, some of them violent and often with an anti-U.S. tone, sparked by Israeli-Palestinian clashes in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Pro-Palestinian rallies have been held daily in Yemen.
