Tanker War Redux

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 10.05.2021

US ship fires warning shots at Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf

The US navy has used gunfire to chase off Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf for the second time in a few weeks. It took two rounds of fire before the boats turned back.

A US navy coast guard ship fired off two salvos of machine-gun fire as a warning to rapidly approaching Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the US Defense Ministry said.

The 13 fast boats belonging to the Iranian paramilitary group, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were carrying out "unsafe and unprofessional" maneuvers, the Pentagon said.

The boats came within 150 yards (137 meters) of several US Navy ships, including the guided-missile cruiser, USS Monterey, before turning back.

"Sadly, harassment by the IRGC Navy is not a new phenomenon. It is something that all of our commanding officers and the crews of our vessels are trained for," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said.

"This activity is the kind of activity that could lead to somebody getting hurt and could lead to a real miscalculation there in the region, and that doesn't serve anybody's interests."

Increased activity in the Persian Gulf

The USS Monterey had intercepted a boat carrying arms shipments on Sunday in the Arabian Sea, the destination of which was suspected to be Yemen where Iran-backed Houthi rebels are fighting an ongoing war against the Saudi-backed government.

Kirby said that the Iranian boats on Monday were "acting very aggressively."

It took two rounds of warning shots from the coast guard cutter Maui to scare the IRGC boats off.

A similar event happened late last month when IRGC vessels came too close to a patrol line in the northern end of the Persian Gulf near Kuwait. The warning shots fired then were the first in almost four years.

The US and Iran are involved in ongoing, indirect negotiations in Vienna over a possible return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

https://www.dw.com/en/us-ship-fires-warning-shots-at-iranian-vessels-in-the-persian-gulf/a-57488697

[Stuart Galbraith]

Israeli Tanker.

[Josh]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this probably wasn't pirates.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Oh you little cynic you!

I don't know why we aren't sticking limpet mines in theirs in port. We have had the capability for well over 70 years.

[Josh]

IMO, its mostly Israel's problem. If the US or UK wanted to do something about it, just find some IRGC ships and sink them with aircraft. I don't think there's any need for subtlety.

[Nobu]

I don't think there is much fear of Iranian retaliation, either.

I would not want to be in their shoes, to put it mildly.

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

 

[Daan]

This cycle of escalation at sea could turn costly for both countries if carried on.

[Stuart Galbraith]

I think the Iranians have a LOT more to lose. What happens if Israel gets pissed off and bombs their oil terminals? Look at the 1986 Libyan bombing to see how you can really damage a regime.

[RETAC21]

3 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

I think the Iranians have a LOT more to lose. What happens if Israel gets pissed off and bombs their oil terminals? Look at the 1986 Libyan bombing to see how you can really damage a regime.

What happens if Israel gets really pissed off and starts sinking Iranian tankers with their submarines, so no one knows who did it?

[Stuart Galbraith]

Yes, that too. We could  do it as well of course. With a bit of luck we might have some Mk8's knocking around in the back of the store....

It wouldnt be that difficult to sink them at anchor using explosive charges. Ok, so there is slightly more risk, but I dont see their revolutionary guard as being a particularly competent outfit. That way you get two for the price of one, sink an oil tanker, block the facilities. Then the rest of the world can Tut Tut the safety regime in Iranian ports. Or something.

[JasonJ]

Iranian tankers have been hit in 2019 so Iran should be able to expect that level of retaliation.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-says-three-tankers-attacked-in-red-sea-in-six-month-period/amp/

[Stuart Galbraith]

Britain is sending investigators to the Gulf.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/uk-dispatches-team-to-gulf-as-it-plans-response-to-iran-drone-attack/ar-AAMPKYy?ocid=uxbndlbing

Which might seem a little prosaic, except it occurs to me that if we WERE intending  to take action, we would probably want a solid case to put towards the attorney general, or indeed before Parliament for that matter. After all, we are due a 65000 aircraft carrier to start heading back in a month or so which would probably be ideal if we fancied pretending to be a maritime superpower again....

All speculation on my part, but my gut feeling is that Iran might just have screwed up.

[Daan]

What would that response be? Sail around and show the flag? I bet the Iranians will be impressed. Iran may be hurt by certain measures, but it can escalate as well and it seems willing to incur some pain in the process. This is the cycle we have witnessed over the last year vis a vis Israel with the latter engaging Iran's terror flotilla and Iran responding with attacks against Israeli commercial shipping.

[Stuart Galbraith]

I could see them bombing something. Probably in Syra, but conceivably in Iran. We are fed up to the back teeth with them.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Some more photos here.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41795/u-s-threatens-appropriate-response-after-blaming-iran-for-drone-attack-on-tanker

[TrustMe]

14 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

I think the Iranians have a LOT more to lose. What happens if Israel gets pissed off and bombs their oil terminals? Look at the 1986 Libyan bombing to see how you can really damage a regime.

Most of the aircraft in that raid either missed there targets or didn't release there bombs due to navigational errors. It was a big cluster fuck basically.

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

 

This has not been confirmed, but I thought it worth sharing.

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

Lots of conflicting claims online, including a claim it was an attempted hijacking. At least two ships seem to be involved. I wouldn't rule out a collision just yet.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Stuart Galbraith

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

The crew apparently disabled the engines so they couldn't sail towards Iran.

[Daan]

The Drive discusses some additional information and pictures as released by the US DoD:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41871/everything-we-just-learned-about-the-fatal-iranian-drone-attack-on-a-tanker

Interestingly, the M/T Mercer Street was attacked twice previously on July 29th with the UAVs crashing into the sea and the ship's crew collecting some debris.

Edited August 7, 2021 by Daan

[Nobu]

Leave it to the Iranians to effectively forewarn a more technologically capable adversary of a potential ace up their sleeves, in exchange for essentially, nothing.