Key Facts
- First evacuation date
- 20 June 1976
- Second evacuation date
- 27 July 1976
- Americans evacuated (first lift)
- 110
- Third-country nationals (first lift)
- 157
- Persons evacuated (second lift)
- 300 (including 155 Americans)
- Destination port
- Piraeus, Greece
Strategic Narrative Overview
The U.S. Navy executed two lift operations off the Lebanese coast. On 20 June 1976, USS Spiegel Grove transported 110 Americans and 157 other foreign nationals to Piraeus, Greece. A second evacuation on 27 July moved approximately 300 additional persons, including 155 Americans, to the same destination. The cruiser USS Little Rock maintained a presence off the Lebanese coast during both lifts to provide support and security.
01 / The Origins
The Lebanese Civil War erupted in 1975 as sectarian tensions between Christian, Muslim, and Palestinian factions escalated into open armed conflict. By mid-1976 Beirut had become a active war zone with widespread fighting threatening foreign residents. The United States determined that American citizens and allied nationals could no longer be safely maintained in the country, prompting a formal non-combatant evacuation operation coordinated through naval assets in the eastern Mediterranean.
03 / The Outcome
Both evacuations were completed without reported combat casualties, successfully removing several hundred civilians from the deteriorating security environment in Beirut. Evacuees were delivered to Piraeus, Greece, from where they could travel onward. The Lebanese Civil War itself continued for years after the operation, with no immediate resolution to the underlying sectarian conflict that had necessitated the evacuation.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent