AC-130U that sank Iraqi patrol boat during Operation Iraqi Freedom has been retired

AC-130U, # 89-0511, was retired to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan air force base on May 8. The gunship had the honor of being “the first Air Force aircrew and aircraft to sink a maritime combat surface vessel during a war effort since World War II.”

Crew members with the 4th Special Operations Squadron pose in front of AC-130U Spooky gunship tail number 89-0511 at Hurlburt Field, Fla., May 8, 2018. It flew on its final flight to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, known as the aircraft boneyard, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., after 29 years of service. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Rachel Yates)

That feat took place on Mar. 21, 2003, in the Arabian Gulf when it engaged and destroyed an Iraqi fast-attack patrol boat.

The Spooky also held the record “for the highest altitude ever flown by an AC-130U at 31,000 feet.”