Originally Posted by
Steepclimb
That's quite an English perception, unsporting old boy. You do realise it's a war? They're an enemy ship, a legitimate target. Same as the the rest of the navy moored in Bander Abbas. It's their Pearl Harbour.
Besides the wouldn't have simply surrendered. Martyrdom and all that is part of their culture. They'd have gone down fighting. All due respect to them.
If there is a war ongoing, then generally it is customary to issue a Declaration of War. If such a Declaration has not been issued then there is no reason to believe that a formal State of War exists. As such, that tends to indicate that actions during the not-a-war need to conform to different modalities than those that might pertain in the case of an actual war. Which would mean that things that on the one hand might be a legitimate target, might on the other hand be an illegitimate target.
We often call those actions, war crimes. Unless of course the laws of war have in fact nonetheless still been observed. On this occasion whilst I can see a lot of grandstanding by all involved, I can see little in the way of pukka formal declarations. Of the sort that I would hope to see, so as to make the situation clear and attributable to all, even if no actual declaration of war or hostilities were to have been made.
Such other non-declarations, which nonetheless make the legal situation clear, can be made in the most difficult of times, there is in fact past form in that area :
https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cg...90&context=ils
(and no, I am in no way suggesting that there have not been plenty of war crimes previously committed in this arena by all involved, which are worthy of prosecution, some much more so than others)
There is a reason that many countries who the USA might wish to offer full and unfettered support in all respects, are on this occasion rather reluctant. Check your news feed of choice to figure out which countries have been paying attention to law.
Personally I can only hope that out of this comes some good.
(This is all a separate matter to the technical professionalism of the people involved in using their respective systems and tools to their best effect in pursuit of their aims, whatever they may be)
(Generally one takes a ship full of cadets to an international naval review. I am sure that there will be evidence in due course as to whether this was so in this case.)