TWZ: US warship fires deck gun at Iranian vessel for first time in nearlt four decades

A U.S. Navy destroyer has used its deck gun to fire on an Iranian cargo ship in an extremely rare modern naval engagement, marking the first such incident in nearly four decades.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Spruance opened fire on the Iranian cargo vessel Touska on April 19 using its 5-inch MK 45 naval gun, according to The War Zone.

The incident is being described as the first confirmed use of a U.S. warship’s deck gun against another vessel in almost 40 years, with the previous comparable case occurring in the late 1980s during heightened tensions in the region.

A U.S. Navy official said: “From what we are tracking, the last known irrefutable instance of a Navy ship firing its deck gun at another ship was on April 18, 1988 during Operation Praying Mantis,” referring to the 1988 U.S.-Iran naval confrontation in the Persian Gulf.

By Sabina Mammadli