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test bd said:

A shameful chapter comes to an end for the Obama administration... the US should have not apologized for anything. there was no hostile intent. Just my opinion.

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Well...the US could thank the Iranian for picking up those sailor who got drifted after their boats engines failed and than released them after a day later. There's no harm in that. They didn't get tortured or anything like that either.

test bd said:

A shameful chapter comes to an end for the Obama administration... the US should have not apologized for anything. there was no hostile intent. Just my opinion.

Why those sailors "got lost/confused" is a mystery to me. A retired USN commander thinks that the crews may have had electronic failure and did not properly use what other navigation aids they had.

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The story so far is confusing and in some ways contradictory. I am looking to the USN to eventually issue a public statement to clarify the events once they have conducted an investigation. There is just too much spin coming out of the WH to have any degree of credibility to reasonably explain the situation. There seems to be some confusion as to whether it was a propulsion or navigation problem depending on source. Hard to accept from a number of perspective such as ; (i) failure of equipment with no corresponding assistance from accompanying vessel; (ii) lack of communication with base if there was some kind of problem; and (iii) the nature of the transit, navigation route and the choice of vessel without accompanying escort given the nature of the area is just inexplicable.

Excellent post Brumby. EXCELLENT!!

This is all the USN is disclosing at this point;

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- Ten U.S. Navy Sailors safely returned to U.S. custody today, after departing Iran. There are no indications that the Sailors were harmed during their brief detention.

The Sailors departed Farsi Island at 8:43 a.m. (GMT), aboard the two Riverine Command Boats (RCB) that they had been operating when they lost contact with the U.S. Navy. The Sailors were later transferred ashore by U.S. Navy aircraft, while other Sailors took charge of the RCBs and continued transiting toward Bahrain, the boats' original destination.

The Navy will investigate the circumstances that led to the Sailors' presence in Iran.

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Ya' gotta know the spin doctors are hard at work. They may have to burn the midnight oil!

Equation said:

Well...the US could thank the Iranian for picking up those sailor who got drifted after their boats engines failed and than released them after a day later. There's no harm in that. They didn't get tortured or anything like that either.

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a thank you? ..YES! an apology?..no way!

test bd said:

Excellent post Brumby. EXCELLENT!!

This is all the USN is disclosing at this point;

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Ya' gotta know the spin doctors are hard at work. They may have to burn the midnight oil!



a thank you? ..YES! an apology?..no way!

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Well, they videoed the apology...sickening

The stories are all over the place on this.

One day we will know what really happened. But I have now seen videos of the capture. here's one:


Two heavily armed Riverine command boats being taking into custody by some very small, lightly armed craft.

I know that both boats engines did not fail simultaneously...unless they were knocked out by something.

Those boats are VEY fast. And they are heavily armed with .50 cals, .30 cals, grenade launchers, and even 25,mm cannons. either their engines were disables or they were ordered to stand down.

Equation said:

Well...the US could thank the Iranian for picking up those sailor who got drifted after their boats engines failed and than released them after a day later. There's no harm in that. They didn't get tortured or anything like that either.

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Please, equation. Those vessels did not fail simultaneously. There is a LOT more to this story than what we are hearing.

Anytime an adversarial Navy takes your vessels and your people...for a day...or ten hours...it is not a good thing, and not something to thank them for.

If the vessels had been burning and they rescued them to save their lives...that would be different. But that is not what happened. Something else is going on here.

I am glad they are back...but I want to know what happened and why. In time...we will know those things.

Jeff Head said:

Two heavily armed Riverine command boats being taking into custody by some very small, lightly armed craft.

I know that both boats engines did not fail simultaneously...unless they were knocked out by something.

Those boats are VEY fast. And they are heavily armed with .50 cals, .30 cals, grenade launchers, and even 25,mm cannons. either their engines were disables or they were ordered to stand down.

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The fact that the boats were able to continue with the journey once they were released would suggest it is likely not a mechanical problem associated with propulsion. One suggestion I have seen that may be plausible given the patchy disclosure is that their GPS were spoofed (both vessels) and communications jammed. It might explain why they possibly could have ended up on the Iranian side and lost contact with base. If one of the vessel had navigation mal function then it is likely it would be corrected by the accompanying vessel. If reports suggesting that their GPS equipment were confiscated and not returned (unconfirmed) would add credence to this possibility. If they did navigate into Iranian territory unintentionally because they were spoofed it is probably prudent in the way they had to deal with the situation in light of standing ROE's and political climate. Not a good outcome nevertheless.

Here's the rub:
1. It's unlikely that both riverine boat have engine troubles at once
2. Limited footage shows both are standardly armed, but the aft stations were not mounted with MG as would during combat scenarios
3. Sailors wearing AOR2 pattern not the standard navy pattern uniforms...ok, riverine boats are typically used by spec ops and sailors supporting spec ops wears AOR2, no secret here...
4. By the look of the sailors and their personal gear, plus what stored at the cabin, it doesn't look anything more than a transit run - anything else, you'd expect them pack more heat

So far, it seems that both sides buy the story that this is no more than an accident, and the Iranians after having their fun / fuss let the men and boats leave...given that you'd expect much more drums and flare from Tehran, but even they played this unusually cool this time round, could it be this simple of a stray run-in?

It's been largely overlooked...but the US Navy put three Burkes in the water in 2015.

What is amazing is that Ingalls showed it can do two ships in nine months. (That would be four every three years if they maintained that pace)

Here are the three

DDG-113 in March by Ingalls



DDG-114 in December by Ingalls



DDG-115 in October by Bath



So far, 37 Burke IIAs have been put in the water, and 28 Burke I and II before that. 65 Burkes currently in the water and that was done since 1989, or in 26 years.

A phenomenal run.

Eight more Burke IIAs are on order (with two of them already under construction. That will make 45 Burke IIAs altogether, and 73 all told.

Three Burke IIs are already approved, funded, and ordered. Probably 17 more of them will be built after that.

Jeff Head said:

Please, equation. Those vessels did not fail simultaneously. There is a LOT more to this story than what we are hearing.

Anytime an adversarial Navy takes your vessels and your people...for a day...or ten hours...it is not a good thing, and not something to thank them for.

If the vessels had been burning and they rescued them to save their lives...that would be different. But that is not what happened. Something else is going on here.

I am glad they are back...but I want to know what happened and why. In time...we will know those things.

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We don't know the whole truth yet, but the fact of the matter is that the American sailors were apprehended after their boats were adrift into Iranian waters for whatever reasons. They were taken into Iranian custody for awhile and than released along with US sailors boats that they came from. Adversary navy's or not they did treated them pretty good and that's saying a lot consider the contentious political history between these two nations. We can be thankful nothing worse could have happen. Yeah our pride may be hurt but...so what, the sailors lives were safe and back home to the US side.

Equation said:

We can be thankful nothing worse could have happen.

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It is a lot more than pride...but I agree, and am thankful that they are safely home.

One day we will know more...and I expect when we do, we will find that it is not at all like this admin is spinning it...sort of like Benghazi.

But...as you say, they are safely home.