During DESERT SHIELD/STORM attack submarines not only fired TLAMs, but provided an array of multi-mission capabilities to battle group commanders. Prior to and during hostilities, eight SSNs were involved in surveillance and reconnaissance operations. They also provided indications and warning for the battle groups. After hostilities began, an additional five submarines bolstered Navy forces already on station.
As Navy A-6 Intruders pounded Iraqi minelayers on 22 January, Nicholas and her Seahawks were again busy in the northern Persian Gulf. As the northernmost allied ship, Nicholas launched her helicopters to attack Iraqi patrol boats operating less than a mile from the Kuwaiti coast. In the battle that followed, Seahawk gunners sank or heavily damaged all four enemy craft. The following day, A-6s hit the mark again, disabling an Iraqi tanker used to gather intelligence, an enemy hovercraft and another Iraqi patrol boat.
Navy air power struck again on 24 January, when A-6s destroyed an enemy minelayer, a minesweeper and another patrol boat. A second enemy minesweeper sunk after hitting one of its own mines while attempting to evade the A-6. Near Qurah Island, embarked Army helicopters from USS Curts (FFG 38) pulled 22 EPWs from the sea. As the helicopters assisted the survivors, Iraqi forces on Qurah fired at the airborne rescuers.
