Historical moments in history are usually preceded by something that would give away the upcoming escalation. This fact remains true, from the rise of the Roman Empire through the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar to the German-Soviet invasion of Poland that sparked the Second World War.
As such, let us remember the event that may have been the signal to one the darkest days of American history - 9/11.
USS Cole Bombing - What Happened On Ground Zero?
The Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Cole is shown at sea approximately one month before being attacked by a terrorist-suicide mission which killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured approximately 36 others during a refueling operation October 12, 2000 in the port of Aden, Yemen.
The USS Cole is not just any warship. According to the US Navy, the ship is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis-equipped guided-missile destroyer named after Marine Sgt. Darrell S. Cole was a machine gunner that died during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
The ship is 505ft. long and has a maximum speed of more than 30 knots. It is equipped with Harpoon missile launchers, two MK 41 VLS standard missiles, Tomahawk missiles, MK-46 torpedoes, a Close-in weapon system, and a 5-inch MK 45 gun.
As such, the USS Cole is designated as a guided-missile destroyer capable of anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface warfare.
To protect itself, US Navy engineers outfitted the USS Cole with two layers of steel and 70ft. of Kevlar armor to protect its vital areas - an important part that will save many of the lives of its crew.
The Cole and its crew were on their way to join other US warships in enforcing the trade sanctions the US placed on Iraq at the time. As it stopped to refuel at a port in Aden, Yemen, a motorized rubber dinghy crewed by suicide bombers and laden with 1,000 pounds of explosives, collided with the ship and exploded at 12:15 PM local time, per History.
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A gaping hole mars the port side of the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Cole after a terrorist bomb exploded and killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured approximately 36 others during a refueling operation October 12, 2000 in the port of Aden, Yemen.
The explosion left behind a 40ft.-wide hole near Cole's waterline and killed 17 US sailors. the explosion also injured around 40 other sailors, per the FBI.
The damage is comparable to ten MK 46 torpedoes - the same weapons the Cole used during its service. For those unaware, the US Navy stated that a single MK 46 torpedo carries an explosive warhead with 100 pounds worth of high explosives.
The explosion also caused severe flooding within the warship thanks to the 40ft. hole the explosion left. However, crew members managed to stop the flooding and kept the ship afloat.
The Aftermath Of The Explosion
Following the bombing of the Cole, the US government issued a command to all American warships in the Persian Gulf to leave port and sail to open waters to avoid another attack.
The FBI then sent 100 agents from its Counterterrorism Division, the FBI Laboratory, and many field offices to investigate the explosion. It was later revealed that al Qaeda, which was led by Osama Bin Laden at the time, was the terrorist group behind the bombing.
Jamal al-Badawi, a suspect of the USS Cole destroyer's bombing in 2000 in the Yemeni port of Aden, gestures after an appeal court announced his judgementto 15 years in prison in the final appeal session trial, 26 February 2005.
A combined effort from the US and Yemeni governments managed to capture and arrest several suspects behind the explosion, including Jamal Muhammad Ahmad Al-Badawi and Fahad Muhammad Ahmad Al-Quso - the masterminds behind the attack.
The bombing happened 11 months prior to the 9/11 attack, meaning that the bombing of the USS Cole foreshadowed what was to come at the time.
The USS Cole is still in service to this day.
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