Last weekend
Telegraph reported another unpredicted development that presumably was unexpected by the politicians...
Libya: Nato intercepts boats laying mines outside Misurata
Misurata has been under siege by forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi for several weeks and though rebels have managed to expel regime forces from the city itself, the enclave is isolated and remains dependent for much of its food and supplies on the sea link with the rebel capital Benghazi.
It appeared to be the first time sea mines have been used in the Libyan conflict.
“We have just seen Gaddafi forces floating anti-ship mines outside Misurata harbour today,” said British Brig. Rob Weighill, director of Nato operations in Libya.
“It again shows his complete disregard for international law and his willingness to attack humanitarian delivery efforts.
He added that Nato crews were disposing of the mines.
Yes Mr Cameron, we DO need a Navy!
Update (4/5/11):
The News from Pompey is
reporting Royal Navy involvement in dealing with these mines.
Plus there's talk of bombarding Libyan Government forces from the sea....
SDSR said nothing about this....
Update: 14/5/11.
SDSR also never predicated that
NGS would be needed.....
The words ‘Four-five, engage’ were issued after a salvo of rockets was launched at Liverpool as she and Allied warships tried to stop Colonel Gaddafi’s forces mining the waters off the port.
The destroyer’s main 4.5in gun responded with a series of withering blows which silenced the pro-government battery.
It’s the first time the main guns of the Royal Navy have been fired in anger since they plastered Saddam Hussein’s defences in the opening moments of the 2003 Iraq campaign.
After a break in Crete, Liverpool returned to waters off Libya for her second patrol to continue enforcing UN Security Council resolutions – preventing arms and munitions reaching Col Gaddafi and ensuring aid reaches the free peoples of Libya.
Pro-government forces have made sustained attempts to block the approaches to Misrata port with mines, including one thwarted by HMS Brocklesby a fortnight ago when the Portsmouth-based minehunter blew up a mine laid a mile or so off the harbour.
Last night Liverpool and other NATO warships were sent in to intercept inflatable boats seen approaching Misrata; the small fast craft are used to lay and anchor the mines to the seabed.
As the force moved in, one of the regime’s coastal batteries fired a salvo at Liverpool – which missed – and the destroyer immediately sent a response of steel and fire in the direction of the rocket launchers which promptly ceased firing.
The sweep by the Allied warships also caused the pro-Gaddafi boats to abandon their mining operation before laying their deadly ‘eggs’.
This action was also mentioned
here.
HMS Liverpool’s tangle with Libyan forces was the Royal Navy’s most-significant war action since the First Gulf War, a leading historian said.
Top naval historian Professor Andrew Lambert, of King’s College London, said: ‘In 1991, a silkworm missile was fired at a US warship and HMS Gloucester intercepted it with a Sea Dart missile. That was the last big thing until now.’
Prof Lambert argues yesterday’s attack demonstrates the increasing desperation of the Libyan regime.
He said: ‘It’s a highly unusual thing to happen. I sense Gaddafi is feeling the pressure and lashed out.
‘The role navies are playing is destroying Gaddafi’s Libya. Libya exports oil and the blockade has meant he has lost his ability to make money from the sea. This would not have been a random attack. These ships are squeezing the life out of Gaddafi’s regime and he’s fighting back.’
Nor did it predict the use of SSNs for both TLAM firing and other activities (
Sun article
here) in the Med...