Gulf of Oman — The guided‑missile destroyer USS Decatur was nearly torn apart in a ferocious missile ambush, taking two direct hits in just 88 seconds before a U.S. counter‑offensive — codenamed Operation Final Chapter — turned Iran’s forward naval forces into smoking wreckage along the coast.
The Decatur was screening a carrier group when alarms shrieked: sea‑skimming missiles, launched from hidden coastal pads and a fast‑attack craft, were racing in low over the waves.
The first interceptor missed by meters. The second misfired. Moments later, a warhead slammed into the aft superstructure, ripping antennas and radar arrays from their mounts. Eighty‑eight seconds after the first launch, a second missile punched into the hull near the waterline, triggering flooding and knocking out a gas turbine.
Dozens of sailors were injured; damage‑control teams fought fire and seawater in pitch‑black compartments….
