Courtney

You're quite right, that was totally uncalled for (although we seem to have slipped into that time warp again where the response comes before the post).

SAM

I apologise unreservedly for my barbed remarks and impugning your lack of knowledge of the English language; I believe it is even becoming acceptable to split the infinitive in modern English usage.

As for what might happen in the next 6 months, would you care for a little wager?

Mister B

I was just so shocked to see you do that! Spelling it "therfore". I couldn't believe it. :eek:

Some of the keys are a bit sticky......
from peeling clementines at my desk and stray juice squirting all over the place - you should see my monitor screen, yuk!:E

Mister B

Iran seems determined to ratchet up the pressure; it has announced new exercises for the Strait itself:

State media: Iran to hold military drills in the Strait of Hormuz - CNN.com

Presumably the objective will be to freak out oil tanker captains by firing around, though not at, them, perhaps causing a traffic jam of tankers at both ends of the Strait; it won't be foolish enough (one assumes!) to actually fire on a tanker, but presumably one of the aims is to call the UK/US's bluff and ask what exactly they intend to do to keep the strait open.

It's another move on the chessboard ...

B57 nuclear bomb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sea Kings, Vikings, and Orions dropping the B57 (called by some "a bucket of sunshine") was at one point in the cold war considered a viable ASW tactic.

However, you might want to note the following.
This roughly coincides with the follow on actions from an executive order signed by George H. W. Bush, president in 1991, to remove tactical nuclear weapons from US warships. Part of the peace dividend and post Cold War disarmament protocols and programs.

SAM, you are about twenty years out of date.

Also worthy of note: war is a political act, as are military acts of force short of war. The political fallout from dropping a nuclear depth bomb into the straits (if he had one to drop) is not something President Obama is willing to handle. There are allied nations in the Gulf Region who are absolutely not keen on their little pond glowing green in various spots.

Bet money on that one, my friend.

Obama and the Liberals continue to spend the way they are on bigger government....there will nothing but a few row boats and hand grenades for us to deploy to the region.

Hang on a mo'....tis an ill wind that blows no good....perhaps there is a consultancy opportunity close at hand? Anyone reasonably current on the use of DuPont Spinners for fishing?:oh:

Happy new year to all.

SAM
It's good to see your research (or lack of) and theories haven't changed over the Christmas period :O

And when will you learn to not put time limits on your ideas, you leave yourself wide open in such a fluid landscape.

.And as for dropping a tacical nuke in the Strait's, well, enough has been said about that.

.

500N,

Good to see you back!! Happy New Year. I'll give you time to catch up with all the current threads. The following might give you an idea:

Enjoy

would there be any risk to the oil-bearing strata from underwater nuclear explosions around Hormuz?

500N and COCL2 back on duty! Just in time. Welcome back both of you, happy New Year. I hope the hunting was good 500N.

Way out of my field here, but I think the small device required for use as a depth charge would have a very minimal effect on the underlying rock.

Unlikely, if you are dealing in tactical nuclear devices.

So, will Stennis deliver the fishermen back to an iranian port.

US Navy rescues Iranian fishermen from Somali pirates - Telegraph

Royal Navy sends its mighiest ship to take on the Iranian show of force in the Gulf

Didn't the Telegraph used to be a serious Newspaper? :ugh::ugh:

The 8,000 ton destroyer will carry 48 Sea Vipers that can also be used to shoot down fighters as well as sea skimming missiles. It will also carry a Lynx helicopter capable of carrying Sea Skua anti-ship missiles and is capable of embarking 60 special forces troops.

60 troops in a lynx; I've got to see that happen...!

Some history:

Tanker War 1984-1988

Part of the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s the Tanker War attracted much international interest and some US intervention. With Iran blocking Iraqi exports of oil via the Shatt-al-Arab waterway the war against Iran was turning against the Iraqis. Syria closed Iraq's pipeline to the Mediterranean and it looked like economics would straggle the Iraqi war effort. Despite the unpopularity of Iraqs government the other Arab states feared the fundamentalism of Iran much more and came to Iraqs rescue. Jordan opened Aqaba to Iraqi imports (mainly weapons) and new pipelines were constructed across the desert to the Red Sea and to Turkey. Iraqi exports went through Kuwait also and the Arab states also directly funded Iraq to the sum of about $60 billion.

The Tanker War started properly in 1984 when Iraq attacked Iranian tankers and the vital oil terminal at Kharg island. Iran struck back by attacking tankers carrying Iraqi oil from Kuwait and then any tanker of the Gulf states supporting Iraq. The air and small boat attacks did very little to damage the economies of either country and the price of oil was never seriously affected as Iran just moved it's shipping port to Larak Island in the straights of Hormuz.

In 1987 Kuwait persuaded the US to offer protection to its tanker fleet dragging the USA directly into the war. US warships soon began patrolling the gulf and on 17th May 1987 an Iraqi super-Etendard aircraft fired two exocet missiles at the USS Stark thinking she was an Iranian warship. Embarrassingly for the Americans the Stark's defences did not function and 37 US sailors died.

Whether or not the attack on the Stark was an accident remians an open question.

Also, the Stark's Phalanx system never got a chance to function because the Stark's commander did not function properly. One of the two Exocet warheads that penetrated the Stark apparently failed to detonate. Although badly damaged, the Stark was repaired and returned to sea for several more years.-- Elmo.

Iraq apologised for the incident and this was accepted. To ensure a repeat of the incident didn't happen again US, Iraqi and Saudi forces collaborated. Iran with some justification accused the US of helping Iraq. Iran began to sow the gulf with anti-ship mines. Several ships were hit, including the USS Samuel B. Roberts in April 1988. Tensions rose further when on 3 July 1988 an American warship shot down an Iranian airline in error.

Shooting down the Iranian Airbus was a low point for the modern USN.

The US retaliated to attack on the Stark and the damage to the by Samuel B. Roberts destroying Iranian warships and patrol boats further demonstrating to the Gulf states the American support of Iraq, embittering Iran, and illustrating how vulnerable military and civilian shipping is to attack in the Persian Gulf.

...

Tanker War 1984-1988

The Viper missiles are not fitted and released for service though! The 30 year old 4.5 Vickers will have to put on a good show, considering Phalanx isn't fitted either.

The Iran-Iraq Tanker War
 

'No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf' by Bradley Peniston describes salient events of the Tanker War in vivid detail. These include the Iraqi air-to-surface Exocet attack on the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate USS Stark on 17 May 1987, the mining of the US-flagged supertanker Bridgeton during Operation EARNEST WILL on 24 Jul 1987, the capture of the Iranian minelaying landing craft Iran Ajr on 22 Sep 1987, the mining of the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts on 14 Apr 1988 and the subsequent retribution exacted by US naval forces on Iranian forces and infrastructure during Operation PRAYING MANTIS on 18 Apr 1988. Click on the links for further details and photos.

This thread is awesome, it's properly cheering me up!

tonker,


Do a little research and check your facts before posting. You are wrong on both counts!

PL instead of T?

If there is any truth whatsoever in the caption I quoted.....WTF!

Why are we looking at a photo of a burning hulk and not of an oil slick on the surface of the sea?

Either...Iranian ships are very toughly built or our weapons are Tinker Toys!

The third option...and far most likely to be true...is the caption is pure bolderdash!


Note for the Record: The USS Samuel B. Roberts carries on the name of a very brave Ship and Crew from the Taffy 3 Battle during the Philippine Invasion during WWII.

"Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" is an absolute must read for anyone that is interested. Destroyer and Destroyer Escorts against Destroyers, Cruisers, and a Battle Ship....and prevailed!