In 1987 "Guadalcanal" was leading minesweeping operations in the Persian Gulf when she encountered "Iran Ajr" laying mines in the shipping lanes. Helicopters from "Guadalcanal" attacked the ship; troops from "Guadalcanal" boarded and captured the ship. ("Iran Ajr" was the second enemy warship captured on the high seas by the U.S. Navy since 1815; the first was the , captured in 1944 by the first USS "Guadalcanal", an escort carrier.) "Guadalcanal" also provided the Marines for the first wave of Operation Provide Comfort, the Kurdish relief operations in Northern Iraq immediately following the Persian Gulf War in 1991.