"Niagara Falls" participated in Operation Desert Storm, transiting the Straits of Hormuz at midnight on 16 January 1991 and assigned an operating area in the northern end of the Persian Gulf, known as the 'NAG' or North Arabian Gulf operational area, this was the sea opposite Kuwait which was heavily mined by Iraqi prior to the start of combat operations. Due to limited mine countermeasure assets in the Persian Gulf and "Niagara Falls" operating area, an EODMU detachment was assigned. During the course of the war "Niagara Falls" destroyed five naval mines herself while operating in the northern Persian Gulf.