--- title: "Battleships helped pull off the biggest military deception of Desert Storm" description: "The battleships USS Wisconsin and USS Missouri played a crucial role in misleading the Iraqi army during the Desert Storm ground war." date: "2021-07-02" modified: "2021-07-03" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/desert-storm-ground-war/" categories: - "Gulf War" - "History" - "War History" tags: - "Desert Storm" - "Gulf War" - "Military History" - "Navy" --- # Battleships helped pull off the biggest military deception of Desert Storm ![]() Desert Storm's ground war lasted only 100 hours, not only because the combined land forces of the Coalition gathered against Saddam Hussein's Iraq were overwhelming and talented (it was) but it was also the contribution of two of the U.S. Navy's biggest floating guns that drew a significant portion of Saddam's army off the battlefield. Shelling from the 16-inch guns of the USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin made it all possible, playing a crucial role in a conflict that would end up being their last hurrah. Everyone in the Middle East knew a ground assault on Iraqi-occupied Kuwait was coming and had been for months. The only question for the Iraqis was where it would come from. Iraqi forces had been on the receiving end of a Noah's Ark-like deluge of bombs and missiles for the past 40 days and 40 nights and knew that it was a prelude to the long-anticipated invasion. Iraqi planners believed the Coalition would soon start the invasion, and i that it would come in the form of an amphibious landing near Kuwait's Faylaka Island. In reality, the invasion was actually going into both Iraq and Kuwait, and it would be coming from Saudi Arabia. But the U.S. wanted to give its forces the best chance of success, and that meant sapping some of Iraq's manpower and firepower. If the Coalition could make the Iraqis believe an amphibious invasion was coming, however, it would pull essential Iraqi fighting units away from the actual invasion and toward the Persian Gulf. It was the ultimate military rope-a-dope. ![battleships desert storm]() *Battleships helped make all this possible. (U.S. Army)* The best way to make Saddam Hussein believe the Marines were landing near Faylaka Island was to "soften up" the supposed landing zone with a naval barrage that would make D-Day look like the 4th of July. The USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin were called up to continuously bombard the alleged landing beaches—and they sure made a spectacle of it. The Iraqi troops defending the landing area were supposedly shocked and demoralized, surrendering to the battleships' reconnaissance drones as they buzzed overhead, looking for more targets. It was the first time anyone surrendered to a drone. No one in the Iraqi Army wanted to be on the receiving end of another Iowa*-*class barrage. But the Marine landing never came. Instead, the Iraqis took a massive left hook at the Battle of 73 Easting that knocked them out of the war. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dhtKjf0KMk *Here comes the boom.* ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()