The operation Eagle Claw (German: Operation eagle claw) also operation Evening Light (German: Operation evening light) mentioned, was a military operation of the United States of America on 24 April 1980 with the goal of freeing 53 hostages held in the course of the taking of hostages in such a way specified of Teheran in the US embassy in Iran. The operation was a miss, the hostages only 444 days after its kidnapping in the course of the admission of negotiations between the USA and Iran in January 1981 was released.

Planning

The operation was planned as complex action in two nights. Eight RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and three Lockheed C-130 Hercules of transport aircrafts with delta Force units should fly in the first night to the meeting place Desert One. After the troops were positioned, three further Hercules airplanes should arrive, in order to fill up the helicopters. To filling up the helicopters these should the ground troops accept and to the point Desert Two with Teheran fly. There they should of agents, who already were, will receive in the country and to a safe house are brought, where they should wait up to the next day. At the second night the six C-130 Hercules machines with US Army Ranger to the Manzariyeh airport should fly 50 km south of Teheran and take this. In the protection of the darkness the hostages should be freed then from the delta Force units and be brought to an nearby football stadium. There they should be fetched from the helicopters and brought to the airport. With transport aircrafts of the type Lockheed C-141 Starlifter should take place afterwards the evacuation of the hostages under the protection of combat aircraft. The eight helicopters should be destroyed before the evacuation of the troops.

Process

Due to technical problems two helicopters failed, before them Desert One reached and the others became by a weak sandstorm slowed down (the pilots had instruction not to fly over 200 foot height). The crews of the two failed helicopters transferred to other helicopters. Before the remaining six helicopters arrived, the first Hercules Transportmaschine with ground troops landed. The ground troops took positions and stopped an Iranian bus with 45 passengers and arrested these. Afterwards a tank car approached, refused stopping, then was fired at and did not explode (although there was an instruction, not to shoot). The remaining transport aircrafts arrived and unloaded the ground troops. The still intact helicopters arrived with two-hour delay after midnight. Afterwards a further helicopter failed because of technical problems and the commander of the ground troops instructed the abort of the mission, since only five helicopters were available and at least six for the rescue were necessary the hostage. The five remaining helicopters had to be still filled up. One collided in the hovering flight because of poor visibility by the darkness and whirled up sand with one of the Hercules airplanes. The following explosion destroyed both aircraft and killed eight soldiers. In the following chaotic evacuation the five remaining RH-53D Sea stable ion helicopters were intact left. In them were also documents, which contained the names of CIA agents in Iran.

Consequences

Name of the killed 5 soldiers of US air Force: Captain Richard Lynn Bakke, Captain Harold Lawton Lewis Jr., Technical Sergeant Joel Columbus Mayo, Captain Lyn Davis McIntosh, Captain Charles Thomas McMillan II.

The failure of the operation had serious consequences on of Jimmy Carter chance on a re-election.

On the military level it led COMMAND (USSOCOM) and the 160th Special to the Erschaffung of US Special operation operation aviation regiment (Nightstalkers).

Related links

• English eye-witness report on the web page of the American air Force
• Detailed English description of mission with pictures

Articles in category "Operation Eagle Claw"

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