How Iran Destroyed Iraq’s Navy in a Single Battle
Eight years later, the Iranian Navy itself saw much of its own combat strength destroyed by the U.S. Navy’s Operation Praying Mantis.
Here s What You Need To Remember: In exchange for sinking the
Paykan, the Iraqi Navy lost five Osa missile boats and four P-6 torpedo boats roughly 80% of its strength. It would play little role for the remainder of the war, leaving it up to the Iraqi Air Force to launch attacks on Iranian shipping.
On September 22, 1980 Saddam Hussein launched Iraq into a full-scale invasion of Iran hoping to capitalize on Iran’s instability due to the Iranian Revolution.