Australia was a member of the international coalition which contributed military forces to the 1991 Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm.

In a number of recorded incidents, HMAS Brisbane encountered free floating mines, on one occasion narrowly avoiding a collision.

Both HMA Ships Brisbane and Sydney encountered significant air threat warnings from Iran and Iraq throughout the initial period of the commencement of the Desert Storm Campaign.

The detection of land based Silkworm anti-ship missiles from Iran throughout the campaign also added to the challenges for both crews as well as the multi-national Naval Forces.

Although Australia's contribution was primarily naval, a small contingent of Australian service personnel were seconded to British and United States ground troops.

[citation needed] The Royal Australian Air Force deployed a unit of photo interpreters who were based in Saudi Arabia.

[1] At the end of Desert Storm, 75 ADF personnel were deployed to Northern Iraq to assist in the provision of humanitarian aid to the Kurds living in the UN-declared exclusion zone.

[8] All Royal Australian Navy ships were coordinated from the Maritime Headquarters (MHQ) in the Garden Island Naval Precinct in Sydney.

[9] Australia's naval contribution to the 1991 Gulf War and the following period of sanctions manifested in ten incarnations of Operation Damask, that spanned from September 1990 until November 2001.

[10] Operation Damask I (6 September 1990 – 3 December 1990) Task Group 627.4 The first ships to leave port were Adelaide and Darwin on 13 August.

It was only when a US Marine detachment from Ogden fast-roped from helicopters on to the ship that she was brought to a stop enabling boarding parties from Darwin and Reasoner to conduct a search.

[14] On 3 December, the three ships were permitted by Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke to pass through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf.

[15] On 16 December, Sydney and Brisbane entered the Persian Gulf along with the rest of the Naval Task Force, and began to conduct maritime interception duties.

On 24 December, Sydney joined 5 other coalition ships to assist in the interception of the Iraqi-crewed Ibn Khaldoon, which was attempting to break the United Nations embargo.

After failing to respond, Sydney, as well as some of the other warships, inserted a boarding team to stop the ship, which they later found to have been carrying prohibited cargo.