US Navy Responds to Iranian Naval Exercises (LA Times)

[dooner]

Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
2/17/07

Iranian exercises, missile test draw attention to vulnerability of oil shipments -- Navy responds

".... Soon, the Firebolt will be joined in the region by one of the Navy's most heavily armed behemoths: the 1,092-foot carrier John C. Stennis, carrying a crew of 5,000 and more than 80 warplanes. The Stennis will head a strike force of destroyers, cruisers and submarines sent to the region by the Bush administration amid heightened tensions with Iran over its nuclear program and allegations of meddling in Iraq.

Despite their differences in size and weaponry, the Firebolt and the Stennis share a stated mission: to deter the Iranian navy from hostile acts in a gulf vital to oil shipments by showing that U.S. military strength remains formidable, despite American entanglements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iran, for its part, has begun an air and naval exercise and announced it has tested a missile capable of sinking a large ship. In November, its navy released pictures of its supply of mines that it says could be used to deny access to the gulf for ships it considers "invaders."

more scarey stuff in this article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/17/MNGEAO6P5B1.DTL&feed=rss.news

[Webster Green]

1. The US Navy isn't responding to anything. It is provoking Iran..

And the war-chimp is out of his fucking mind.

[Eurobabe]

5. If Chimperor in Charge thinks this will be a winnable war

he's more deluded than I already thought he was...

IMPEACH THEM NOW!! Why is this option OFF THE TABLE DEMOCRATS??????????????????????????????????????????????????

[HuffleClaw]

13. damn straight. 'responding' my ass.

stupid media cheerleaders.

[Kagemusha]

2. That part about Iran's navy being run by a submariner is weird.

Has anyone else heard of such a thing? Ever?

Granted, it's not like I think Iran has much of a blue water navy to be proud of or even should, but that's very unusual, unheard of for me personally. Shouldn't amount to much if the US Navy is on the ball though.

[fedsron2us]

3. Try Karl Dönitz

Head of the Kriegsmarine and Grand admiral in charge of the German Navy in World War 2.

Damn near won the war in the west for the Nazis in the period 1941-1943.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_D%C3%B6nitz

[Kagemusha]

4. Damn, wasn't thinking of the right time frame, thank you.

That was a tough adversary. It's good Iran only has 3 submarines and in a contained geographic area.

[hack89]

6. There have been several US CNOs who were submariners

Kelso and Trost come immediately to mind.

CNO = Chief of Naval Operations

[Kagemusha]

11. Hmm, thank you. It's still rare, though...

Well, I'm more informed than I was before at least.

[ohio2007]

8. Bet he remembers operation Preying Mantis

Iranian surface vessels got whacked. Maybe the semi submersibles they purchased from Kim of North Korea will fare better ?

http://www.tribuneindia.com/1998/98dec19/world.htm#1

People seem to be convinced the Iranians are going to sink a boat and close the straits

as if it was the same size as a lock channel in Panama.
Iranians are up to mischief that leads to attaching stuff to ships and letting them go on their merry way for days before mysteriously slipping under the waves.

Keeping the sea lanes open includes preventing such covert actions is what the Navy is up against.

Sounds easy eh?

[MrPrax]

9. I recently 'heard' of...

a air force general heading a land invasion, an oil executive being made Prime Minister and a career diplomat losing 10 billion cash...so I suppose anything is possible in the Middle East these days.

Let's just hope the Iranian guy can drive his sub better than this fellow -- I mean, one would just hate someone to cause some sort of incident:

U.S. Submarine Commander Is Removed After Japanese Tanker Crash

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Navy removed a nuclear submarine commander from duty after his vessel collided with a Japanese commercial tanker in the Persian Gulf earlier this month, the Navy said in a statement yesterday.

Matthew Weingart, commander of the USS Newport News, was relieved of duty ``due to a lack of confidence in his ability to command,'' the statement on the U.S. Navy Web site said.

The Newport News collided with the 299,999-ton Mogamigawa tanker, operated by Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., on Jan. 8 near the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important 21-mile channel between Iran and Oman used by commercial oil tankers. There were no injuries or leakages from the collision, the Navy statement said.

Bloomberg

[Sirveri]

10. subs get run over all the time.

That strait is so damned busy it's scary, all that happened was that the sub got close to the freighter and got sucked up in the prop wash. It's scary but it happens.

[ohio2007]

7. Every day the 30 sailors on this coastal patrol ship "Firebolt" ....

I'm sure the Iranians are hiding from that 170 ft yacht and crew of 30.

MSM looking for a Gulf of Ton kin story.
Guess it's the USS Firebolt..
LOL

[HuffleClaw]

12. they named a ship after harry potter's broomstick ????

i'm impressed.