We'll be looking for the details of this story and will update as they come. CNN is reporting of an 'incident' on Saturday...The U.S. military reported Monday on a "significant" confrontation involving five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats that "harrassed and provoked" three U.S. naval ships in international waters over the weekend.
U.S. military officials said the incident occurred Saturday night in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping channel leading in and out of the Persian Gulf.
The five Iranian ships made "threatening" moves -- in one case coming within 200 yards of a U.S. ship, the U.S. officials said.
In one radio transmission, the Iranians told the U.S. Navy: "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," the U.S. military officials told CNN.
When the U.S. ships heard that radio transmission, they manned their gun positions and officers were "in the process" of giving the order to fire when the Iranians abruptly turned away, the U.S. officials said.
No shots were fired and no one was injured in the confrontation.
I have a question, why wouldn't the warships not already be at stations while in transit, in narrow passages that should be doctrine. This might sound harsh, but someone over in the 5th fleet is too relaxed if that policy has changed.
One of the Iranian ships had been dropping white boxes into the water in front of the U.S. ships, the officials told CNN.
Oh really? It might sound like overkill, but someone over in 5th Fleet should make it a priority to account for every box. Every single one. Mines don't look like they did 2 decades ago, they look like debris. Iran has an enormous mine inventory, and most are very sophisticated, meaning they can be laid now and activated later. Even if it ends up all boxes dropped are decoys, this is what I call an excellent opportunity for a MIW training evolution. God knows we could use the practice, particularly in those specific waters.
The Navy will never have a better justification to do it in those waters either, and yes I'm factoring the LOTS into that comment as well.
BTW, we acknowledge this event probably only occurred in a span of a few minutes. Going by the few details provided, fewer than 5 minutes is probably accurate. That is why we see this as an issue to be addressed through doctrine, every ship that deploys to the 5th Fleet trains for 5 months before a deployment so they are already prepared when those 5 minutes occur.
Update1: Fox is reporting more details.
The incident occurred at about 5 a.m. local time Sunday as a U.S. Navy cruiser,
destroyer and frigate were on their way into the Persian Gulf and passing
through the strait _ a major oil shipping route.
That would imply it was the USS Port Royal (CG 73), USS Hopper (DDG 70), and USS Ingraham (FFG 61) attached to the Tarawa Strike Group. This fits the pattern, the USS Truman was reported to be in the Gulf this weekend by the Arab press, and the US Navy typically keeps a CG near the Iraqi oil terminals. It is very likely these ships are moving into the Gulf to replace the Truman CSG ships that have been holding station since the Kearsarge ESG departed last week.
Update2: Spook86 has analysis as well.
Update3: Op-For is discussing. I tend to side with Bull on this, professional to the core in handling a tough situation. Could have turned ugly, didn't, results speak loud and clear. We have some calls out to get some details, something about that CNN report doesn't sound right, we're guessing the guns were manned, locked, and loaded prior to any radio traffic if this indeed happened in the Strait, and this story is some reporter getting loose with the details.
Update4: The Navy has an official release out. We note it offers a specific time of the event, but the time is different depending upon which news article you are reading. Navy Times, for example, is quoting the Pentagon and offering a different time.
Following a routine transit through the Strait of Hormuz, Jan. 6, three
U.S. Navy ships operating in international waters in the Persian Gulf were
approached by five Iranian small boats that demonstrated irresponsible
confrontational behavior near the U.S. ships.
U.S. Navy ships USS Port Royal (CG 73), USS Hopper (DDG 70) and USS
Ingraham (FFG 61) were steaming in formation at approximately 8 a.m. as they
finished a routine Strait of Hormuz transit when five boats, suspected to be
from the Islamic Republic of Iran Revolutionary Guard Navy (IRGCN), maneuvered aggressively in close proximity of the Hopper. Following standard procedure,
Hopper issued warnings, attempted to establish communications with the small
boats and conducted evasive maneuvering.
Coalition vessels, including U.S. Navy ships, routinely operate in the
vicinity of both Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and IRGCN vessels and aircraft.
These interactions are always correct on the U.S. part and reflect a commitment
to accepted tenets of international law and common practice.
The release confirms our identification of the ships involved.
We would encourage the Navy to release the audio recording of the radio transmissions. The Iranian response has set up a classic case of he said /she said over this incident, and it would do the Navy well, not to mention US policy well to establish US credibility, not only from an international political perspective but also for the domestic political crowd that is stupid enough to believe this could be the next Gulf of Tonkin incident. The release of the radio transmissions would discredit that parade of stupidity in analysis quickly, and highlight how thoughtless partisans must be to believe the officers and crews of our warships are looking for a shooting war 20 miles off the Iranian coast.
The IRGC is a terrorist organization by law in the United States. Law, not because of executive order, but because of Congressional vote. Thank Tom Lantos if you don't like it, personally I thank him because I do think it was the right thing to do. When dealing with terrorists, understanding the battlefield is in the sphere of public opinion is just as important as understanding it is taking place in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. A recording of the radio transmission from the Iranians would be a bigger blow than what would have been produced filling 5 FACs with bullets from the USS Hopper (DDG 70).
Final Update: Summery of facts and analysis here.
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