“We had a Good Reputation, we being the Canadians writ large. So, we were chosen”- HMCS Athabaskan escorts USS Princeton in the Persian Gulf – 18 Feb. 1991

Thirty-five years ago today, during Operation Desert Storm, the Canadian Navy came to the assistance of our US allies, in a characteristically classy way.¹ Today, we mark the anniversary of HMCS Athabaskan entering into a mined area of the Persian Gulf to assist the damaged cruiser USS Princeton. This episode marked a meaningful connection between the careers of two storied warships.²

At daybreak, 18 February 1991, Captain Edward Hontz, USN, was speaking to the crew of his command, the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG-59) over the ship’s 1MC (PA system).³ The ship was crawling forwards at 3 knots through a suspected minefield, in shallow water near Falaika Island in the northern Persian Gulf. A crew member in a jury-rigged chair at the bows peered intently down into the water. Beside him, a shipmate manned a .50 caliber machine gun.

Princeton was using its AEGIS missile-defense system to protect a force of minesweepers that was tasked with clearing a corridor for Coalition ships through an Iraqi-laid minefield. There was a suspected “Silk worm” anti-ship missile site on the coast. Hontz had just notified the crew that USS Tripoli (LPH-10), an Amphibious Assault Ship, serving as flagship of the minesweeping force, had been damaged by a mine early that morning.

At 7:15 AM local time – just as Hontz reminded crew to remain vigilant during their current mission – a mine exploded underneath the Princeton’s port propeller and rudder. Seconds later another mine detonated off the starboard bow.⁴ Crew members were thrown around like rag dolls all over the ship. The up-and-down whiplash motion was especially violent at both bow and stern. This terrifying movement was joined by gut-wrenching side-to-side seesaw. The ship bent and flexed beyond what it was designed to take. Deck seams opened up, frames were fractured, the deckhouse structure cracked, and aluminum flexed and distorted. The propeller shaft was damaged and the rudder was jammed.⁵ As crew struggled to get to their General Quarters posts, many thought they’d be abandoning ship. The damage was serious. Miraculously, no one had been killed.⁶

At 09:05, Commander John Pickford, RCN, aboard the Canadian Iroquois-class destroyer HMCS Athabaskan (DDG-282), received information about USS Princeton’s damage. Athabaskan was deployed to the Persian Gulf, along with HMCS Terra Nova, an older Restigouche-class destroyer, and the replenishment vessel HMCS Protecteur, as the naval component of Operation FRICTION, Canada’s military contribution to Desert Storm. Athabaskan had been operating to the south, in the central Gulf, escorting coalition vessels.

Pickford was ordered to escort the tug Smit New York to Princeton. Reportedly, Capt. Hontz had specifically requested Athabaskan’s assistance, acknowledging the usefulness of the Canadian ships’ specialized mine-avoidance sonar and the deployed air component of recently-upgraded CH-124 Sea King helicopters.⁷ Athabaskan had just refueled from USS Platte, “the preferred oiler of the Persian Gulf” the day before, and had received a visit from the commander of the Canadian naval forces in the region, CANCOMFORME, Commodore Kenneth Summers.

Athabaskan immediately set a course north and assumed Defence Condition “Zulu,” bringing the ship and crew to full readiness while ensuring all watertight compartments were closed. Princeton’s crew were working to contain the damage, as the few serious injuries received medevac transport. The AEGIS system had not been disabled, and the ships’ 5″ guns and the missile systems were rapidly brought back online. Athabaskan rendezvoused with Princeton at 15:51 at position 28°37′ north, 49°59′ east and commenced the escort south towards Bahrain at 17:16. The Canadians handed the escort over to the elderly wooden-hulled minesweeper USS Adroit, while the tow was take up by the salvage ship USS Beaufort. While Princeton was repaired first in Bahrain and then in Dubai, Athabaskan replenished from HMCS Protecteur and then returned to escort work in the central Gulf.⁸ Her next high-profile tasking involved escorting the hospital ships USNS Comfort and Mercy.⁹ As a parting gift for the exhausted crew of Princeton, a Sea King was used to “cross-deck” a pallet loaded with several cases of Labatt beer, and a bottle of Canadian Club whisky for Capt. Hontz.¹⁰

As a result of deployments to the Persian Gulf in 1990-1991, both Athabaskan and Princeton added new battle honours to the records of their illustrious forebears.¹¹ HMCS Athabaskan served on until 2017, and was scrapped the next year.¹² USS Princeton was set to rights and rejoined the US fleet, and continues to serve as one of the last Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers in commission.¹³ In Canada and the United States, former crewmembers of these outstanding vessels will continue to gather at reunions and online events, and, in their separate reminisces of their time in the Gulf, will think back to a remarkable episode of Operation Desert Storm.

1. The title of this post is quoted from a Canadian War Museum interview of Capt. (Ret.d) John Pickford , RCN, by Dr. M. Petrou, conducted 15 March 2022 (see PDF link for a full transcription): https://www.warmuseum.ca/collections/archive/3545576. Captain K. John “Pick” Pickford, MSM, CD, (1950-2024) came from a distinguished naval family. After retirement he moved to Halifax, NS. I was fortunate to have met him briefly while he was in 2009 while he was in his position as Project Manager of the Royal Canadian Navy centennial committee. ↩︎
2. There is a surprising – or possibly entirely predictable – lack of reference to Athabaskan’s role in this event in many reports and US Navy official documents. I am not trying to overstate the case that this assistance was critical to USS Princeton’s survival after the mine strikes, because it was not. Athabaskan functioned as a good ally coming to the assistance of a fellow coalition warship, amongst many other naval assets in the Gulf. The RCN contemporary ship’s log featured in this post, and many other Canadian publications, including official Department of National Defence histories, document this Canadian involvement. ↩︎
3. Before the deployment to Operation Desert Shield and then Desert Storm, USS Princeton, along with USS Reuben James, had conducted a goodwill visit to Vladivostok, Russia, where many interesting exchanges were had with sailors of some of the major units of the Soviet Pacific fleet. ↩︎
4. Cmdr. Frank Evans “Princeton leaves the War” USNI Proceedings July 1991. ↩︎
5. For a detailed account of the events and the damage to Princeton, see Capt. E. Hontz’s speech to Raytheon soon after his return to the States: https://youtu.be/CHvzzOaeM6M?si=IS1awmC-ZaJhN47W ↩︎
6. Another good account of this incident, with additional photographs of Princeton’s significant damage, can be found at Jerry Dickerson’s website: https://astoryworthtelling.blog/2013/11/12/princeton-mine-strike/. ↩︎
7. The three CH-124 Sea King helicopters referenced in the ship’s log entries above, 12404,12410 and 12412, had all received upgrades for service in the Persian Gulf, including FLIR (Forward-Looking Infra-Red), which helped them search for surface vessels, night-vision goggles, a door-gun, upgraded navigation. They were able to fly mine-detection missions, examine vessels, transfer supplies and personnel. These were only some of a long series of upgrades in the Sea King’s 50-year Canadian service, that saw the basic airframe adapted from a purpose-dedicated anti-submarine platform to a jack of many trades. All three aircraft survived as some of the last aircraft to leave service in 2018. ↩︎
8. For a summary of all Canadian Air, Land, and Sea units that participated in Operation FRICTION, please see https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/past-operations/middle-east/friction.html. ↩︎
9. The role of the Adroit and Beaufort is described in this USNI Proceedings article “Responding to Sea Mine Strikes during Operation Desert Storm: Lessons for “Little Ship” MCM Challenges” https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2025/august/responding-sea-mine-strikes-during-operation-desert-storm-lessons . For a short summary of Athabaskan’s career, see the “For Posterity’s Sake” entry: https://www.forposterityssake.ca/Navy/HMCS_ATHABASKAN_282.htm#:~:text=On%2024%20Aug%201990%2C%20ATHABASKAN,forward%20of%20the%20starboard%20bow. ↩︎
10. This happy episode is referenced both in the wikipedia article for USS Princeton, and in the Canadian War Museum oral history interview of Capt. Pickford referenced above. Maritime artist Dale Byhre has depicted this exact moment in his work “Rendering Assistance”: https://marineartbydale.com/products/rendering-assistance ↩︎
11. “Athabaskan” is one of the most decorated ship names in Canadian military history, with the battle honours of the three commissioned ships that have borne the name including: Arctic, 1943–44; English Channel, 1944; Korea, 1950–53 (three tours); Gulf and Kuwait. There have been six US naval vessels named “Princeton,” with service in the Pacific War (WW2); Korea; Vietnam; Gulf and Kuwait; and the War on Terror. ↩︎
12. Many observers anticipate that one of the new Canadian Surface Combatant “River Class” ships will revive the name. ↩︎
13. USS Princeton is scheduled to retire this year (2026). ↩︎