Iranians harass USS Firebolt
Reuters reports that Iranian patrol craft spent some time buzzing the USS Firebolt in the Persian Gulf on Sunday.
Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the Iranian vessel sailed directly in front of the USS Firebolt, forcing the 174-foot (53-metre) U.S. ship to change course.
The incident began when seven Iranian ships “harassed” the Firebolt, Davis said.
A U.S. Defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the interaction was “unsafe and unprofessional due to lack of communications and the close-range harassing maneuvering,” adding that uncovered and manned weapons were seen on the Iranian vessel.
The U.S. ship tried to communicate with the Iranian ship by radio three times but received no response.
The U.S. official said there have been 31 similar interactions with Iranian ships this year, almost double the amount from the same period last year.
Maybe John Kerry and James Taylor can straighten this all out. I’m sure all the mullahs need is a good old folk concert. I’m thinking that the Firebolt can handle themselves. According to Wiki;
Her armament includes two Mk38 chain guns, two Mk19 automatic grenade launchers, and two .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, as well as six Stinger missiles.
Category: Navy
Why don’t they just blast these goat fuckers out of the water? Doesn’t the Navy have any balls anymore? Give them one warning shot over the bow, then send them to meet their Allah!!! Then this kind of shit would stop!!
These are called “dry runs”. What the Iranians are trying to do is to get our guys accustomed to seeing this sort of low-level harassment on a routine basis. The idea is, when they decide to launch an actual attack, our guys think it is just the regular provocation, and don’t react until it is too late.
Just watch and see.
…Sadly, this. The Cyclone class PCs are the smallest combatants we have in the Gulf – if the Iranians are willing to take enough casualties, they might be able to swamp it.
Mike
Then swamp them first.
Are they even allowed to have weapons locked and loaded? It was said that the crew of the USS Cole was ordered so when their Vessel was bombed.
Just watch and see ?? We are smarter than foolishness such as this. We will react when we need to react. Maybe they could fool you.
You would actually have to have a commander in chief that had the balls to tell the Navy to let loose but Moochelle has them under lock and key.
You bet your ass! Their hands are tied because of the pussfied, communist, muslim, bathhouse queer puke in the white house….I WILL NOT call the bastard the commander in chief!!!
This puts me to mind of that “you tube” video of a small yip yip dog annoying a large wolfhound that was trying to sleep. After about two minutes the large dog casually knocked the small dog ass over tea kettle with a slight wave of his paw.
Keep it up Iran.
Can’t do nuthin’ until after the election. Might hurt the Iranians’ feelings.
Anytime they tried crap like this when I was stationed in that AOR 14 years ago, they were met with fully mounted gun mounts for Emergency Surface Action, and then they would buzz off.
With the way things have been as of late, I don’t even know if they would react in the same fashion if we did start showing backbone again.
You believe we were not ready and the stingers were not ready to fire ? You don’t know what backbone is. It is not firing on or killing weaker fools because WE let them manipulate us to do so. WE are better and stronger and their childish actions will cost them one day. Just not today.
“You believe we were not ready and the stingers were not ready to fire?”
Given some of the most recent events of small boys operating in the NAG… no, I don’t.
I don’t question the courage of the crew to stand up to these pricks. I question the courage of the more recent leadership.
Like I said. This would not have gone down in this fashion 10 years ago.
The Iranian vessel ran in front of the Firebolt, forcing it to change course? How pussified.
Under real US leadership, the Firebolt would have run over the Iranian boat. And opened fire on the others if they continued to get too close (and if I can see you, that’s too close).
‘Under real US leadership’ — you are SUCH a funny guy!
That’s exactly what should have happened.
Actually, any ship or boat that penetrates my threat circle and continues towards me after being warned has hostile intent and would be on their way to Davy Jones’ Locker.
You are all such backwoods clowns. Your great military minds have no clue to what we did or were capable of in one second. Which one of all you drunk military minds believes the stingers were not ready to fire and locked on their targets ?
And Stevie Wonder, you know so MUCH more about it than people who have BEEN in the Navy than the do?
Was this your first attempt at picking a fight over nothing? Or should we go back and dig up your others?
They used the firepower as dictated by the morons in Washington DC;
1. Flares…very scary.
2. Extremely loud yelling.
3. They blasted the ships horn many, many times.
and….
4. Did you see those “stern” looks they gave to the Iranians?
You left out ‘shake fists at Iranian boats’.
Oh, the Saudis are now saying that the Iranians are not muslim, because there’s some sort of haj dispute, or something, going on.
Stern looks?!? Do you want the commander to get relieved? Downcast eyes and appeasing supplication if you please.
Ex-PH2 & 68W58
My eyes are downcast for forgetting the most obvious. lol
Fist shaking….the most lethal of all!
Heaven forbid someone on the US vessel resort to the barbaric practice of “mooning” the poor Hajis, or even worse, a mass “Mooning”.
It’s almost Thursday. They’d take it as an invitation.
You also left out the follow-up “strongly worded letter from the U.S. Department of State”.
You mean hashtag, don’t you?
Blast Metallica or Disturbed then unleash the Mk38 Chain guns on their asses.
Cocksuckers.
Better yet have Rosie O’Donnel and Whoopie Goldberg do a strip tease….no need for using nukes after seeing those two beasts.
Hey!
I really did not need that imagery in my brain housing group this morning.
And having those two do a strip-tease would also probably be classified as a war crime.
Again, they’d probably take it as an invitation, mistaking the two in question for livestock.
TOW- I’m glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read that…
Thank you! Now I need my brain bleach.
I think Hillary can help you out. She and her “people” use BleachBit.
With a cloth.
Restraining orders. They always work.
Perhaps what we need is a couple of these 10,000 HP cigarette boats dowsing them with wake spray.
https://youtu.be/rEAVYdA4zdM
What about those assault fire hoses? Oh yeah, they weren’t black assault fire hoses…
Maybe someone could write a stern letter.
Moon them a la Officer and a Gentlemen.
Or put a life size photo cutout of Hillary Cankles on the bow during one of her seizures.
That would be cruel & unusual.
But effective.
Probably against the Geneva Convention.
Well, ships haven’t worn figureheads for a while. Perhaps it’s time to return to that tradition.
Are you volunteering to model?
Naw. They should be twice life sized and so ugly the paint would peel off an opposing ship.
So Rosie O’Donnell. Might need a bigger boat to carry that, though
The figurehead solution would work is they had a life-size figurehead of Obo. Then the Iranians would laugh themselves to death.
To my Navy colleagues:
I’m sorry our president is such a spineless pussy. The United States Navy should never have to change course for any foreign navy.
Can you imagine him in a recess playground tangle?
‘Ow! My eye! That hurt!’
Swarmed by Bass Pro Shop.
So how soon will B. Hussein 0bama & Company apologize to Iran and blame Bush before they send them another billion of our dollars?
We knew this would happen after the limp-wristed reaction to the capture of the Sailors a few weeks back.
Our (p)Resident has been weighed, and found wanting.
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin?
It’s my understanding the president intends to draw a line on a map and ask the Iranians very politely to please not cross the line and prove the administration is the giant yellow coward we think it is….
It’s time for a return to simple playground ROEs..fuck with a bigger kid and get your ass kicked….plain and simple. Once learned the lesson tends to stick.
Just use the corbomite maneuver.
Whenever I get elected Emperor for Life, standing orders will be: If a pea-boat from another nation intentionally gets in the way, turn it into flotsam and jetsam.
The CiC has no balls.
Time for a new Operation Praying Mantis, well in another time it would be. Why the hell are we playing with these guys.
“Stand Navy out to sea, fight our battle cry!
We’ll never change our course so vicious foes steer shy-y-y-y!”–unless the president is oBaMa, in which case we’ll turn every which way, stomp our feet, and, if deemed necessary, surrender.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaadamit.
So, are we waiting for the loss of a ship and her crew to send that sternly worded letter of apology to the Iranians?
I am so sick of this shit, I could scream!
You haven’t screamed yet? Damn you have great patience and discipline.
YOU could scream?!?!?!?
Oh, you have no idea what’s going on at my end of the line.
How about a couple of depth charges, like the Navy used to do?
Oh, I know, I know. It hurts whales’ ears. Actually, the worst thing whales would say is ‘Aww, shit! They’re back at it again, and I was just gettin’ started on this new verse!’
Water in the Gulf is too shallow, for starters.
Me? I’d like to send an “asset” to the (ahem) 12-mile limit, take a few pictures, and send a couple of the better ones to Iran via diplomatic channels, something like what we and the Soviets used to do back in the day.
They’d get the point.
Okay, too shallow. Got it. Then string a dozen mines in a big circle, set to detonate in linear sequence, one after another.
Or, alternatively, launch a big fishing net at the closest boat and haul it in.
I have a vivid imagination. I think the corbomite maneuver would work nicely with a circle of mines. BOOOOOM! Huge geyser of water erupts, swamping those motorboats. Throw them some Lifesavers, maybe wintergreen and move on.
Just how maneuverable is that itty bitty coastal rowboat? It’s not much bigger than a tug. Why can’t those doofii make a high speed tight turn and create a wake wave that will send those idiots flying?
I hate how the retard-in-chief and his buddies silently assume that any conflict anywhere would lead to the end of the world. Why’s that, because of nukes? Fuck off! We bluffed the Soviet Union, a true nuclear superpower, into historical oblivion. I think we can handle some third-rate cunts like Iran and North Korea.
I’m saying we shouldn’t be afraid of the fight. Next time Iranian patrol boats are about to force us to take evasive maneuvers, SINK THEM. They won’t do shit. And I know this because we’ve attacked fundie Iran before. Operation Praying Mantis killed fifty some of their douchebags, sank several of their ships, and they slithered off as soon as we let them. Oh, they turned up with some shitty case in the International Court of Whatever a year or two later. Real tough guy shit.
Destroying an Iranian boat will not lead to nuclear holocaust. The Iranians will just keep sitting there, playing with their dicks and talking a good deal about how mean we are. Like we give a fuck (of course, Obama probably does).
If we opened up a can of whupass, the Iranian “Navy” would be a hunk of molten steel before lunch.
When I was in the North Arabian Sea, those assholes would get close to us once in a while. We told them to move away or they would face the consequences. I still remember the fear in their voices as they apologized their asses off.
Of course, this was in the early 80s when we had a president with balls.
That is glorious. And that is what it comes down to. The Iranians take advantage of us now because they know Barry and his cronies are cowards. With a real leader in the Oval Office, they clearly know that they are no match for us.
Geez. If you had sunk one of those assholes, how do you think Ronnie would have reacted? I can imagine Barry going to Tehran to apologize in person. Loser.
It’s not nuclear war that bodaprez is afraid of. Hell, he’s afraid of his own shadow.
No, it’s what he said some time ago after a dispute between some obscure person and the police: Can’t we all just get along?
That says everything about him
The Navy’s response:
All E-6 and below onboard USS Firebolt will take a mandatory cultural sensitivity class.
Can I show my cultural sensitivity to the Iranians by cutting off their right hands? How about beheading any pilot of an Iranian boat that gets in front of my vessel?
That would be culturally aware, at least…
There you go again, inserting logic into the conversation.
But you gotta admit you’d be on board with it.
I’d call it cultural fluency.
The SJW howler monkeys (thank you for that term, Nikki!) would accuse you of cultural appropriation.
My culture says these Iranian sailors should be introduced to one of Mr. Browning’s finer creations, Ma Deuce. A quick lesson in the Law of Moses would stop any further douchebaggery on their part.
“The SJW howler monkeys”
…and Nikki has made a significant contribution to our vocabulary.
The goat pumpers used to do this back in 92 during Southern Watch.
They’d sent a buttload of small boats toward the battlegroup, launch fighters.
A couple of boxes of .50 cal directed towards the small boats and light up the fire control radars, launch the alert 5 fighters.
And they stopped doing stupid shit like that.
This was also back in the day when carriers still had MarDets manning the .50s.
We shot whales, sheep (long story), jellyfish and damn near anything that floated.
Next month, on the 12th, is the 16th anniversary of the USS Cole’s being hit by an explosives-laden small boat. I guess not much has changed since 2000 and that avoidable horror.
Looks like this little ship has “been there, seen that” too:
“On 24 April 2004, Firebolt’s rigid-hulled inflatable boat attempted a boarding operation on a dhow that was approaching the Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal in Iraq. As the boarding team of seven pulled alongside, the dhow exploded in an apparent suicide bombing. Two sailors—Petty Officer First Class Michael J. Pernaselli, 27, and Petty Officer Second Class Christopher E. Watts, 28, and one Coast Guardsman, Petty Officer Third Class Nathan Bruckenthal, 24 were killed when the explosion flipped the boat over, dumping her crew into the water. Bruckenthal, a member of the embarked Law Enforcement Detachment, was the first Coast Guardsman to die in action since the Vietnam War. The survivors were picked up by an S-70B-2 Seahawk helicopter from the Australian frigate HMAS Stuart.”
Where is Captain Tom Chandler when you need him?
So we have given the Iranians 3-4 billion dollars, under the table, in cash,
We are letting them build nukes,
We are letting them push our Navy around,
We have unfrozen their assets,
We paid them a ransoms to release American citizens that they were holding,
Is the CinC an Iranian? What the hell is going on?
Hopefully the next president has enough balls to put a stop to this BS. I think there is only one candidate that will do that.
Show the bastards how a CIWS works!!!
This article from USNI has a good shot of what those Iranian boats look like.
https://news.usni.org/2016/09/06/iranian-boats-harass-another-u-s-navy-patrol-coastal-ship-persian-gulf
I have a great idea: harpoon two or three, just like you would a whale, and keep the harpoon lines fastened good and tight, then take off at full speed, dragging the Iranian motorboats behind the ship, kind of like ducks on a string.
Oh, wait – that makes sense. Never mind.
US Navy under a Republican President: “Damn the torpedos. Full speed ahead.”
US Navy under this president: DAMN! Speedboats! Full stop.
We are so fucked.
I’m actually surprised that we maintain a presence in the Gulf, the only reason I can think of is that Obama enjoys seeing us humiliated.
They act with impunity b/c they know the pussy in my house will do nothing to stop it. Sink some and go from there. I like that harpoon idea.
You know those sailors have foldouts from girlie magazines. Isn’t it a sin for the followers of their cult religion to see a naked woman other than their wife? Flash them the nude pictures and see what they do.
Personally, I would have no problem with the sinking of every damn Iranian boat.
” I would have no problem with the sinking of every damn Iranian boat.”
Freedom Boner!
Sink every one of their boats, then carpet bomb their naval bases. If they send a plane up, take them all down & bomb the air bases as well.
Repeat until they quit moving.
We could teach them a new meaning to “bases loaded”
Maybe they were responding to the rumor of a job fair aboard the USS Firebolt.
About everywhere the pussy in chief goes these days, someone, sometimes multiple someones disrespect him. He’s too much of a pussy to respond. I guess it’s possible for a ‘man’ to be that much of a pussy. But it’s not acceptable for POTUS to do so.
Don’t blame me, I didn’t vote him
And I’m not a Rino so I’m not voting for here either
For Him
Damn Spell check
I thought daffodils were yellow until Barack Obama showed up. It’s guys like him that give cowards a bad name.