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The total destruction of Saddam Hussein’s yacht

At Superyacht Content we are always on the look-out for interesting and alternative yachting stories. So, when the story of AL MANSUR came to our attention courtesy of Jim Evans at Superyachts Monaco on Instagram, we just had to find out more!

A post shared by Jim Evans (@jimevans2010) on Jul 14, 2017 at 11:42pm PDT

Saddam Hussein’s yacht: AL MANSUR

AL MANSUR translates roughly into English as’ the Victor’, which seems somewhat ironic judging by the nasty end it met during the Invasion of Iraq in 2003 at the hands of some rather cruel US Air Force pilots (though, obviously, not as cruel as the yacht’s owner- a world famous dictator).

The name originally belonged to an ancient Iraqi Caliph, who was responsible for the complete obliteration of the Omayyad dynasty in the year 715. This founding father of the Iraqi regime made Baghdad his capital, and undoubtedly was a role model to a young Saddam Hussein during his destructive dictatorship over the Iraqi people.

A Presidential Interior

Originally built in Finland by Wartsila in 1982 AL MANSUR had quite the grandiose air about her, as you would expect for a £25m yacht with her unique position in world affairs.

Designed by Knud E Hansen in Denmark and littered with trimmings of solid-gold both inside and out, yacht AL MANSUR measured 120m and featured an impressive atrium complete with a glass dome looking up to the sky above. Reportedly she was specified and delivered to Saddam’s personal requirements, which included the finest in marble, exotic woods, and precious metal fittings.

Last of all, a secret escape route directly from the master cabin leading to a submarine pool allowed the great dictator to vacate the yacht quickly in the event of hostile boarding by a US Navy SEAL team.

A post shared by Edward Thomas (@edi608) on Aug 2, 2017 at 3:50am PDT

Going out with a Bang…

So what happened to her? Well, during preparations for the pending US invasion in 2003 Saddam decided to move his beloved yacht to the relative safety of Basrah, where she would supposedly be granted better protection under the watch of the Republican Guard.

This, however, was not enough to stop the US/UK Combined Air Operations Command Centre who (according to The Aviationist blog ) had intercepted Iraqi military radio traffic coming from equipment on board AL MANSUR.

You can probably guess what happened next, but just in case you can’t, take a look at the photo below before reading on.

Yep, that’s a US Air Force F-14A Tomcat warplane, fitted with 2 powerful 500lb Mk 82 slick bombs primed to detonate on immediate impact with a target.

Two of these jets, which featured in the iconic Top-Gun movie, were able to inflict significant damage on AL MANSUR within a matter of seconds, following the tip off from a British military forward command post. Flown by expert Air Force pilots Lt Mark Callari and Lt Jeff Sims, the bombs they released did most of their damage to the yacht’s hull just above the waterline, even though they exploded before hitting the vessel.

The two fighter pilots returned to USS Constellation in the Gulf, leaving the presidential yacht burning brightly in the water. Way to go Goose!

An unexpected Legacy

Interestingly, this was not the Iraqi Dictator’s only yacht. AL MANSUR had a sister ship named QADISSIYAT SADDAM which spent most of its time in the Mediterranean and was often spotted in port in Nice until it was towed away by the State of Iraq in 2010, following a long legal battle over her ownership. The yacht is now known as BASRAH BREEZE and serves the Iraqi government as a research vessel collecting data on marine science .

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Saddam Hussein's yachts were once signs of luxury. Now, one is a wrecked picnic spot for fishermen and the other was almost turned into a hotel.

Saddam Hussein's yachts were once luxurious signs of the dictator's power.
One boat is now a wrecked picnic site for fisherman. Another was reportedly almost a hotel.
Photos show these yachts today as Iraqi officials debate what to do with them.

Saddam Hussein's superyachts were once symbols of luxury, built in the 1980s and fitted with spacious presidential suites, marble tile, and various amenities.

But decades after his death, Hussein's vessels have met very different fates: one remains wrecked in a river —a picnic site for fishermen — while the another nearly became a hotel.

The "Al-Mansur" multimillion-dollar yacht was once fitted to the personal requirements of Hussein, featuring gold trimming and an impressive atrium, according to Superyacht Content. Although it was never boarded by Hussein, the almost 400-foot boat remained moored at port for safekeeping.

When US forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, the "Al-Mansur" was a juicy target. Troops destroyed the boat, leaving it to sink in the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

20 years later, any sign of wealth or glamour is gone. "Al-Mansur" has been looted and stripped, its right side sunk deep into the riverbed.

But fishermen told Reuters it's not such a bad outcome. "When it was owned by the former president, no one could come close to it," said fisherman Hussein Sabahi, who enjoys a cup of tea on the wreck after a long day of fishing.

Yacht for sale, one careful owner

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Tim Dowling

Tue 4 Nov 2008 10.34 GMT First published on Tue 4 Nov 2008 10.34 GMT

Photograph: Valery Hache/AFP

Photograph: Public domain

Photograph: Eric Gaillard/Reuters

Saddam Hussein

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PROJECT OVERVIEW

VESSEL TYPE: Superyachts
Vessel name: Al Mansur

Scope of work

Conceptual Design developed for the Owner
Basic Design developed together with the shipyard, including:
General Design
Structural Design
Machinery Design
Outfitting Design
Accommodation Design
Plan approval for the Owner
Supervision during the Detailed Design and construction for the Owner
Commissioning for the Owner
Testing and trials
Guarantee survey

Project specification 

The 120-metre/7,539 tonne Yacht was designed for the government of The Republic of Iraq (State Enterprise for Water Transportation) as an ocean-going presidential Luxury Yacht. The Yacht was built by the former Wärtsila Shipyard (today STX Finland OY) in Finland and was delivered in 1983. Special features included a min-submarine rescue capsule. She was bombed by the US Air Force in March 2003 during the invasion of Iraq, but proved difficult to sink and had to be scrapped two years later in Basra.

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Saddam Hussein's rusting yacht al-Mansur now serves as a picnic spot for Iraqi fishermen

Capsized in a river in southern Iraq, the rusting wreck of a yacht that had belonged to Saddam Hussein serves as a stark reminder of his iron-fisted rule that ended with the US-led invasion two decades ago.

Key points:

The 121-metre al-Mansur was ordered in 2003, but was never boarded by Saddam Hussein
It capsized when US forces targeted the yacht
Some Iraqis say the wreck should be preserved, but its preservation has not been funded

The 121-metre al-Mansur — a symbol of Saddam's wealth and power when it was built in the 1980s — is today a destination for sightseers and fisherman who clamber aboard the wreck to picnic and drink tea.

"When it was owned by the former president, no one could come close to it," fisherman Hussein Sabahi said as he enjoys ending a long day on the river with a cup of tea aboard the wreck.

"I can't believe that this belonged to Saddam and now I'm the one moving around it," he said.

Saddam issued orders for the yacht, which he never boarded, to leave its mooring at the Umm Qasr port for safekeeping, a few weeks after the invasion began on March 20, 2003.

Birds eye view of a rusting yacht capsized in water

However, it was targeted by US-led forces, and later capsized in the Shatt al-Arab waterway as it fell into decay.

In the turmoil that followed Saddam's downfall, the yacht was stripped bare and looted, with everything from its chandeliers and furniture to parts of its metal structure removed.

Aerial view of a capsized yacht in a canal

One of three yachts owned by Saddam, the al-Mansur could accommodate up to 200 guests and was equipped with a helipad.

In 2003, US officials estimated that Saddam and his family may have amassed up to $US40 billion ($60 billion) in ill-gotten funds.

A destroyed yacht with a small kayak in the foreground

Another of his yachts has been turned into a hotel in Basra.

Although some Iraqis say the wreck should be preserved, successive governments have not allocated funds to recover it.

"This yacht is like a precious jewel, like a rare masterpiece you keep at home," Zahi Moussa, a naval captain who works at the Iraqi ministry of transport, said.

"We feel sad that it looks like this."

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Declassified cabinet documents paint picture of government discussions in 2002

A wide shot of the cabinet room mostly men, sitting around a large table. John Howard is in the middle on the closest side

Nine Iraqi police officers killed after bomb strikes convoy

Two officees in uniform holding weapons stand next to eachother.

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Iraq: 20 Years On

Saddam's ageing superyachts a legacy of excess - in pictures

Once a floating palace for Saddam Hussein, the luxury yacht Al Mansur sits rusting in Basra in 2003 after the US-led invasion. All photos: AFP

UAE weather: Rain expected this weekend and next week

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Economy & Business

In Iraq, Saddam's ageing superyachts a legacy of excess, war

This file photo from April 10, 2003 shows former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's luxury yacht the Al-Mansur after it was bombed during the US-led invasion of Iraq

Frozen in time for 20 years, two superyachts lie at the confluence of Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers, bearing witness to the false glories of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

Just a few hundred metres separate the grandiose vessels on the Shatt al-Arab waterway in Iraq's southern city of Basra but, despite their proximity, they have met very different fates.

The Al-Mansur (Victorious) now lays on its side, having capsized after it was struck during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that ended Saddam's decades of iron-fisted rule.

Moored at a nearby quay, the Basrah Breeze -- equipped with swimming pools and at one time a missile launcher -- is by contrast partially open to curious spectators eager to board this relic of the war-scarred country's past.

"Everyone who comes is amazed by the luxury of the yacht," said Sajjad Kadhim, an instructor at the University of Basra's maritime science centre which now has jurisdiction over the boat and uses it as a base for its research projects.

But to the surprise of many visitors, Saddam never sailed aboard the Basrah Breeze, which at a length of 82 metres (90 yards) was just one example of the former ruler's extravagance.

The interior of the vessel is like a time capsule, bearing all the gilded trimmings typical of the late strongman's vast collection of properties.

The yacht's presidential suite is decorated in golden and cream tones with a king-sized canopy bed and plush, 18th-century style armchairs, while the vast bathrooms are embellished with golden faucets.

- 'Wasteful' -

During his nearly 24 years in power, Saddam was not known to spare any expense, and the Basrah Breeze, delivered in 1981, was no exception.

With a capacity to board nearly 30 passengers and 35 crew, the boat has 13 rooms, three lounge areas and a helipad.

Perhaps most impressive is a secret corridor leading to a submarine, offering an escape from any imminent threats, as noted on an information panel on the boat.

"While the Iraqi people were living through the horrors of war and an embargo, Saddam owned such a ship," said Kadhim, 48, decrying the "wastefulness of the former regime".

Fearing the repercussions of the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s, Saddam had given the boat to Saudi Arabia, before it travelled on to Jordan, Kadhim explained.

By 2007, the vessel had come to be moored in Nice, France, where a year later it became the centre of a protracted legal dispute.

Iraqi authorities had claimed ownership over the Basrah Breeze after having discovered plans to sell it for nearly $35 million by a company registered in the Cayman Islands.

With its claim to the boat finally recognised, the Iraqi government in 2009 decided to moor the boat in Basra, having been unable to sell it.

"What I like is the old equipment, the fax and the old telephones in the cockpit," university professor Abbas al-Maliki told AFP. "It reminds me of the pre-internet era."

- 'Costly and difficult' -

The state of the Basrah Breeze is a far cry from the Al-Mansur, half-submerged, its rusty carcass protruding from the waters of Shatt al-Arab.

Measuring 120 metres in length and weighing more than 7,000 tonnes, the former presidential yacht had been assembled in Finland and delivered to Iraq in 1983, according to the website of Danish designer Knud E. Hansen.

It has a capacity of 32 passengers and 65 crew members.

In the period just before the US-led invasion two decades ago, the Al-Mansur had been moored in the Gulf.

But Saddam would later send it up along the Shatt al-Arab "to protect it from bombardment by American planes", according to maritime engineer Ali Mohamed.

"This was a failure," he added.

According to Basra's former chief of heritage Qahtan al-Obeid, in March 2003 "several raids were launched on the yacht over a number of days.

"It was bombed at least three times, but it never sank," he said.

In pictures taken by an AFP photographer in 2003, Al-Mansur can be seen still floating on the water, its top floors charred from a fire that erupted due to the bombing.

But by June of that year, the boat was already tipping precariously.

It tilted heavily "when the motors were stolen. This created openings and the water rushed in, causing it to lose balance," Obeid said.

In a country wracked by decades of war, the authorities launched a campaign to clear the flotsam of smaller boats stranded in Shatt al-Arab.

But Al-Mansur "is a very big boat, it has to be dismantled then removed," said Obeid, a process that would be "costly and difficult".

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FROM AFP NEWS

In Iraq, Saddam's Ageing Superyachts A Legacy Of Excess, War

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This file photo from April 10, 2003 shows former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's luxury yacht the Al-Mansur after it was bombed during the US-led invasion of Iraq

CORRECTS para 5 to clarify how the maritime science centre now uses the yacht

Frozen in time for 20 years, two superyachts lie at the confluence of Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers, bearing witness to the false glories of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

Just a few hundred metres separate the grandiose vessels on the Shatt al-Arab waterway in Iraq's southern city of Basra but, despite their proximity, they have met very different fates.

The Al-Mansur (Victorious) now lays on its side, having capsized after it was struck during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that ended Saddam's decades of iron-fisted rule.

Moored at a quay on the Shatt al-Arab waterway, the Basrah Breeze is partially open to curious spectators

But to the surprise of many visitors, Saddam never sailed aboard the Basrah Breeze, which at a length of 82 metres (90 yards) was just one example of the former ruler's extravagance.

The interior of the vessel is like a time capsule, bearing all the gilded trimmings typical of the late strongman's vast collection of properties.

During his nearly 24 years in power, Saddam was not known to spare any expense, and the Basrah Breeze, delivered in 1981, was no exception.

The interior of the vessel is like a time capsule, bearing all the gilded trimmings typical of the late strongman's vast collection of properties

With a capacity to board nearly 30 passengers and 35 crew, the boat has 13 rooms, three lounge areas and a helipad.

Perhaps most impressive is a secret corridor leading to a submarine, offering an escape from any imminent threats, as noted on an information panel on the boat.

"While the Iraqi people were living through the horrors of war and an embargo, Saddam owned such a ship," said Kadhim, 48, decrying the "wastefulness of the former regime".

Fearing the repercussions of the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s, Saddam had given the boat to Saudi Arabia, before it travelled on to Jordan, Kadhim explained.

By 2007, the vessel had come to be moored in Nice, France, where a year later it became the centre of a protracted legal dispute.

The Basrah Breeze is currently under the jurisdiction of the University of Basra's maritime science centre, which is conducting research on it

Iraqi authorities had claimed ownership over the Basrah Breeze after having discovered plans to sell it for nearly $35 million by a company registered in the Cayman Islands.

With its claim to the boat finally recognised, the Iraqi government in 2009 decided to moor the boat in Basra, having been unable to sell it.

"What I like is the old equipment, the fax and the old telephones in the cockpit," university professor Abbas al-Maliki told AFP. "It reminds me of the pre-internet era."

The state of the Basrah Breeze is a far cry from the Al-Mansur, half-submerged, its rusty carcass protruding from the waters of Shatt al-Arab.

The Al-Mansur lies half-submerged, its rusty carcass protruding from the waters of Shatt al-Arab

It has a capacity of 32 passengers and 65 crew members.

In the period just before the US-led invasion two decades ago, the Al-Mansur had been moored in the Gulf.

But Saddam would later send it up along the Shatt al-Arab "to protect it from bombardment by American planes", according to maritime engineer Ali Mohamed.

"This was a failure," he added.

According to Basra's former chief of heritage Qahtan al-Obeid, in March 2003 "several raids were launched on the yacht over a number of days.

"It was bombed at least three times, but it never sank," he said.

In pictures taken by an AFP photographer in 2003, Al-Mansur can be seen still floating on the water, its top floors charred from a fire that erupted due to the bombing.

But by June of that year, the boat was already tipping precariously.

It tilted heavily "when the motors were stolen. This created openings and the water rushed in, causing it to lose balance," Obeid said.

In a country wracked by decades of war, the authorities launched a campaign to clear the flotsam of smaller boats stranded in Shatt al-Arab.

But Al-Mansur "is a very big boat, it has to be dismantled then removed," said Obeid, a process that would be "costly and difficult".

In Iraq, Saddam's Ageing Superyachts A Legacy Of Excess, War

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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SADDAM HUSSEIN'S YACHT?

Sam Fortescue investigates the strange history of Saddam Hussein's 82-metre Basrah Breeze

ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES; INSET CHIP HIRES/GAMMA-RAPHO VIA GETTY IMAGES

The directors at the struggling Danish Helsingor Vaerft shipyard could hardly believe their eyes when the order from the Iraqi authorities came through.

Just two weeks earlier, the managing director of the shipyard had handed a brochure for his training ships to the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen. It was written in Arabic and the diplomatic staff had promised to forward it to Baghdad. The order, signed by Iraq’s Ministry of Defence, came back with unprecedented speed: “We want to buy such ship,” it read.

“But it would be naive to think that you could just come and get a ship contract,” Helsingor Vaerft managing director Esmann Olesen would later write in his memoirs. “It took a whole year and many trips to Iraq and also from Baghdad to Elsinore before we could put our signatures on the new contract” for the training ship.

“With its 82 metres, this motor yacht was among the largest of its kind in the world”

Nevertheless, the relationship with Saddam Hussein’s regime in the late 1970s kept the shipyard, based in the port town of Elsinore in eastern Denmark, afloat, and led to five further orders from the Middle Eastern country.

It was not without controversy, though. The next order was for three roll-on/roll-off ferries, but the Iraqi chief of staff was also demanding warships from the Danish yard. “That was completely out of the question for political reasons,” remembers Olesen. “The three Ro-Ro ships we built gave rise to a great deal of speculation and newspaper scandal, because journalists wrote that they could be used for the transport of equipment and troops.”

Then, in 1980, the head of the Iraqi fleet got in touch about adapting a research vessel design to build a presidential yacht. After lengthy negotiations involving visits to Iraq and delegations of tight-lipped admiralty staff from Baghdad, a deal was struck for a “ship of class” which went into the order books as number 423. “With its 82 metres, this motor yacht was among the largest of its kind in the world.”

STEPHANE DANNA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Top: Some time between 2003 and 2006, the yacht was refitted in Greece, and the swimming pool covered over and converted into a mess room. She is said to have plied the waters between North Africa and Europe as a kind of VIP ferry

Olesen does not record further details about the negotiations, but we can imagine that they would have been as tense and complex as those for the previous training ship. “Admiral Abdul Dairi and his staff came to Copenhagen to sign the contract which he and I had already agreed in Baghdad. He arrived, merrily declaring that he had been explicitly ordered by President Saddam Hussein not to sign anything, unless we would give an extra five per cent discount as well as 10 large buses and four Mercedes-Benz cars as a sign of goodwill.”

A number of fruitless meetings ensued, before the Admiral declared he would return home without a signature. “He often ordered his adjutant to immediately book a flight home to Baghdad, which meant the meeting was over.” Olesen reluctantly accepted the new terms over the phone, and a final meeting was convened the next morning in a Copenhagen hotel. “Of course, they did not get a five per cent price reduction, or 10 buses, or the four Mercedes, but they did include a modest amount for spare parts.”

The presidential suite had a barber's chair intended for keeping Saddam Hussein's moustache in tip-top condition

The actual price of the deal for the new presidential yacht was never disclosed, but the rumour circulating in Iraq is that the yacht cost $25 million (£11m at 1980 rates). What is sure, however, is that the shipyard made a thumping loss on the order, due in no small part to the constant interference from Iraqi officials. “They demanded unrealistic changes and improvements without extra [fees] or extensions to the deadlines,” says Tenna Bülow, archivist of the Elsinore Museum.

The specifications for Hussein’s yacht were lost when the yard pulled down the shutters for the last time in 1983, but we know it was sumptuously fitted out. There were 14 guest cabins accommodating up to 28, and quarters for a generous 35 crew. The key feature was undoubtedly the presidential suite, which occupied the full beam of the boat and included an office and a dedicated barber’s chair intended for keeping the president’s trademark moustache in tip-top condition. The centrepiece was a vast fairy-tale bed hung with curtains and a rich canopy. Silk carpets, gold leaf, elaborate panelling and Louis XV-style chairs completed an image of extraordinary ostentation.

The presidential suite’s bed that caused a diplomatic incident after an “infidel” shipyard employee dared to touch it

The bed was nearly the source of a diplomatic incident on delivery day. “It tempted one of the shipyard’s marine superintendents beyond his powers of resistance, and he sat down on [it],” says Bülow. “At the same time, one of the Iraqis walked through the door. The situation developed in a serious manner, not only because a shipyard employee had dared to touch the president’s bed, but because he was an infidel.”

The bedspread was removed and a replacement ordered from Paris at great expense. Amazingly, the superintendent was allowed to take the despoiled cover home, where he used it on his own bed for many years. It is now a star exhibit at the Elsinore Museum.

In view of the effort and treasure expended on Project 423, it is ironic that the Iraqi dictator never actually spent a night aboard. The yacht had by now been named Qadissiyat Saddam , referencing a mythical battle between Iraqi Arabs and the larger Persian army in the seventh century. It was a projection of power against the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq war, which had begun the year before, in 1980. At first the yacht was moored in Basrah, but when Iranian forces advanced along the lower Tigris in 1986, she was hurriedly sent to safety in the Saudi royal port of Jeddah on the Red Sea.

And there she remained until Saddam’s bloody regime was toppled by the American-led invasion in 2003. The yacht had apparently been well maintained alongside the Saudi royal fleet, with a permanent crew of 12. At some point during those 17 years, the Saudis began to consider the boat as their property and it was renamed al-Yamamah (“the dove”). Then, when Saddam was run to earth in 2006, the yacht was shifted to Aqaba, the only port of regional ally Jordan.

Rooftops with sea view and inset images of Basrah Breeze and Saddam Hussein

FROM LEFT, FRANCOIS LOCHON/GAMMA-RAPHO VIA GETTY IMAGES, OLIVIER SANCHEZ/GAMMA-RAPHO VIA GETTY IMAGES, EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK Despite the extensive negotiations and specifications, Hussein never slept on board Basrah Breeze .

The terms of the transfer appear murky – was it a gift or was the yacht lent? This question resurfaced in 2007, when she appeared for sale in Nice with a £17 million price tag. By now she was called Ocean Breeze and photos depicted the lavish interior, in particular the dead dictator’s opulent suite, but there was little interest from buyers.

The new Iraqi government was on the lookout for the billions of dollars that Saddam had plundered, so the ambassador to France raised the alarm when he read of the yacht being up for sale. “He called on me to deploy all necessary measures to obstruct this transfer and seize this vessel on behalf of the Republic of Iraq,” says Maître Amir-Aslani, the country’s lawyer in Europe. Nice’s commercial court duly ordered that the yacht should be seized on 31 January 2008, pending a hearing about ownership.

We now know that the yacht had been put up for sale by a Cayman Island entity. “Sudeley Capital was an offshore company, whose capital was held by another offshore company, whose ultimate economic beneficiary was the King of Jordan,” explains Amir-Aslani.

“Inside was a hidden room - you cannot see it unless you know where it is”

In early February 2008, police and a bailiff boarded the yacht to search for evidence of its true owner. They found an insurance document, issued by Lloyd’s of London, in the name of an Iraqi official. “Nobody disputed that the original owner was indeed Saddam Hussein and therefore the Iraqi state,” continues Amir-Aslani. “We did not provide proof of the ownership of this boat as such, but we did provide the Iraqi constitution which showed that the assets of the state could not be transferred to others. And in any case, the opposing party had no documents either.”

The court ruled in July that the yacht belonged to the Iraqi people, and Sudeley decided to take the issue no further. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh announced that the yacht, now called Basrah Breeze , would be smartened up and sold.

She steamed to Piraeus in Greece for a repaint and cosmetic work. While the idea may have been sound, the timing was not, and the global economic downturn intervened. Oil prices plummeted, credit dried up and, by spring 2009, the reported $30 million asking price looked optimistic. After sitting forlornly at anchor off Nice for a year, Basrah Breeze was recalled to Iraq in 2010 by the Ministry of Transport. “The Iraqi government’s decision to bring the yacht home will spare Baghdad the possibility of facing other claims and saves it docking and crew costs,” the ministry announced. The French sojourn had nevertheless cost $2 million in legal, crew and refit fees.

The boat is now in a poor state of repair, with estimates to fix up the hull alone far exceeding what is affordable at the University of Basrah, where it has been placed under care since 2014

That November, Iraqi transportation minister Amer Abdul-Jabbar boarded the yacht for its triumphant entry into Basrah. “The return of the yacht means that the people’s will is stronger than the tyrant’s,” he proclaimed to crowds from the deck. “Saddam Hussein built this yacht to be used for his own personal purposes, but here it is returned to the Iraqi people.”

However, those same Iraqi people were unsure what to make of their new toy, according to a report by local journalist Ali Abu. While some hoped the yacht could be used for weddings and banquets, and the minister was proposing a ferry service for well-heeled businessmen or pilgrims, many were more concerned with reliable access to water and electricity. Abu quotes a University of Basrah student saying: “Life here will still be the same with or without [the yacht].”

Ironically, Basrah Breeze was placed under the care of the university, where it has served since 2014 as an unlikely research vessel for the Marine Science Centre. I ask the former director of the centre, Ali Douabul, about its reported missile defence system and escape sub. “That is a bit of exaggeration,” he says. But the ship has yielded up some secrets. “We were sitting in the big mess room and one of my students pushed something – it opened a thick door in the panelling.

“We can only allow two people at a time to stay on board. That’s all that we can afford”

Inside was a room that was completely hidden – you cannot see it unless you know where it is. I slept in this room one night.” Douabul has also dared to sleep in the presidential bed – during its only scientific expedition to date, in 2015. “The bed had never been used,” he laughs. “Modestly, I like to say that I am the first guy to sleep in it. I should have taken my wife with me, but I went with a lot of passengers and scientists instead.” During the trip, he charged guests who wanted to try the bedroom $10, “just for a joke”.

The yacht is ill-suited to science work, as it showed during the 10-day expedition to explore parts of the Gulf where coral had been rediscovered.

“We took a smaller ship as our research vessel and used it for the divers, because the yacht is very high, so they can’t dive from it. We used the yacht as a kind of mothership.” Another problem is its running costs, which are far too expensive for a hard-pressed university in a country with only 58 kilometres of coastline. “Even when we go on a very short trip, like we did in 2015, it cost me a fortune,” laments Douabul. “Imagine that we went 50 to 60 kilometres and then came back – we spent something in the neighbourhood of 60 tonnes of fuel.”

Fresh water is just as precious, and the boat also requires costly maintenance. The MTU engines are said to be sound, but the hull is in dire need of a scrape-down and repaint, while the air-con is full of holes. “We can only allow two people at a time to stay on board,” says Douabul. “That’s all that we can afford.” According to a quote from a nearby Iranian shipyard, the hull work alone could cost $1.5 million – money that just isn’t available. There is nowhere in Iraqi waters with the capacity to lift an 82 metre yacht. Various schemes to make better use of the yacht have been floated over the years. In 2018, it was widely reported that she had been relegated to a mere hotel for river pilots. “Completely wrong!” retorts Douabul. “If they’d used it for pilots, they would have ruined it in no time. It’s never been used as such. I got a very, very unpleasant call from the minister about that.”

Now there are hopes that the yacht will become a floating exhibit at the Museum of Basrah, housed in Saddam’s former palace. Director Qahtan Alabeed is developing a section of the museum devoted to local boatbuilding. “We want to reactivate work to rebuild a number of types of boats that sailed in the river and marshes,” he says. “We already have around 16.”

The palace gardens run down to the Shatt al-Arab waterway, where Alabeed wants to see the yacht moored permanently. Again, funding may prove the stumbling block. Alabeed says he has the support of the governor of Basrah and can “request any budget”. Douabul is doubtful. “Unfortunately, the main conclusion is: look at this criminal bloody Saddam who spent so much money on this yacht. If only he [used the money] to build 100 factories and provided work for people.

“If you ask me, the government has been misled to take this yacht, because they don’t have the ability to use it properly or commercially,” continues Douabul. “They thought it might be worth $200 million – I don’t know where they got their figures from.”

Now he believes that the only solution lies outside Iraq. “Perhaps an international organisation like the International Maritime Organization should take care of it, because Iraqis will not. Then it becomes world heritage.”

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

THE REST OF SADDAM'S FLEET

Saddam Hussein got better use from al-Mansur , built in 1983 by Finland’s Wärtsilä. The 121.1-metre yacht (pictured, top) was designed by Knude Hansen and had a 10-metre-high glass-domed atrium, a banqueting room to seat 200, a garage containing limos and a helipad and hangar.

Twin 12,000hp engines could propel the 7,539-tonne yacht to 20 knots. With a crew of 60 to look after 20 guests in 10 cabins, she was designed to project the dictator’s power. She was bombed in 2003 by the US Air Force, but in testament to her build, she didn’t sink. The burnt-out hulk was finally scuttled three years later, and the wreck chokes the Shatt al-Arab waterway to this day.

A smaller 60-metre river yacht was also built at Helsingor Vaerft for use on the Tigris in Baghdad itself. Described as “not beautiful” by yard MD Esmann Olesen, it was nevertheless finished to a luxurious level and had 58mm-thick polycarbonate windows to protect from snipers. Its fate is unknown.

When U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcats attacked Saddam Hussein’s presidential yacht

“We dropped both of our bombs in the same attack, one hitting the hull just above the waterline and the other disappearing amongst the yacht’s superstructure. When we left the target the ship was on fire,” Pat Baker, former F-14 Tomcat RIO

Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) was a huge success for the F-14 squadrons committed to the action. Tomcat pilots and radar intercept officers (RIOs) flew myriad missions in their 52 jets, performing air defence, forward air controlling (airborne), strike coordination, reconnaissance and photo-reconnaissance missions and precision bombing across Iraq.

As told by Tony Holmes in his book U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom , the dropping of ‘dumb’ bombs from an F-14 was instead a rare occurrence in OIF, although two crews from VF-2 “Bounty Hunters” enjoyed spectacular results with four 500-lb Mk 82 ‘slicks’ on Mar. 27, 2003. The RIO in one of the jets was Lt(jg) Pat Baker;

“We had been conducting a standard TARPS mission along the Euphrates River, looking at two or three air defence sites, as well as a possible command and control facility that our intelligence folks thought was in the area. They needed photos of the latter in order to confirm its purpose for target assignment. What was different for us that day was the fact that the ATO gave us two jets armed with a pair of Mk 82 bombs apiece . This was the first time VF-2 had carried such a mixed load, featuring both bombs and a TARPS pod. This allowed us to act as a stop gap bomber should anyone need immediate on-call support while we were over southern Iraq.

“I was in the back seat of the Dash 2 jet, leaving the RIO in the lead aircraft to run the flight in terms of coordinating the navigation for all the photo-run targets. My job was to work the radios for my pilot, Lt Sean Mathieson, checking with AWACS controllers and FACs on the ground as to whether anyone needed our bombs. Having bounced around through a series of different nets on various frequencies, I ended up talking to a British Army FAC near Basra. He wanted us to head down the Shatt al-Arab waterway and attack Saddam’s presidential yacht, which had been hit by a Maverick fired from an S-3B two days earlier and then missed by two LGB-toting F/A-18s. By the time I contacted the FAC, we had finished our reconnaissance runs and were about to head south over the NAG to hit the tanker and then head back to the carrier.”

When U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcats attacked Saddam Hussein's presidential yacht

Named Al Mansur (The Victor), Saddam Hussein’s presidential yacht had been one of the world’s largest and most impressive vessels of its kind prior to it appearing on the CAOC’s ATO. Eight decks high and 350 feet long, the Finnish-built ship weighed 7359 tons and looked more like a cross-channel ferry than a private boat. It boasted five expansive state cabins for Saddam and his family, and there was even a secret escape route leading from the president’s room to a submarine pod. Launched in 1982, it was the largest vessel in the Iraqi Navy, but it had no military use. The ship was designed to Saddam’s specifications and decorated in marble and exotic woods with silver and gold fittings. Permanently staffed by 120 Special Republican Guard troops, the vessel was moved from the port of Umm Qasr to Basra just days before the war began in an effort to afford it better protection – the order for the move was issued directly by Saddam himself. The Al Mansur had been targeted for destruction because the CAOC had received reports that the vessel’s extensive radio suite was being used for battlefield communications.

Baker continues: “The FAC was not actually near the yacht, so he was relaying information that he had recently received to us when he was describing where the vessel was situated. We were at high altitude, scouring the port facility through binoculars looking for the yacht. We spotted the burnt-out warehouses that had been hit in error by the F/A- 18s the previous day, and these served as a marker for the yacht. It was moored between two freighters, with a third half-sunken vessel nearby. The Maverick damage was clearly visible, with smoke rising from the vessel’s superstructure.

“The lead jet, flown by Lt Mark Callari and Lt(jg) Jeff Sims (RIO), rolled in first, while we provided high cover for it — we were not sure of the AAA or SAM threats in the area. Their first bomb hit the bow, and having been unopposed in the attack, they came in and dropped the second, which struck the vessel just forward of amidships.

`The lead jet then swapped places with us, Lt Mathieson (Baker’s pilot) following his CCIP (Continuously Computed Impact Point) crosshairs in the HUD, which were centred on the vessel. We dropped both of our bombs in the same attack, one hitting the hull just above the waterline and the other disappearing amongst the yacht’s superstructure. When we left the target the ship was on fire, although we knew we had not inflicted sufficient damage to sink it as we were carrying the wrong type of ordnance. Assuming that we were going to be supporting ground troops, we had had our Mk 82s fitted with instantaneous fuses. Therefore, the weapons exploded as soon as they came into contact with the ship, rather than burying themselves into the heart of the vessel before detonating.

“I never got to see my bombs hitting home in all the LGB and JDAM missions that we flew in OIF. However, on this occasion, thanks to the diving, rolling and pulling off of the target that we had had to do in order to accurately deliver our Mk 82s, I was able to see the two little grey ‘blurs’ that were our bombs hitting the ship as I peered back over my shoulder at the target.”

Photo credit: Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain / U.S. Navy

U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here .

Artwork courtesy of AircraftProfilePrints.com

Dario Leone

Go For Your Gun! The first F-14 Tomcat Strafe Run during Operation Iraqi Freedom

Black Knights down: the story of the first Coalition aircraft to crash in Iraq since the start of OIF

USMC Hornet Pilot Tells the Story of a Joint F/A-18 – B-1B OIF Sortie Aimed at Eliminating Saddam Hussein

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Saddam's rusting yacht serves as picnic spot for Iraqi fishermen

An aerial view of the 'Al-Mansur' yacht, once belonging to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, which has been lying on the water bed for years in the Shatt al-Arab waterway, in Basra

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Writing by Seham Eloraby; Editing by Tom Perry, William Maclean

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Saddam Hussein's yachts

April 20 2020

Written by François Meyer - Yachting Art

1979, on the Amalfi Coast. A tall, martial-looking man is received with his entourage and with great pomp by a member of the Saudi royal family on board his yacht. If the conversations led, in the first place, to important arms deliveries, they also led to an astonishing decision of President Saddam Hussein: to build a 120-metre yacht...

Al Mansur, Saddam Hussein's second yacht...

There is no way that the prestige of the new Iraq, led in the shadows for the past ten years by the dashing Saddam Hussein, 46 years old and now president, can suffer a comparison with the petromonarchies of the Gulf...

Thus the Helsingor Vaerft shipyard (Denmark) received the order (of 100 million dollars) for a motor yacht capable of competing with the largest and most luxurious floating palaces in the world. According to legend, the boat was paid for in advance and in cash...

The Qadisiyah Saddam, Saddam Hussein's first yacht

The Qadisiyah Saddam

The Battle of Qadisiyah victoriously pitted Iraqi Muslims against Persian Iranians in the 7th century. This name, synonymous with victory in the Iraqi imagination, seemed to be the only one worthy of being attached to the dictator's august first name.

With a total length of 82 m for 13 m wide and 3.60 m draught, the Qadisiyah Saddam, had a range of 7000 NM at 18 knots thanks to its two Man engines developing a total power of 8000 HP.

Saddam Hussein's bedroom aboard his first yacht

Built on the theme of a 5***** seaside hotel of the 1970s, a decade in which President Hussein was fond of sideboards and sunglasses, the yacht had 10 double cabins, 4 twins and an owner's suite for a crew of 35 members.

Equipped with a cinema, several swimming pools, a helipad, saunas, hammams and silverware for 100 guests, the Iraqi presidential yacht also had a Mosque (strange for a secular dictator) and, to top it all off, gold taps...

The Yacht of the Dark One in spy movies

Saddam was not neglecting his security: The dictator came from the security services and did not underestimate the risks that a particular group or country could pose to him in the midst of the Cold War and the Iran-Iraq conflict.

He had the ship equipped with two retractable turrets with SA9 Gaskin anti-aircraft missiles, 13 cm thick bulletproof glass, a helipad and an operation/resuscitation room.

But also, and here we are in the 1980s, a feature worthy of James Bond at the time: a mini-submarine to which the shipowner could access directly from his suite...

Delivered in 1981, the yacht remained anchored in Basrah (Basra) on the tiny Iraqi seafront, where it remained until 1986, when it was chased away by an air attack from the Iranian Pasdarans seeking to neutralize the port.

From Basrah, Saddam took the boat to the safe waters of Jeddah, capital of the Sunni Saudi friend and sworn enemy of the Shiite Iranians at war with Saddam's Iraq. It will remain there long after my death of its owner, who never used the yacht...

Renamed Ocean Breeze , then Basrah Breeze , she was sent to Nice in 2007 to be sold. The Iraqi government tried to seize it, but the opaque fiscal arrangement, customary in the world of Superyachts, left a doubt about its owner, the Iraqis, the Saudi dynasty or its Hashemite counterpart, from Jordan.

Basrah Breeze, Saddam Hussein's former first yacht...

Room for rent in Presidential Yacht

Saddam Hussein's former first yacht, converted into a floating hotel...

One year later, the proof of the boat's belonging to the Republic of Iraq is made, making its sale possible. In the absence of a buyer, repatriated to Basra, it will first serve as a research platform for the local university before finishing, in 2018, converted into a floating hotel for Iraqi port pilots in Basra! Back to the people!

The Al Mansour (Al Mansur), Saddam Hussein's second yacht, a gift from the Saudis

Named after the Iraqi Caliph Al Mansour, meaning "The Victorious", who founded the kingdom of Iraq in an 8th century battle, this boat is a gift to Saddam Hussein from his Saudi friends. They greatly appreciated his war against the regime of the Iranian Shiite mullahs and will express their thanks to him in this way in 1982.

Ordered from the Finnish shipyards Wartsila in 1982 and completed in 1983, it was delivered the following year to the Iraqis via Morocco.

With a length of 120 m, 17.5 m beam and 5.5 m draught, and a power of 28,000 HP, she was at the time one of the largest and most impressive yachts in the world.

Offering 10 cabins for its guests, the banqueting room and silverware on board could accommodate no less than 200 guests on board served by the 60 crew members.

The saloon was lit by a glass dome more than 10 m above the ground.

Characteristics of a warship

The Saudis were very concerned about their friend's safety, so they had the ship built like a warship, judge for yourselves: a specially suspended motorization to make it difficult to be detected by submarines, armoured decks and planking, as well as the equipment present on Saddam's first yacht (unused and immobilized in Jeddah), anti-aircraft missiles, bullet-proof windows, underwater camera for anti-swimming combat surveillance, helipad, operating room and always a mini submarine accessible directly from the shipowner's suite. ..

It is interesting to note the care taken by the Saudis at that time to maintain their good relations with Saddam Hussein. Indeed, some ten years later, the international coalition planes took off from bases in the Saudi desert to destroy the Iraqi army in Kuwait and then, even later, in Iraq. The friendship of peoples is ephemeral...

The USA demolishes Saddam's toy...

The first Gulf War left Iraqi territory under the control of Saddam Hussein's regime, leaving its port infrastructure and his ship, anchored in Basra, intact.

During the second Gulf War, among the thousands of air missions carried out against Iraq, two American F14 TOMCATs (those from the film Topgun) launched, on 27 March 2003, from the bridge of the USS Constellation for a special mission towards the inner port of Basra...

The American pilots are armed with 500 pound MK82 land bombs that they drop, at the goal, at the first pass over the target, the presidential yacht Al Mansur. The Al Mansur is hit, ignites and capsizes the next day. Irrecoverable, it will be scrapped 3 years later.

Yachting - the boats of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, president, sailor and skipper! - Yachting Art Magazine

If there is a president who loved the sea and travelled it on many types of boats, it is John Fitzgerald Kennedy ... Light sport sailboat, fast torpedo boat, motor yacht, classic yawl... discover ...

http://www.yachtingart.com/2020/04/yachting-the-boats-of-john-fitzgerald-kennedy-president-sailor-and-skipper.html

Les yachts de Saddam Hussein - ActuNautique.com

1979, sur la côte Amalfitaine. Un homme grand, l'allure martiale, est reçu avec son entourage et en grande pompe par un membre de la famille royale Saoudienne, à bord de son yacht. Si les ...

http://www.actunautique.com/2020/04/les-yachts-de-saddam-hussein.html

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In Iraq, Saddam's ageing superyachts attest to legacy of excess, war

PUBLISHED : 14 Mar 2023 at 10:45

WRITER: AFP

BASRA (IRAQ) - Frozen in time for 20 years, two superyachts lie at the confluence of Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers, bearing witness to the false glories of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

Just a few hundred metres separate the grandiose vessels on the Shatt al-Arab waterway in Iraq's southern city of Basra, but despite their proximity, they have met very different fates.

The Al-Mansur (Victorious) now lays on its side, having capsized after it was struck during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that ended Saddam's decades of iron-fisted rule.

"Everyone who comes is amazed by the luxury of the yacht," said Sajjad Kadhim, an instructor at the University of Basra's maritime science centre, which now has jurisdiction over the boat as part of a project to study it.

But to the surprise of many visitors, Saddam never sailed aboard the Basrah Breeze, which at a length of 82 metres (90 yards) was just one example of the former ruler's extravagance.

The interior of the vessel is like a time capsule, bearing all the gilded trimmings typical of the late strongman's vast collection of properties.

- 'Wasteful' -

During his nearly 24 years in power, Saddam was not known to spare any expense, and the Basrah Breeze, delivered in 1981, was no exception.

With a capacity to board nearly 30 passengers and 35 crew members, the boat has 13 rooms, three lounge areas and a helipad.

Perhaps most impressive is a secret corridor leading to a submarine, offering an escape from any imminent threats, as noted on an information panel on the boat.

"While the Iraqi people were living through the horrors of war and an embargo, Saddam owned such a ship," said Kadhim, 48, decrying the "wastefulness of the former regime".

Fearing the repercussions of the Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s, Saddam had given the boat to Saudi Arabia, before it travelled on to Jordan, Kadhim explained.

By 2007, the vessel had come to be moored in Nice, France, where a year later it became the centre of a protracted legal dispute.

Iraqi authorities had claimed ownership over the Basrah Breeze after having discovered plans to sell it for nearly $35 million by a company registered in the Cayman Islands.

With its claim to the boat finally recognised, the Iraqi government in 2009 decided to moor the boat in Basra, having been unable to sell it.

"What I like is the old equipment, the fax and the old telephones in the cockpit," university professor Abbas al-Maliki told AFP. "It reminds me of the pre-internet era."

- 'Costly and difficult' -

The state of the Basrah Breeze is a far cry from the Al-Mansur, half-submerged, its rusty carcass protruding from the waters of Shatt al-Arab.

It has a capacity of 32 passengers and 65 crew members.

In the period just before the US-led invasion two decades ago, the Al-Mansur had been moored in the Gulf.

But Saddam would later send it up along Shatt al-Arab "to protect it from bombardment by American planes", according to maritime engineer Ali Mohamed.

"This was a failure," he added.

According to Basra's former chief of heritage Qahtan al-Obeid, in March 2003 "several raids were launched on the yacht over a number of days.

"It was bombed at least three times, but it never sank," he said.

In pictures taken by an AFP photographer in 2003, Al-Mansur can be seen still floating on the water, its top floors charred from a fire that erupted due to the bombing.

But by June of that year, the boat was already tipping precariously.

It fell over "when the motors were stolen. This created openings and the water rushed in, causing it to lose balance," Obeid said.

In a country wracked by decades of war, the authorities launched a campaign to clear the flotsam of smaller boats stranded in Shatt al-Arab.

But Al-Mansur "is a very big boat, it has to be dismantled then removed," said Obeid -- a process that would be "costly and difficult".

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In Iraq, Saddam's Ageing Superyachts Attest To Legacy Of Excess, War