Posted on 04/21/2015 9:57:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A U.S. aircraft carrier and its warplanes are shadowing an Iranian convoy approaching Yemen, Pentagon sources told Fox News, amid suspicions that the ships may be carrying weapons for rebel fighters.
Sources told Fox News that the USS Theodore Roosevelt is not only tracking the convoy, but also launching F/A-18 Hornets to conduct "manned reconnaissance" of the estimated nine ships in the Iranian convoy.
The movements escalate a standoff in the waters off Yemen, even as the U.S. and other world powers are trying to hammer out a diplomatic deal with Iran on its nuclear program. Already, the U.S. and its allies are engaged in a proxy war of sorts with Iran, backing a coalition trying to beat back the Houthi fighters as Iran allegedly provides support to those rebels.
Navy officials confirmed Monday that the USS Theodore Roosevelt -- along with her escort ship, the USS Normandy, a guided-missile cruiser -- had been dispatched to the Arabian Sea to help enforce a blockade of any Iranian weapons shipments to Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Iranian convoy consists of a mix of freighters, suspected of carrying those weapons, and warships.
The convoy is about to cross over from waters off the coast of Oman to those off the coast of Yemen, in the Arabian Sea. The Iranian convoy is steaming toward an unknown port in Yemen.
The Iranian Navy ships are characterized as "smaller than destroyers," according to a Pentagon official with knowledge of the convoy. Asked what type of weapons the freighters are carrying, one Pentagon official said, "they are bigger than small arms."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
One is enough but you can bet your next month’s pay that it is there. It will be a fast attack and it will be quite adequate to shield the carrier. More than one gets in each others way. A Boomer might be near by but they stand off. Their job is to be quiet and the noise of a task force screws up their mission. Just remember that if a fast attack has to unload its tubes the surface nearby will be peaceful for quite some time.-——Semper Fi
Those darn pirates. Look at what they did. They sunk a bunch of Iranian tubs at night. Dang it. Isn’t that what Iran said they were doing there? Fighting pirates? Them dang pirates were stronger than they thought. And it all happened at night. Dang shame.
It there an acronym for “lunch for a Phalanx” ?
I wonder how many 688’s are also shadowing the Iranians?
I can remember when those African guys called themselves “night fighters” . Must be some of the same bunch? “Night Sailors?”
People say I’m silly for suggesting this, but America really should reactivate the New Jersey, BB-62. Giver her an atomic power plant, new ammo for her 16 inch guns, plus plenty modern weaponry up to and including lasers.
Why?
Not just because of the huge offensive punch she’ll pack — Because of her armor!
Push that beautiful lady into the way of an Iranian convoy — and I mean literally block their path) and see if they don’t change course.
Good. Let them try. Well --- let them try ASSUMING our CINC hasn't given the battle group commander permanent orders to stand down AND that Obama has not yet so decimated the command of our military with his political flackies that we'd be incompetent in our military response.
Bolstering the muslim Navy.
According to Fox cable news the task force* consists of:
Aircraft Carrier
USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71
Guided Missile Cruiser
USS Normandy CG-60
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers
USS Forrest Sherman DDG-98
USS Winston S. Churchill DDG-81
Amphibious Assault Ship
USS Iwo Jima LHD-71 (1,800 Marines)
Amphibious Transport Dock
USS New York LPD-21 (700 Marines)
Dock Landing Ship
USS Fort McHenry LSD-43 (400 Marines plus 21 LCM-6s)
Mine Sweepers
USS Dexterous MCM-13
USS Sentry MCM-3
* Marine Complements are my estimates derived from Wikipedia entries
U.S. STRIKES 2 IRANIAN OIL RIGS AND HITS 6 WARSHIPS IN BATTLES OVER MINING SEA LANES IN GULF
By JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr., Special to the New York Times
Published: April 19, 1988
WASHINGTON, April 18— The United States Navy clashed with Iranian forces across the southern half of the Persian Gulf today, crippling or sinking six armed Iranian vessels. One American attack helicopter was reported missing.
The attacks began when six American ships destroyed two Iranian oil platforms in what the Reagan Administration said was retaliation for the mining that damaged a Navy vessel last week.
Link to rest of article: http://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/19/world/us-strikes-2-iranian-oil-rigs-hits-6-warships-battles-over-mining-sea-lanes-gulf.html?pagewanted=1
This occurred a year after my deployment to the I-O (Indian Ocean) aboard the USS America CV-66 as an A-6 Bombardier... The Iranians learned fast not to mess with the Navy or the United States... could be deja vu all over again.
Actually a couple of years.... the mind grows foggy at times.
No. Funny things happen at night when no one can see. It doesn’t have anything to do with Americans of African Descent.
So we are “shadowing”....so what! And when we see them unloading weapons our White House cowards will do what? No doubt ask for a “negotiation” and then back off again.
What may be the primary mission is to have the Navy “take over” the air campaign in Yemen. Saudi Air Force has announced it is standing down.
I hope not....changing the mission from muslims killing muslims to the USA killing muslims can’t be in our best interest. Let allah sort it out and we will deal with those left standing.
Obama will not get tough with his muslim brothers.
Unfortunately, I believe that this is an escort mission.
Obama has set us up for failure. No way he is going to attack those Iranian ships. He desperately wants that nuclear deal and will do anything to get it.
And you’re right; in the end our ships will be there only to “maintain the peace”. In the process we will be made to look even weaker and the U.S. will be taken down yet another notch.
As usual, the “Republican controlled congress” will sit there and do nothing. Situation normal.
Unfortunately, I believe that this is an escort mission.
***************
Unfortunately, I believe you’re right.
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