28th January 2003 During Operation Enduring Freedom, US Marine Corps armour on a hovercraft on board the USS Tortuga in the Persian Gulf.

28th January 2003 During Operation Enduring Freedom, US Marine Corps armour on a hovercraft on board the USS Tortuga in the Persian Gulf. Stock Photo
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Image details

Contributor:

Johnny Saunderson / Alamy Stock Photo

Image ID:

H41KYB

File size:

18.7 MB (794.1 KB Compressed download)

Releases:

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Dimensions:

2953 x 2215 px | 25 x 18.8 cm | 9.8 x 7.4 inches | 300dpi

Date taken:

28 January 2003

Location:

Persian Gulf

More information:

This is the well deck of the USS Tortuga (LSD-46), a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy, somewhere in the Persian Gulf. One of three LCAC (Landing Craft, Air Cushioned) hovercrafts, having just returned from an exercise, has its front ramp hosed down by a crew member. Two US Marine Corps LAV-25 amphibious armoured reconnaissance vehicles are parked inside the hovercraft. Bottom of frame are three US Marine Corps AAV7A1 armoured amphibious personnel carriers. The 2003 invasion of Iraq lasted from 20th March to 1st May 2003 and signalled the start of the Iraq War, which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States (prior to 19th March, the mission in Iraq was called Operation Enduring Freedom, a carryover from the War in Afghanistan). The invasion consisted of 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and deposed the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein.