Free Republic

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy said Wednesday it will begin a new task force with allied countries to patrol the Red Sea after a series of attacks attributed to Yemen's Houthi rebels in a waterway that's essential to global trade. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, who oversees the Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet, declined four times to directly name the Iran-backed Houthis in his remarks to journalists announcing the task force. However, the Houthis have launched explosive-laden drone boats and mines into the waters of the Red Sea, which runs from Egypt's Suez Canal in the north, down...

U.S. 5th Fleet ships seized approximately 1,400 AK-47 assault rifles and 226,600 rounds of ammunition from a stateless fishing vessel during a flag verification boarding in accordance with customary international law in the North Arabian Sea, Dec. 20. U.S. Navy patrol coastal ships USS Tempest (PC 2) and USS Typhoon (PC 5) found the weapons during a search conducted by embarked U.S. Coast Guard personnel. The illicit weapons and ammunition were later transported to guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG 77) where they await final disposition. The stateless vessel was assessed to have originated in Iran and transited international waters along...

Iran appears to be getting ready to send a warning to the U.S. as it has moved a mock aircraft carrier out to sea presumably to destroy it in a live-fire exercise. The 650-foot long vessel with 16 fake fighter jets on deck – which bears resemblance to the Nimitz-class carriers that the U.S. Navy routinely sails into the Persian Gulf -- was pulled by a tugboat into the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to satellite images released Monday. “We cannot speak to what Iran hopes to gain by building this mockup, or what tactical value they would hope...

President Trump said Wednesday that he’s instructed the U.S. Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian gunboats harassing American ships, in the wake of a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf. “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea,” Trump tweeted. The encounter happened last week. Six U.S. Navy warships were conducting drills with US Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters off Iran last Wednesday when they were repeatedly harassed by 11 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy vessels, the U.S. Navy’s 5th...

U.S. 5th Fleet Commander Found Dead in Bahrain This post has been updated with additional details on the investigation. Vice Adm. Scott A. Stearney, commander of U.S. 5th Fleet, was found dead in his quarters in Bahrain on Saturday, according to a statement from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. While an investigation is ongoing, the death of Stearney will almost certainly be ruled a suicide, a U.S. defense official told USNI News. An official determination on the cause of death is expected by mid-week, USNI News has learned. A Navy spokesperson didn’t have additional information on the investigation...

Vice-admiral Scott Stearney, the head of US navy operations in the Middle East, has been found dead in Bahrain, with the military saying no foul play is suspected. Stearney was found dead on Saturday at his residence in the Gulf country. He took up the post in May of commander of US Naval Forces Central Command – including the US Fifth Fleet – and Combined Maritime Forces. “This is devastating news for the Stearney family, for the team at Fifth Fleet and for the entire Navy. Scott Stearney was a decorated naval warrior,” said a statement from Admiral John Richardson,...

Vice Adm. Scott A. Stearney, commander of U.S. 5th Fleet, was found dead in his quarters in Bahrain on Saturday, according to a statement from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. While an investigation is ongoing, the death of Stearney will almost certainly be ruled a suicide, a U.S. defense official told USNI News. An official determination on the cause of death is expected by mid-week, USNI News has learned.

© US Navy Vice Admiral Scott Stearney, the Navy’s top officer overseeing forces in the Middle East, died Saturday in what defense officials now call an “apparent suicide," CBS News reports . Stearney, who was the commander of the military branch’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, was found dead in his residence, the Navy confirmed earlier on Saturday. Paul Schlise, the deputy commander of Fifth Fleet, will assume command in his place. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating Stearney's death in addition to the Bahraini Ministry of Interior. However, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in a...

The top admiral overseeing US Naval forces in the Middle East, Vice Adm. Scott Stearney, was found dead in his residence in Bahrain on Saturday, the Navy said in a statement. While his death is being investigated, officials say there is no evidence of foul play at this time. "This is devastating news for the Stearney family, for the team at Fifth Fleet, and for the entire Navy," Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, told CNN Saturday. "Adm. Stearney was a decorated professional and a devoted father, a devoted husband and a good friend."

A new discovery off the coast of Bahrain is estimated to contain at least 80 billion barrels of tight oil, the kingdom's biggest ever find, its oil minister said on Wednesday. Independent appraisals by U.S.-based oil consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton and oilfield services company Halliburton had confirmed Bahrain's find of "highly significant quantities of oil in place ... with tight oil amounting to at least 80 billion barrels, and deep gas reserves in the region of 10-20 trillion cubic feet," Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Khalifa said. Russia's entire oil reserve is 80 billion barrels. Tight oil is a...

A U.S. coastal patrol ship faced seven Iranian Republican Guard Corps Navy fast in-shore attack craft before swerving to avoid crashing into one on Sunday, according to a 5th Fleet spokesman. The incident is the latest in a series of interactions the Navy has called "dangerous and unprofessional" in a year that has seen more run-ins between U.S. and Iranian ships than in recent memory. Iranian vessels harassed destroyers and PCs in four incidents in late August, resulting in warning shots in one case.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Guantanamo war crimes prosecutions of five prisoners charged with plotting the September 11 hijacked planes attacks will be delayed by two months because of lost files caused by Pentagon computer problems, U.S. military officials said on Wednesday. A weeklong pretrial hearing had been set to begin on Monday in the death penalty case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the attacks, and four alleged co-conspirators. The judge overseeing the case postponed the hearing until June 17 at the request of defense lawyers who said three to four weeks' worth of their confidential work files had...

(CNN) -- The U.S. Navy said Iran's threat to block the strategically and economically important Strait of Hormuz is unacceptable. "The free flow of goods and services through the Strait of Hormuz is vital to regional and global prosperity," Navy 5th Fleet in Bahrain spokeswoman Cmdr. Amy Derrick Frost told reporters on Wednesday. "Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated." The 34-mile-wide shipping channel leads in and out of the Persian Gulf between Iran and Oman. It is strategically important because tankers...

US fleet may quit troubled Bahrain Hugh Tomlinson From:The Australian THE US Navy is looking at plans to move its Fifth Fleet away from Bahrain amid fears over violence and continued instability in the Gulf kingdom. Sources in Washington and the Gulf have confirmed a growing consensus around the idea of relocating the fleet after the recent crackdown on anti-government protests that left at least 32 dead. Politicians in Washington are concerned the navy's continued presence a few kilometres from the centre of the capital Manama lends tacit support to Bahrain's suppression of the opposition, amid allegations of systematic human...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2009 – A new patrol in the U.S. Central Command is working to make it unprofitable to be a pirate, the commander of U.S. Navy Central Command and 5th Fleet said today. Acts of piracy have “spiked” off the coast of Somalia with merchant vessels and crews being held for millions in ransom by pirates using AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and ladders to take “low and slow” ships traversing one of the world’s busiest sea lanes. The pirates come from a clan based on the northern coast of Somalia, Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney said,...

Top Iranian Army commander Major General Ataollah Salehi said Sunday that the recent war rhetoric against the country has prompted Iran's military brass to task analysts with developing quick-reaction contingency plans. The general said the "heavy weight" of enemy warships provides the Iranian side with an ideal opportunity for launching successful counter-attacks. This is while earlier in June, The New York Sun reported that America's intelligence analysts were poring over scenarios for an Iranian attack on the US 5th Fleet, located in Bahrain.

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2008 – U.S. 5th Fleet officials today expressed regret for the death of an Egyptian citizen who died the night of March 24, an apparent result of warning shots fired at a small boat approaching a ship chartered by the U.S. Navy. “We express our deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased,” Vice Adm. Kevin J. Cosgriff, 5th Fleet commander. “We are greatly saddened by events that apparently resulted in this accidental death. This situation is tragic, and we will do our utmost to help take care of the family of the deceased.” The U.S. Navy’s...

Three U.S. Navy Ships Approached by Iranian Boats Story Number: NNS080107-05 Release Date: 1/7/2008 11:41:00 AM From Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs BAHRAIN (NNS) -- 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...

Friends come and go, but shipmates are forever. Okay Freepers I know many of you have been reading and hearing details of the Iranians harassment of our warships entering the gulf. My shipmate/friend states that many of the crewmembers onboard are angry about how the story is being reported in the press and that family members have been emailing his boat to the point that email has been taken offline. Before going offline, my friend stated that the crews of all three ship responded as their training required and it was this training that proved superior to that of the...

Breaking News U.S. officials: 5 Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats harassed, provoked 3 U.S. Navy warships in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.