The Sea War

The small coastal vessels in Iraq's navy were no match for the coalition's huge naval force. Much of the force consisted of carrier battle groups of the U.S. Navy, which arrived in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea in January. Also that month the first of 33 amphibious warfare ships carrying 17,000 Marines entered the gulf.

After the war began on January 16, U.S. Marines and other ship-based coalition forces began retaking Iraqi-occupied islands off the coast of Kuwait. On January 25, Iraq began releasing oil from the Sea Island Terminal in Kuwait into the Persian Gulf, causing extensive environmental damage. It was an act that baffled coalition leaders, because it had no apparent military purpose. Before air strikes on January 29 destroyed the pumps that were pushing the oil into the gulf, some 120 million gallons (450 million liters) were dumped.

By the end of January some 60 Iraqi naval vessels had been either sunk or severely damaged by coalition forces, ending the country's naval capabilities.

When the ground war began in February, a United States amphibious force was assembled off the coast of Kuwait. No invasion was intended; the force's mission, which was successful, was to provide a diversion.