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Originally Posted by Ninthace
(Post 11571541)
Who knew limpets had mines?
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As neither Mod nor Admin
Originally Posted by 212man
(Post 11571727)
also known as the bow…..
(Or did they change that while I wasn't looking?) |
In RAF terms, the blunt end as opposed to the sharp end.
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https://www.navylookout.com/royal-na...e-gulf-region/
Royal Navy deploys HMS Richmond to bolster UK naval presence in the Gulf region In a statement to Parliament, the Secretary of State has confirmed that HMS Richmond is heading to the Gulf region in response to the serious maritime security situation in the Red Sea. Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond sailed from Plymouth on Friday, the first naval movement of the year from Devonport Naval Base. Although primarily an Anti-Submarine platform, she is well-equipped to protect merchant shipping from air and surface threats and armed with 32 Sea Ceptor missiles and a Wildcat helicopter she but lacks land-attack capability. HMS Richmond was the first frigate to have the PGMU engine upgrade which has performed reliably and the ship participated in the 50,000nm, 7-month 2021 Carrier Strike Deployment to the Pacific. The Minister said: “We are working with allies and partners to protect freedom of navigation and remain committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives and commercial shipping in these critical waterways. “As you would expect, while planning is underway for a range of scenarios, no decisions have been made and we continue to pursue all diplomatic routes”. Subsequently, Grant Shapps has said HMS Richmond is going to replace either HMS Diamond or HMS Lancaster so there is “not an escalation”. It is unclear which vessel will be replaced. HMS Diamond has not had the best mechanical reliability track record but only sailed for the Gulf on 22nd November 2023. HMS Lancaster is an old ship but when she left the UK in August 2022 it was announced she would be permanently based in the Gulf for 3 years. |
The RN has confirmed HMS Richmond deployed to Red Sea/Gulf to "stand in" for HMS Diamond and HMS Lancaster when either vessel needs to break off patrols for re-supply or maintenance.
Effectively escort numbers in the Middle East region are being increased to three in order to maintain two at sea. |
In RAF terms, the blunt end as opposed to the sharp end |
US and UK 'shoot down' barrage of Houthi airstrikes in Red Sea
Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired one of their largest barrage of drones and missiles targeting shipping in the Red Sea, forcing the American and British navies to shoot down the projectiles in a major engagement, authorities said on Wednesday. No damage or injuries were immediately apparent. The assault happened off the Yemeni port cities of Hodeida and Mokha, according to the private intelligence firm Ambrey. In the Hodeida incident, Ambrey said ships described over radio seeing missiles and drones, with US-allied warships in the area urging “vessels to proceed at maximum speed”. Off Mokha, ships saw missiles fired, a drone in the air and small vessels trailing them, Ambrey said early on Wednesday. The British military’s United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations also acknowledged the incident off Hodeida. The US military’s Central Command (Centcom) said the “complex attack” launched by the Houthis included bomb-carrying drones, anti-ship cruise missiles and one anti-ship ballistic missile. It said 18 drones, two cruise missiles and the anti-ship missile were downed by F-18s from the USS Eisenhower, as well as by American Arleigh Burke-class destroyers the USS Gravely, the USS Laboon and the USS Mason, as well as the UK’s HMS Diamond. Houthi Attack on International Shipping On Jan. 9, at approximately 9:15 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthis launched a complex attack of Iranian designed one-way attack UAVs (OWA UAVs), anti-ship cruise missiles, and an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Southern Red Sea, towards international shipping lanes where dozens of merchant vessels were transiting. Eighteen OWA UAVs, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and one anti-ship ballistic missile were shot down by a combined effort of F/A-18s from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS Gravely (DDG 107), USS Laboon (DDG 58), USS Mason (DDG 87), and the United Kingdom’s HMS Diamond (D34). This is the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea since Nov. 19. There were no injuries or damage reported. On Jan. 3, 14 countries, including the U.S, issued a joint statement stating, "The Houthis will bear the responsibility for the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, or the free flow of commerce in the region's critical waterways." |
US and UK warships. Where is the rest of NATO? Or does no one else have an interest in the region?
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Financial Times: UK hints at imminent military action against Houthis over Red Sea attacks
John Paul Rathbone in London UK defence secretary Grant Shapps has hinted that military retaliation against the Houthis could be imminent, as he accused Iran of helping the Yemen-based militant group target ships in the Red Sea. Shapps said on Wednesday that he was in regular contact with Saudi Arabia and the UK’s other regional partners and “we are all agreed” that the Houthi attacks “cannot continue, and we won’t allow this to continue. So watch this space.” He did not specify what form the retaliation could take but said “what happened last night”, when the Houthis launched their largest drone and missile attack on Red Sea shipping on Tuesday, changed the situation “and you can reach the natural conclusions upon that.” |
Originally Posted by DogTailRed2
(Post 11572990)
US and UK warships. Where is the rest of NATO? Or does no one else have an interest in the region?
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Originally Posted by Ninthace
(Post 11573105)
Who is missing? Isn’t not the Languedoc In the area? The Germans are examining options according to Defense News. Is this a NATO operation anyway? Certainly non NATO navies are also actively cooperating are they not?
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Originally Posted by ORAC
(Post 11573099)
Shapps said on Wednesday that he was in regular contact with Saudi Arabia and the UK’s other regional partners and “we are all agreed” that the Houthi attacks “cannot continue, and we won’t allow this to continue. So watch this space.”
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and Yemen is a bloody rough country terrain wise................
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I doubt that Shapps knows that.
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Originally Posted by Andy_S
(Post 11573209)
What, realistically, can be done? These drones and missiles won't have originated from a fixed location. Presumably someone would have launched them and left the area pretty quickly. How can you combat an enemy that is dispersed and mobile?
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How many ways are there to "watch" for such events and combine all source intel to see where the rats scurried off to seeking a hiding spot afterwards and deal with them as has been going on with the Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian Guards of late?
They also have to move the weapons about and set them up prior to launch which also affords some opportunities to be found out. Remember the Iraqi use of Scud missiles and what resources were devoted to dealing with them. It is not easy, the area is large, ground forces would have a hard time operating there without being compromised. When several Big Brothers start snooping it gets hard to hide and a few mistakes can become quite injurious to one's health and well being. |
Also Iran has two items for the Houthis on the agenda there.
1. Fire off what you've got and waste the enemy's ammunition in the process. 2. Allow us to monitor their responses and study how they work. By holding off, though, and if possible in the meantime actually contacting the Houthis, you can make them feel human and some among them may even see the rest of the world as human like them. Eventually they will have to release the ship that they pirated, but it will have to be in a spirit of willingness and generosity. Do we have any Lawrences these days? (They will have got some kind of message when they lost those three boats the other day, though. But it would also have given the strident ones an ego boost.) |
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Perhaps coincidentally, or not….
IRAN – The IRGC Areospace Forces started today military exercise in the Chabahar region, located on the Gulf of Oman Missile launches as well air-defense systems activity has been reported. |
Interesting.
If they’re just escorting French ships, what is he doing in charge of the EU task force and who are they escorting? Grauniad: French military now escorting French ships through Red Sea - naval commander French naval forces are accompanying ships with French interests through the Red Sea region, the country’s top naval commander in the area said on Thursday, adding that Paris’ current mandate did not include striking Houthi rebels directly.…. Speaking to the media, Reuters reports R Adm Emmanuel Slaars, joint commander of French forces in the region, said France was working closely with the US-led Prosperity Guardian mission in the area by exchanging information and carrying out patrols, but said command of French forces remained entirely under Paris’ control. “The French operation consists of on the one hand patrolling the maritime zones where the Houthis operate to stop them,” Slaars said. “These patrols are in coordination with the Prosperity Guardian operation,” he said. “On the other hand, we regularly escort French-flagged ships or with French interests in the Red Sea. We accompany them all along their crossing.” Slaars, who also heads the EU’s mission of nine countries operating in the strait of Hormuz, said there was always a need for more military assets in the region, although France did not intend to deploy more for now. |
The Iranian Navy, (not IRGC Navy), has officially announced their seizure of the ST NIKOLAS tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
In the past, the majority, (if not all), vessel capture operations by Iran were conducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. The ST NIKOLAS (9524475); is carrying Iraqi oil. Formerly known as the SUEZ RAJAN; she was previously seized by the US government for having transported a million barrels of Iranian oil in connection to a US company. The owners of NIKOLAS, Empire Navigation, say the vessel has 19 crew members: 18 Filipino and 1 Greek (presumably the captain) - though there are also reports one holds US nationality. |
Feels like the 1980's again, doesn't it? (That's not necessarily a good thing).
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This latest incident is different from the others - the BBC radio was saying that Iran has claimed its a legal issue - maybe someone hasn't been paying the Iranians for the oil they were transporting last time around?Iran has seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, state media reports.
Armed men wearing masks have reportedly boarded the vessel St Nikolas, close to the Omani port of Sohar, and ordered it to sail to an Iranian port. It is unclear why the tanker has been targeted. The St Nikolas was in transit between the Iraqi port of Basra and its intended destination in Turkey. UK Maritime Trade Operations said on Thursday it had received a report that four to five "unauthorised persons", reportedly wearing "military style black uniforms with black masks", had boarded the ship at 03:30 GMT. They added that communications with the vessel had been lost and that the authorities were investigating. Iranian state media quoted the army as describing the vessel as being American. It is unclear why as the tanker is Greek-owned. The company that manages it, Empire Navigation, said it was loaded with 145,000 tonnes of crude oil and was carrying 18 Filipinos and one Greek person as crew. The St Nikolas was seized in April by the US under its previous name, the Suez Rajan, as part of sanctions enforcement against Iran. Suez Rajan Limited, which formerly chartered the boat, later pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate sanctions by covertly selling and transporting oil abroad on behalf of Iran. This latest act appears to be separate from attacks carried out by Houthi rebels from Yemen in the Red Sea. |
Lots of excited news readers on TV tonight. Looks like the proverbial is about to hit the fan somewhere.
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More details here: the airstrikes on Houthi
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I wonder if tankers in that region would begin to stay in Omani territorial waters as they head out of the Persian Gulf and into the Indian Ocean, making Iranian attempts at intercept possibly run afoul of the Omanis.
Yes, it's not some kind of "optimized" sailing protocol, but neither is getting pulled over by the Iranians. :p |
I found this article to contain some useful information re navigation within the Straits of Hormuz area and the laws that pertain in general.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full...0.2022.2096158 |
The seized ship was Greek owned, carrying Iraqi Oil, was seized outside Iranian territorial waters......and the local rags (papers) are claiming it to be American.
That seems a bit over the top. Was the oil stolen from Iraq and was bound for the USA? Where does Iran get the legal authority for that? |
Where did America get the legal authority to seize the ship in the first place?
The Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran seized an American oil tanker in the waters of the Gulf of Oman in accordance with a court order,” the state-run IRNA news agency said. “After the theft of Iranian oil by the United States last year, St Nikolas tanker was seized by Iran’s Navy”, the navy said, as cited by the Iranian news agency Fars. |
In case you missed this link three posts before yours in the JB thread.
https://www.justice.gov/nsd/case/uni...-rajan-limited You can view the various Court Documents at that linked source. Try this one and read the document you will find there. https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-12/2..._rajan_508.pdf That should answer the question. |
So both seizures in response to legal processes in the respective countries?
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Seems so - a lawyers benefit by the sound of it
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"Where does Iran get the legal authority for that?" - they probably passed a law saying they could - like the US
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We seem to have gotten beyond the maritime/naval/military aspect of this, so I'd suggest taking the legalese discussion to Jet Blast.
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Iran and Russia have reached an agreement over the procurement of Sukhoi Su-35SEs. Russia will now supply the 25 Su-35SEs originally meant for Egypt to Iran.
The IRIAF is expected to use these new Flankers to replace its ageing Tomcats. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8c8279c1e8.png |
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Reference the above - Press Release b6 CENTCOM:
“On Jan. 15 at approximately 4 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship. The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey. Earlier in the day, at approximately 2 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Forces detected an anti-ship ballistic missile fired toward the Southern Red Sea commercial shipping lanes. The missile failed in flight and impacted on land in Yemen. There were no injuries or damage reported.” |
Thinks might be about to get interesting….
According to U.S. Officials, an SRBM attack today, aimed at the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, northern Iraq, was launched directly by the IRGC from within Iran…... |
According to U.S. Defense Officials, the 2 Navy SEALs who were lost overboard while raiding a fishing boat off tSomalia on Thursday were searching for weapons parts for Iranian SRBMs, including warheads, which, according to intelligence sources, are being provided by the IRGC.
Weapons parts were found aboard the vessel and confiscated and the boat was then sunk. The 12 crewmembers have been taken into custody. |
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