Near confrontation between American and Iranian Naval forces

A few hours ago the US DoD released this 4 minute video of the incident. Listen carefully..tell me what you think.

The link for the video is on the page below.

Here are some PIX of the Iranian boats. They appeared to be unarmed. Perhaps the Republican Guards on board are carrying small arms.You better believe it. And explosives could be onboard hidden in the hull.

PERSIAN GULF (Jan. 6, 2008) Small craft suspected to be from the Islamic Republic of Iran Revolutionary Guard Navy (IRGCN), maneuver aggressively in close proximity of the U.S. Navy Aegis-class cruiser USS Port Royal (CG 73), Aegis-class destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) and frigate USS Ingraham (FFG 61). All three ships were steaming in formation and had just completed a routine Strait of Hormuz transit. Coalition vessels, including U.S. Navy ships, routinely operate in the vicinity of both Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and IRGCN vessels and aircraft, without incident. U.S. Navy photo (Released)

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Those boats were pretty damn close to the USN ships. Now these were just small patrol boats that could carry nothing more than small arms or even be used for suicide operations (though scary, it may be impractical nowadays). However, it begs the question as to how effective the Iranian missile attack craft can be against USN naval ships in the event of a conflagration. This event may have been a test the Iranians conducted to see how close and how many boats the Iranians could bring out against the USN without the USN retaliating. Which bears another question: just why now? Why do this now?

The man from Chicago has an excellent point;

Those boats were pretty damn close to the USN ships. Now these were just small patrol boats that could carry nothing more than small arms or even be used for suicide operations (though scary, it may be impractical nowadays). However, it begs the question as to how effective the Iranian missile attack craft can be against USN naval ships in the event of a conflagration. This event may have been a test the Iranians conducted to see how close and how many boats the Iranians could bring out against the USN without the USN retaliating. Which bears another question: just why now? Why do this now?

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You could be 100%..The Iranians at this time may not fear the US attacking them because the US is fighting two wars with about 180,000 troops deployed.

I agree with Jeff and yourself that this could be just a test to see what the US would do in this situation. Much like the the taking of the RN personell eairler this year.

Those "Miami Vice cigar boats" the Iranians are using are very fast. The bow of the hull is large enough to carry some sort of explosive device that would pack quite a punch if they got close enough to an opposing force. As for Iranian missile boats they would never get that close. No need to. If they did launch an attack retalation would be swift and severe.

popeye,

the DoD link is dead and i couldn't find it on youtube. so it would be very nice of you if you can re-post it.

thanks.

more on the point of suicide attacks -- somehow, i find it kinda ironic to be wearing bright orange life vests if one were to launch a suicide attack.

Strange that they would be wearing life vests while on a "suicide mission."

Also strange the USN folks are asking "what's your intention"...... in English!!

Popeye, just curious, is it normal to communicate with foreign vessels in English??

panzerkom said:

popeye,

the DoD link is dead and i couldn't find it on youtube. so it would be very nice of you if you can re-post it.

thanks.

more on the point of suicide attacks -- somehow, i find it kinda ironic to be wearing bright orange life vests if one were to launch a suicide attack.

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Sorry about that link. Those orange life vest are probaly just a safety precaution like other navies. Weird though if they were really on a suicide mission...

Go to this page below and type Iran in the search on the lower left side of the page.

Popeye, just curious, is it normal to communicate with foreign vessels in English??

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Yes it is. English is the standard lanuage of the sea and air.

Those Iranian boat crews are damn brave. Why hasn't anyone posted the Iranian account of the incident, hmm?

Of course you have to be alert in such situations but since those in the speed boats started to make verbal taunts at the US Navy, it probably means they weren't really going to do anything. I never heard of the potential attacker/bomber "warn" their target right before the strike.