Wish it had been this:
Posted on 01/11/2008 2:47:26 PM PST by granite
CAIRO, Egypt - The U.S. Navy said Friday that one of its ships fired warning shots at a small Iranian boat in the Strait of Hormuz in December during one of two serious encounters that month.
The USS Whidbey Island fired the warning shots on Dec. 19 in response to a small Iranian boat that was rapidly approaching it, said a U.S. Navy official.
"One small (Iranian) craft was coming toward it, and it stopped after the Whidbey Island fired warning shots," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
It was the first official confirmation that the United States had fired warning shots in any recent confrontation with Iran in the Gulf.
In the second incident that month, the USS Carr encountered three small Iranian craft on Dec. 22, two of which were armed, said the official. The USS Carr did not fire warning shots, but sent warning blasts on the ships whistle, which caused the boats to turn around.
The reports come a day after the United States lodged a formal diplomatic protest with Iran over an incident Sunday in which Iranian speedboats harassed U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.
Adm. William J. Fallon, the top U.S. military commander in the Mideast, said Friday that Iran runs the risk of triggering an unintended conflict if its boats continue to harass U.S. warships in the strait.
C'mon, guys. Where's that old jihadi spirit?
Wish it had been this:
Please ping the list
Firing a shot across their bow is an old nautical warning signal. What I would like to know is whether the US ships were at General Quarters. If they were, it means that they were manned and ready.
I can't tell you how much I hate this crap. Back when we used to actually try to win wars, both this "official" and the reporter would be in serious trouble. Now it's an everyday thing.
Probably not GQ, but definitely manned and ready.
I spent 4 years in the Navy and I have no idea what manned and ready means when being approached by a possibly hostile craft. What’s manned and ready as you describe it?
During my time we would have went to General Quarters.
Tremendous display of firepower. I’ll never forget it.
Sounds to me like the Iranians are testing the fences. How close can we get, how fast do they react? Not a bad way to collect data, and if you play this game often enough, a good way to get our ships to get lax on reaction.
I’m being intentionally vague, but generally speaking, a ship going through the Strait of Hormuz will have all or most of their guns and defensive systems manned up. After they get into the Gulf, some of those systems will stay manned up until well after the next time through, on the way home. From the article, it didn’t sound like they would have gone to full GQ, but they wouldn’t have to in order to shoot.
Cool. I always thought there was NOTHING as awe inspiring as a Battleship. I wish I could have seen one in action.
I saw the USS SARATOGA in drydock at Norfolk. I was amazed at how tight it was in the dock, the angle deck hung out over the sides.
Is a ship at GQ if it is in a position where it can receive fire?
An Iowa class BB would be better employed taking out the cruise missile shore batteries. Let the Frigates, or if we still had them the hydrofoils, take care of the speedboats.
So this was the 3rd incident in 2 wks. No wonder the regime tried to say it was normal, or ordinary - Was during that 2 wks.
The entire event took place over a half-hour time span, and the U.S. ships were at general quarters and "fully prepared to engage" throughout. At several points in the encounter, the IRGC boats took aggressive action and "maneuvered within 500 yards of our ships," and two of them dumped "floating objects" in front of the American vessels, forcing them to change course.
Holy moly ! Having seen only video of such things, I can't imagine what that must look and sound like.
BTW ...... Thanks for serving. ;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.