Timeline of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu The 1993 Battle of Mogadishu , more commonly known as Black Hawk Down , was detailed by the U . S . Army and lasted from October 3 to October 4 in 1993 . October 3 , 1993 . Afternoon . 13 : 50 — Task Force Ranger analysts receive intelligence of Salad ' s location . 14 : 49 — Habr Gidr clan leaders , two principal targets , and the United Nations Corporation located at a residence in central Mogadishu , Somalia . 15 : 32 — Official force launch , consisting of 119 vehicles , twelve aircraft , and 160 men . 15 : 42 — Official assault begins . 1st SFOD - D soldiers hit the target house . Four Ranger chalks fast - rope in . One Ranger , Private First Class Todd Blackburn , misses the rope and falls 70 feet to the street . 15 : 47 — Large crowds of Somalians begin converging on the target area . 15 : 58 — One of the vehicles , a five - ton truck , is hit and disabled by a rocket propelled grenade . Twenty - seven American soldiers are wounded . 16 : 00 — Groups of armed Somalians begin converging on the target area from all over Mogadishu . 16 : 02 — Targets acquired . Assault force reports both clan leaders and about 210 others in custody . As the force prepares to pull out , three vehicles are detached to rush the wounded Private Blackburn back to the base . 16 : 15 — The convoy is delayed and does not move out due to confusion about whom is signalling whom . It turns out delta was waiting for the convoy to signal them while the convoy was waiting for delta to signal them . Prisoners are eventually loaded after the delta teams move the prisoners to the trucks . 16 : 20 — First helicopter crash . Black Hawk " Super 6 - 1 " is hit by a rocket propelled grenade and crashes five blocks northeast of the target building . 16 : 22 — Crowds of armed Somalians start racing towards the Super 61 crash site . 16 : 26 — Humvee Convoy starts moving . When the prisoners are loaded up , the convoy and ground forces all begin moving towards the crashed helicopter . Black Hawk Super 64 , piloted by Michael Durant , takes the place of Black Hawk " Super 6 - 1 " in orbit over the city . 16 : 28 — Search and rescue of Black Hawk " Super 6 - 1 " : search and rescue team ropes in to assist the crew of the crashed helicopter . Both pilot and co - pilot are dead . 16 : 35 — Convoy makes a wrong turn and gets lost among the city streets , sustaining heavy casualties by Somalian snipers and armed militia . 16 : 40 — Second helicopter crash ( " Super 6 - 4 " ) . Mike Durant ' s Black Hawk , Super 64 , is hit by another Somali rocket propelled grenade , and crashes about a mile southwest of the target building . Hostile crowds of Somalians begin moving toward it as well . 16 : 42 — Two Delta Force snipers , Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon , are inserted by helicopter at their own request to help protect the injured Durant and his crew . 16 : 54 — HMMWV convoy abandons Black Hawk " Super 6 - 1 " search . The Lost Convoy , with more than half of its force either wounded or dead , abandons its search for the first downed Black Hawk and begins fighting its way back to the base . 17 : 03 — Quick Reaction Force convoy ( a smaller , emergency convoy ) dispatched from Command and Control in an attempt to rescue the men stranded at Durant ' s crash site . It encounters immediate obstacles . 17 : 34 — QRF and the Lost Convoy decides to return to base . Both convoys , having sustained heavy casualties , link up and abandon the efforts to break through to Durant . The remainder of the ground force of Rangers and commandos is converging around the first crash site , sustaining many casualties . Ranger Corporal Jamie Smith is among those shot . 17 : 40 — Snipers Shughart and Gordon are killed . Somali crowds overrun Durant ' s crash site , killing Shughart , Gordon , and every member of the crew , except Durant , who is carried off by militia through the city . 17 : 45 — Both convoys return to the base . 99 men remain trapped and surrounded in the city around the first downed Black Hawk . Corporal Smith bleeding heavily , medic requests immediate evacuation . 19 : 08 — Black Hawk Super 66 makes a daring re - supply run , dropping water , ammunition and medical supplies to the trapped force . It is badly damaged , cannot land to evacuate Corporal Smith , and limps back to base . 20 : 27 — Ranger Corporal Jamie Smith dies . 21 : 00 — Joint Task Force Command requests assistance from other commands . The Rescue Convoy is formed of two companies of 10th Mt . Division troops along with the remainder of Task Force Ranger , Pakistani tanks and Malaysian armored vehicles , forms at Mogadishu ' s New Port , and begins planning the rescue . 23 : 23 — The rescue convoy moves out , but as it approaches the crash site there is a large explosion in the city which severely damages the convoy and makes the rescue almost impossible . However , a stockpile of rocket propelled grenades in the city allows them to be used to great effect . A large proportion of the population was affected by power outages due to the Americans destroying electrical substations in Mogadishu . October 4 , 1993 . At Midnight 00 : 00 ( 24 : 00 ) , the Rangers are still trapped inside Mogadishu without essential equipment , such as night vision device s . 01 : 55 — Rescue convoy reaches the trapped Ranger force . A second half of the convoy reaches the site of Durant ' s downed Black Hawk . Durant and his crew are missing . 03 : 00 — Forces are still struggling to remove the pinned body of Clifton " Elvis " Wolcott , pilot of downed Super Six One . 05 : 30 — Rangers start moving from the city to the Pakistani Stadium , on foot . Wolcott ' s body is finally recovered . Vehicles roll out of the city . Elements of the Rangers are left to run to a rendez - vous point on National Street , covering the vehicles whilst enduring gunfire during the exfiltration . The road they take is known as the Mogadishu Mile . 06 : 30 — The force returns to the Pakistani Stadium . 13 Americans are confirmed dead or mortally wounded , 73 injured , and 6 missing in action ( 5 are later confirmed dead , raising the death toll to 18 , and 1 taken prisoner ) .