USS THUNDERBOLT fires on Iranian craft (video added)
The Associated Press reports that the crew of the USS THUNDERBOLT, a Cyclone class patrol ship, fired warning shots when it was approached by an Iranian patrol boat;
The Thunderbolt was taking part in an exercise with American and other coalition vessels when the Iranian patrol boat approached it, the official said. The Iranian ship did not respond to radio calls, flares and sirens as it came within 150 yards (137 meters) of the Thunderbolt, forcing the U.S. sailors aboard to fire the warning shots, the official said.
The Iranian boat went “dead in the water” after the shots and the vessels all left the area without further incident, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the incident had yet to be made public. Iranian officials and state-run media there did not immediately acknowledge the incident.
Quite a bit different outcome than when the Iranians were able to board a patrol vessel and hold it’s 10-person crew overnight last year.
From the Navy Times;
“It is out of the norm for them to come in that close at that rate of speed,” the defense official said on the condition of anonymity. “We had to act for the safety of the crew.”
The official was not certain what type of round was fired but said the Iranian vessel stopped its approach after the Thunderbolt fired.
USNI reports that Thunderbolt was protecting guided-missile cruiser VELLA GULF at the time.
USS Thunderbolt (PC-12) fired “multiple warning shots” after an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy Nassar-class patrol boat came within 150 yards. The incident occurred at about 2 P.M. local time, or 7 A.M. EST.
Thunderbolt was operating with two Coast Guard cutters and a U.S. Army logistics vessel in a screen around the guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG-72) as part of a U.S.-only exercise when the formation was approached by the Iranian PC, the official said.
Thanks to MCPO for the tip.
Video of the encounter from Business Insider. Sounds like they used the M240;
Here’s the video just released by CENTCOM of the USS Thunderbolt firing on an Iranian patrol boat pic.twitter.com/1F48MxSvzU
— Paul Szoldra (@PaulSzoldra) July 25, 2017
Here's the second video @CENTCOM released showing Iranian patrol boat approaching the USS Thunderbolt pic.twitter.com/KUlNN9SVEb
— Paul Szoldra (@PaulSzoldra) July 25, 2017
Category: Navy
Pew! Pew!
Too bad there weren’t any secondaries.
My only question? ‘Why are the bastards still afloat?” Sink ’em!
Damn, if we had a REAL President they’d have sunk that goddamn boat and told the Iranians to go fuck themselves.
THANKS OBAMA!!
And thank McCain for 0bama.
I’m sorry. I just saw McCain in the news talking shit, and I can’t stand that loser for another second.
Thank you Arizona.
Me neither. Thank you for your service now go the fuck away.
I want to know 2 things:
1) why the hell our Navy is letting a hostile nation’s ships get that close to ours without sinking them
2)when is our President going to give a weapons’ free order to our Navy to make it happen. Get a warning, one flare then BOOM I guarantee these runs by Iran at our ships will come to a screeching halt
The only thing that makes goatfuckers like them cooperate and obey is them knowing you’ll kill them on the spot if they cross you, otherwise they’ll fuck with you to no end.
YES!
“The Iranian boat went “dead in the water” after the shot”
The towelheads had to clean their britches before resuming operations.
I guess they didn’t get the memo, email or fax. Obama and the rest of his clique are gone. There is a new President and his SECDEF is nicknamed, “Mad Dog”. What did they think was going to happen? Guess they had to test us.
August 2016
US Navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian ship
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/08/25/us-navy-ship-fired-warning-shots-at-iranian-ship-in-2nd-mideast-close-call-this-week.html
Jan 9, 2017
U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian vessels
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-defense-idUSKBN14T1AX
Happens 2-3 times a year if you want to go further back.
Thunderbolt? Is there another ship like it named Lightning?
It must have been a surprise to the Iranians that we’d fire warning shots at them.
I was wondering if there are other ships in the class named USB! The USS USB would be interesting.
USB? Is that an acronym meaning unterseeboot? If so, I think we have a few already.
(smile)
Bring back Otto K’s Dancing Devil Boot (U-552).
Might even be a few hanging out in the Gulf… (wink)
The Cyclone-class coastal patrol boats: PC-1 Cyclone, PC-2 Tempest, PC-3 Hurricane, PC-4 Monsoon, PC-5 Typhoon, PC-6 Sirocco, PC-7 Squall, PC-8 Zephyr, PC-9 Chinook, PC-10 Firebolt, PC-11 Whirlwind, PC-12 Thunderbolt, PC-13 Shamal, PC-14 Tornado. Is that a subtle trend I’m seeing? *grin*
Nothing named “Haboob”?
Hooyah. For the two years of when I was stationed in 5th fleet, we had the Typhoon and Thunderbolt (PC) to complement the Raven, Cardinal, Dextrous, and Ardent (MCM and MHC).
There was no way our skipper would have ever given in to any of those Iranian clowns on their little crappy boats, yelling nonsense demands over the radio.
And without outing myself to much to the rest of any of my former shipmates reading this, I’ll leave it at that.
No, but there is a sister ship the “Lightfoot”
August 2016
US Navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian ship
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/08/25/us-navy-ship-fired-warning-shots-at-iranian-ship-in-2nd-mideast-close-call-this-week.html
Jan 9, 2017
U.S. Navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian vessels
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-defense-idUSKBN14T1AX
Happens 2-3 times a year if you want to go further back.
You repeat yourself a lot, Texas Nomad. Forgot what you wrote some place else?
Short term memory loss – not a good sign.
Well, I remembered when Iran did this several times a year so my memory can’t be that shot.
Then why did you post the same thing twice?
I didn’t have a more original thought for the two identical claims.
Do you think your response from the August incident held up well?
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=67635&cpage=1
At 71, My memory is going. Last week I forgot the Alamo-REMEMBER THE ALAMO.
Actually, yes, considering that it was the Persian Gulf, as well. Or maybe you think that this incident’s location, closer to Kuwait than the prior incident, is immaterial.
Or perhaps you think that the Iranian government somehow has the right to control ALL traffic in the Persian Gulf, instead of just staying within its own actual boundary waters.
Their stated goal is to take control of the Straits of Hormuz, completely disregarding the simple fact that THEY do not own the Straits of Anything at all.
Or perhaps you missed entirely the part about an incompetent OIC on that smaller craft making a muck of things, including lack of preparation for that little trip and lack of navigational skills, when approached by the Iranians, in addition to other things that went wrong.
You must have missed that part. I guess the US Navy just looks like sitting ducks to the Iranians, but then, when I was at Great Lakes in 1972, before the Shah was disenfranchised, I found out in person how much contempt Iran had then and still has for this country, which makes none of this a surprise at all.
Very very frightening…
Me!
Galileo!
Galileo!
Galileo!
Galileo!
Magnifico!
I’m just a poor boy, nobody loves me….
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family, spare him his life from this monstrosity!
DAMMIT, SEA! I’m gonna be singing this all night at work now!
Those boys could -rock-!
Tell Siri “I see a little silhouette of a man
EX-PH2,
If they did that it would be very VERY frightening…
No. It’s Sister ship is named the USS Hammer Of God. They are in the Thor Class.
Thunderbolt and Lightning! Very very frightening me!
Make it happen. They should always be deployed together as task force Mercury.
There are lots of legendary names that could be thrown in there. Something like Scipio or Sulla or Sertorius would be appropriate.
Notice to Iran: ADULTS are at our helm nowadays including a SECDEF who isn’t afraid of a damned thing, your move, goatfuckers!
We were firing warning shots before the current administration.
Babble, babble, babble,… OH, did you say something? How about the previous administration PUSSYFOOTING around while a number of our Sailors were held captive by those third world goatfuckers?
Light ‘me UP!
’em Damn autocorrect!!
Sure! Do you prefer the Christmas Tree look, or would you like to be the Rhinestone Cowboy?
“Light ‘me UP!”
Said the guy holding both ends of the power cord…
If he’s holding both ends… It’s not plugged in… Just sayin’
The bastards are filing a written complaint with Odumbass right about now I bet.
The “warning shot” should take the captain’s head off. Then see if the rest of the guys on the boat get the message.
Damn it! Where is that “UP VOTE” button?
To quote Bruce Willis, “Bangalores won’t fight without a leader.”
BANG!
Alien terrorist: “Hey, fight fair!”
MAJ Korben Dallas*: “Anybody else wanna negotiate?”
* Bruce Willis, “The Fifth Element”
Okay, sailors, I see a gun mount up front; what kinds of secondary/supplemental weapons does a patrol have?
should be “does a patrol boat have”
Stolen without regret from Wikipedia:
Armament:
2 × MK 38 25 mm autocannon
5 × .50 caliber machine guns
2 × MK 19 40 mm automatic grenade launchers
2 × M240B machine guns
6 × FIM-92 Stinger SAMs
2 × MK-60 quadruple BGM-176B Griffin B missile launchers[1]
Man, that Griffin system looks mean. It’s also deployed from RQ drones.
In addition to the lethal capabilities of those weapons themselves, in my view it is equally important that our Sailors now apparently have the appropriate ROE, the properly delegated authorities, and the will to employ those weapons when necessary.
Boom!
Thanks. I checked Wikipedia and I guess I didn’t scroll down far enough.
HOLY HEAT!
How long has the Navy had gunboats like this! It seems that in 77 when I was joining the Army all the Navy ever talked about was subs and aircraft carriers. This thing looks like they stripped the armament of a couple of Bradleys, said this isn’t enough and added some more.
Peace…through superior firepower.
Way to go Navy!
I believe one of them belonged to John Paul Jones, but I’ll have to check with him on that.
I must have missed the SAILS! Dammit I need new bifocals…
But as Im sure ya know, JPJ went on to become an admiral in the Imperial Russian navy. He must have been thinking; hmmm no more Brit Butt to kick, but I hear the Czar is fighting the Turks…that sounds like a blast, Im in!
I think if the Navy recruiter had managed to (I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE IM GOING TO USE THE FOLLOWING WORD!!) CONFLATE Hydrofoils and Cavalry somehow, Id have joined the Navy.
Aren’t these ships part of SPECWAR?
If that’s the case, don’t forget the meanest weapons of all, the SEALs!
Mustang,
They were originally supposed to be assigned to Specwar and they included berthing and additional space aft to carry SEAL teams and all their gear. But the SEALS didn’t want them, too big, and Big Navy didn’t want them, too small. They were stuck in sort of an odd situation for a long time. The Coast Guard took USS Thunderbolt in ’98 and ran tests and evaluation in anticipation of having the Navy transfer all of them to replace some of the 110′ CG patrol boats. That didn’t pan out, mostly because the cost of running them was too high for the CG. They actually took over USS Cyclone back in 2000 and had it for 4 years.
Didn’t John Wayne buy a small ship like this? Or am I thinking his was a used destroyer?
I wouldn’t mind having my own Navy coastal cutter. Think of the parties you could have!
John Wayne actually owned a former minesweeper, USS YMS-328.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_YMS-328
http://www.olympicpeninsula.org/things-to-do/john-wayne-marina
Sounded like the .50 cal to me.
Pre-operational recon by them to test how soon we react, how we react, etc. Motherfuckers… I like that we opened up on them but would have preferred that we send them down to the locker.
Making America Great Again!!
A note to the Mullahs:
We don’t work for your brother any more……
Does anyone besides me think Vlad Putin got notified about this? (snerrk!)
This warning shot had absolutely nothing to do with Trump.
Oh well then,
Santa?
The Easter Bunny?
Wile E. Coyote?
The Tooth Fairy?
Bigfoot?
Jesus?
Jack Frost?
The Great Pumpkin?
The commander of the vessel under threat.
Just like all the times warning shots were fired by US Navy vessels during the Obama administration.
Commanders of vessels do not ask nor need presidential approval to protect their vessel with a warning shot.
I don’t even think it is regarded as an act of war. Though I can’t find information specifically saying it isn’t yet.
So now you are also a self-proclaimed Naval expert.
Hau ab, Herr Kommissar.
He somehow got The Doctor to give him a ride in the TARDIS so that he could observe the action directly.
Santa?
“Oh well then,
The Easter Bunny?
Wile E. Coyote?
The Tooth Fairy?
Bigfoot?
Jesus?
Jack Frost?
The Great Pumpkin?
NOPE, It was Elvis Impersonators on LSD!
Anyone know what color COMMISSAR Commissar’s eyes are?
I’ll guess “brown”. Use your imagination regarding why. (smile)
Thank you for confirming my suspicions, Hondo.
I’m just waiting on Lars to say the warning shot was US aggression and an act of war.
I am not sure if it is or not. But it is justified.
Acts of war are often necessary.
The notion that I am opposed to acts of war is kind of strange considering my years of service.
I am opposed to unnecessary or idiotic applications of warfare.
Well, well, well. A new form of warfare, previously unannounced, is now being offered as part of the NAVCAD course work. It’s titled Applied Warfare 101, two full semesters, with full undergrad credits. Applied Warfare 102 follows, same deal.
It’s all Obama’s fault.
You and your buddy, Texas, are pretty quick to point that out. No one said that it did.
At least two people did. You weren’t one of them.
I’d also not posit it has nothing to do with Trump since I don’t know if the RoE changed and these warning shots would have been fired under the old one.
Maybe you missed when I asked before. Are you from Texas or did you move here from somewhere else?
Sorry, I don’t know if there is a way in interface to see responses without manually checking. I don’t always check for replies.
I was born in Florida but moved before I was 2. It’s a long list since then. Hence nomad.
Why not just Nomad then?
He’s in Houston, so he probably came from somewhere else.
I suspected there or Austin.
Houston is rapidly becoming the armpit of Texas. The libtards have taken over and are turning it into a cesspit.
Austin has already staked out its claim on another body part.
DFW is pretty bad, too.
A lot of out-of-state folks been moving to those towns and bringing their failed ideas with them.
Full disclosure: I come from Houston. Born & raised there.
Make them uncomfortable enough to be sent packing back where they came from, GB.
We don’t want ’em back!
OK, then they can go to Mars as soon as Elon Musk starts selling tickets.
Now there’s a thought!
as a temporary resident of Houston of a bit less than 20 years, I will confirm what Graybeard says. Post-Katrina was bad enough, but it has been swinging more and more leftist ever since.
I read that Californians are disenchanted with their utopia so they’re taking it on the road to Texas.
As Thatcher predicted, they’ve run out if someone else’s money.
Thus confirming my theory that liberals are like a parasitic infection, like lampreys, they suck the life out of one host and go on to another.
Is that an appropriate use of your IP powers? I’d have answered if asked.
Jonn owns the blog… he has, on VERY FEW occasions, ID’d locations that people are posting from.
If you have a problem with him IDing your AO, you should be talking with him offline about this.
Houston has not produced any bright spots of public service since I arrived, but I don’t think I’ve contributed much to that downfall seeing as I’ve mostly voted in Montgomery County.
I deeply respect and admire previous heavyweights from the region for both their military and public service, like George HW Bush, James Baker, and Lloyd Bentson. Perhaps those are the glory days you refer to?
They were fired in at least two incidents against Iran and a dozen more against other countries’ vessels under Obama. And countless times over the decades since Reagan.
Yak,yak, yak, yak, yak…
The ROE that triggered this has been around for a while and the US Navy fired warning shots several times under Obama. Including at least twice at Iranian vessels.
Yak,yak, yak, yak, yak…
Warning shots from Navy vessels under attack are just as wasted as warning shots from homeowners under attack.
Should have put one or two through the bridge or engine to make it truly “dead in the water”.
“Charlie don’t surf!”
And Hajji don’t swim…
Game’s a bit different here, DBW. Freedom of the Seas and all that. So warning shots at sea are just that, come no closer.
And don’t think I don’t see you posting over at DBD, either.
*grin*
Warning shots aren’t fired at. That boat should have been sunk. What is Iran going to do that they haven’t been doing for over 30 years?
Yup. The Iranians keep on f***ing around, and they keep on getting away with it. Hopefully that is all going to change very soon. However, 30 years ago on 21/22 September 1987, the Iranians paid a wee bit heavier price than merely having warning shots fired at them for playing their stupid-ass games in international waters in the Persian Gulf. ‘Capturing the Iran Ajr’ (There are also actual photos from the operation at the link below) http://www.navybook.com/no-higher-honor/timeline/capturing-the-iran-ajr/ ‘The Iran Ajr, formerly known as the Arya Rakhsh, was a Japanese-built amphibious landing ship used by Iran to lay naval mines during the Iran-Iraq War. The 614-ton, 54-meter ship was the focus of one of the most dramatic moments of Operation Prime Chance, which was the secret portion of Operation Earnest Will, which was the mission to protect U.S.-flagged petroleum-carrying ships in the Persian Gulf. On 21 September 1987, U.S. forces tracked the ship as it left Iranian waters. Army helicopters were dispatched from their secret perch aboard the Navy guided missile frigate Jarrett (FFG 33) to shadow it. When the aviators reported that people aboard the Iran Ajr were laying mines, the U.S. commander in the Persian Gulf ordered the Army pilots to “stop the mining.” The helicopters fired on the ship, killing some of the mariners and chasing others into the water. Navy SEAL commandos later boarded the ship, confirmed the presence of mines, and detained the surviving Iranians. On 26 September, the SEALs scuttled the ship in international waters. The detainees were later transferred “in the dead of night” to an Iranian C-130 airlifter at an Omani airfield, according to a 22 July 1992 article in Newsweek. When the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) struck a mine the following April, Navy explosive ordnance specialists matched the serial numbers of nearby unexploded mines to the ones aboard the Iran Ajr. This evidence of Iranian involvement in the Roberts mining led to the biggest surface-warfare battle since World War II, the retribution campaign of 18 April 1988 called Operation Praying Mantis.’ Here’s more info on the capture of the Iran… Read more »
* ‘Here’s more info on the capture of the Iran AJR minelayer…’
Auto-correct strikes again.
Get some!
https://www.navalhistory.org/2013/04/18/operation-praying-mantis-18-april-1988
And these had absolutely nothing to do with Obama.
We fire warning shots at craft from various countries literally every single year. To try to spin this recent one as something to do with the fact that *now* Trump is the president is ignorant bullshit.
We fire warning shots at the discretion of the commander of the vessel under threat and they do not ask nor need approval from the president.
These are just a few Iranian vessels:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/us-navy-ship-fires-warning-shot-armed-iranian-dhow-volatile-persian-gulf-1462716
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-navy-idUSKCN110285
So now you are also a self-proclaimed Naval expert.
Hau ab, Herr Kommissar.
Sure, Mullah Commissar. Just like the Iraqi assassination plot against former POTUS George H. W. Bush(41) in Apr 1993 had nothing to do with testing US policy for changes under the new US POTUS, BJ Willie.
To his credit, Cigarman did the right thing and finally reacted appropriately 2 months later.
Looks like COMMISSAR Commissar did a pullback-regroup-strike again exercise in trying to start another idiot’s quarrel over nothing. If the first effort didn’t work, repeat, repeat, repeat until Pete shuts off your bullhorn.
He’s posting to hear his brains rattle in his head…
His what? Okay, sure. Whatevahh….
Thank you for my morning wake-up laugh, Senior Chief.
The sound of freedom.