Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986)

Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986)
Part of the Cold War
A VMFA-314 F/A-18A lands on USS Coral Sea
Date 24 March 1986 Location Gulf of Sidra, Mediterranean Sea Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Libya
Commanders and leaders
Ronald Reagan	Muammar Gaddafi
Strength
30 warships 225 aircraft	2 missile corvettes 3 patrol boats
Casualties and losses
none	72 killed 6 Soviet technicians wounded[1] 1 corvette sunk 1 patrol boat sunk 1 corvette crippled 1 patrol boat damaged several SAM sites destroyed or damaged

In the Action in the Gulf of Sidra, codenamed Operation Prairie Fire,^[2] the United States Navy deployed aircraft carrier groups in the disputed Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea. Libya had claimed that the entire Gulf was their territory, at 32° 30' N, with an exclusive 62 nautical miles (115 km; 71 mi) fishing zone.^[3] Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi asserted this in 1973, and dubbed it "The Line of Death". The United States claimed its rights to conduct naval operations in international waters, a standard of 12-nautical-mile (22 km; 14 mi) territorial limit from a country's shore. This engagement followed the 1981 Gulf of Sidra incident and preceded another in 1989.