Destination Persian Gulf? US nuclear sub and destroyer enter Red Sea

Destination Persian Gulf? US nuclear sub and destroyer enter Red Sea

Greece: The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Annapolis is escorted by a US Naval Support Activity harbor security boat as she departs Souda harbor in Souda Bay, Greece on March 30, 2010. (AFP Photo / Paul Farley)

Two ships of the US Navy, the nuclear submarine USS Annapolis and the destroyer USS Momsen have passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. Although their destination is confidential, they are now getting dangerously close to the Persian Gulf.
The ships’ passage was a major operation for the Suez administration as due to safety reasons they had to close off the canal to all other traffic and even shut down the bridge, disrupting the link between the banks for some four hours. The traffic on the roadways alongside the canal was also restricted, Interfax news agency reports.

Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti maritime official said on Monday that the Gulf Cooperation Council group of Arab countries have contingency plans for coastguards and naval forces should there be an attempt by Iran to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

RT.com


Dangerous games IMO that can lead to no good. Bullying is one thing, but this getting out of hands.
I don't see how Iran is going to just sit back on this one. We'll see in the coming days I guess. And although I think that those are just games to show off and to intimidate Iran, the USA seems to have crossed the line. Know your limits before it's to late

Armament...

Armament: 4× 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 37x Mk 48 torpedo, Tomahawk land attack missile, Harpoon anti–ship missile, Mk 67 mobile, or Mk 60 Captor mines (some boats have 12x VLS)

So could be used to make strikes/take out Iranian submarines/ships.

As for the destroyer :

Armament: • 1 × 64-cell & 1 × 32-cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems:
96 × RIM-66 SM-2, BGM-109 Tomahawk, RUM-139 VL-ASROC, or RIM-162 ESSM missiles
• 1 × 5 in / 62 calibre (127 mm), 2 × 25 mm, 4 × 12.7 mm guns
• 2 × Mk 46 triple torpedo tubes
1 x 20 mm Phalanx 1B Baseline 1 CIWS
Aircraft carried: 2 × MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters

Strikes against land targets, anti-air/submarine warfare.

TextThe Los Angeles class submarine is an attack submarine equipped for anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, show-of-force missions, insertion of special forces, strike missions, mining and search and rescue.

reply to post by Hellas


Great find, and with the Syria situation on tap as well, things are ramping up....

Wonder how Moscow will perceive this?

Not that we don't have "Boomers" as well as "Hunters" all over the place anyway, but a out and out show of force, is a little over the top....

[removed unnecessary quote of entire preceding post]



Well the russians too are in the neighborhood aren't they?

No cameras down there.

The False Flag could be subs

rt.com...

Could be a mysterious thing like the kursk sinking.

A false flag sub thing would be easy to pull off.

Good ,some nice practice targets for nuclear warheads.

I'm a little confused, it states this is from March 2010? Either this is old news, the date's incorrect or it's the worlds slowest submarine

Originally posted by Jimbowsk
I'm a little confused, it states this is from March 2010? Either this is old news, the date's incorrect or it's the worlds slowest submarine

Nice catch! But in the article it says Published: 31 January, 2012, 02:06

reply to post by Hellas


Ah indeedly it does, I guess they just used an archived photo.

Well, best head on back down to my bunker, got a bad feeling things are goin to come to a head very soon

TextSecret documents reveal Israeli plan to strike Suez Canal - with Mubarak's knowledge

reply to post by Vitchilo


Maybe this news was about to hit the press....

And it's time to speed things up a bit.....


www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk...

is this class of submarine usable by Navy SEALs or Other special forces ?

The tension is rising, both side speed up their deployment of force... flexing muscle... Why else ? usually you don't want the world knowing where are your submarines !

Seems to be a lot of what we're being told are 'routine deployments' recently. HMS Dauntless is off to the Falklands. USS Enterprise is soon to be deployed. It's nothing but creating tension, they even admit it in this BBC article. I know this isn't about the Falklands, but I think the show of force both in the Atlantic and Pacific now is noteworthy.

Dangerously close? Wow.... We don't want to fear monger one bit do we?? We are all aware of the fact that the Headquarters and command for the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet is INSIDE the Persian Gulf and based in Bahrain, right? That isn't office space in a high rise...that is Norfolk, Virginia in the Middle East, basically. SO... as one might expect at one of the largest Naval bases in the world, ships come and they go.....Submarines even come and go.

I wouldn't read anything into the mere passage of ships...as this happens all the time. Yeah.. the Suez has to play some xtra games for the transit when certain ships move. So, it's interesting for awhile for everyone working the canal. I'm sure the Iranian warships transiting to and from Syria were enough to get everyone's attention too.

Originally posted by Hellas
And although I think that those are just games to show off and to intimidate Iran, the USA seems to have crossed the line. Know your limits before it's to late

edit on 31-1-2012 by Hellas because: (no reason given)

And where exactly does the US "cross the line"? Because they send a sub there? Sorry can't follow you.

reply to post by flexy123


If this is what the article claims it to be, then the do cross the line since they don't even have any business to attack / invade Iran.

Simple enough?

US nuclear sub and destroyer enter Red Sea

Most, if not the entire US sub fleet today is nuclear powered.
Many, many US warship pass through the Suez each and every year as it is a major seaway.
The Los Angeles class subs are being slowly phased out and retired. Better boats include the few Seawolf class vessels and those of the new Virginia class.

There may well be a clash in the Strait of Hormuz but most likely only if Iran attempts to close of this vital waterway to international shipping.

*sigh*

Fear mongering and paranoia inspirational propaganda is nothing new either.

Originally posted by Hellas
reply to post by flexy123

 

If this is what the article claims it to be, then the do cross the line since they don't even have any business to attack / invade Iran.

Simple enough?

No because the article is about a sub and a destroyer crossing through the Suez. Period. Thats it. Anything else from there on is just fear mongering speculation. The Gulf is full of warhips so even if this is where they are headed it is not anything new. Of course Irans threats about the straights and threats against the gulf states if they pump more oil might make some people think it is thier business.

Originally posted by MrSpad

Originally posted by Hellas
reply to post by flexy123

 

If this is what the article claims it to be, then the do cross the line since they don't even have any business to attack / invade Iran.

Simple enough?

No because the article is about a sub and a destroyer crossing through the Suez. Period. Thats it. Anything else from there on is just fear mongering speculation. The Gulf is full of warhips so even if this is where they are headed it is not anything new. Of course Irans threats about the straights and threats against the gulf states if they pump more oil might make some people think it is thier business.

The fear mongering is not on my Part. I think the article speculates about something very real. And it's not just RT, many european news agencies have reported this today.

Originally posted by mkgandhas
Good ,some nice practice targets for nuclear warheads.

They should test one on your house first.

Wouldn't you think?

reply to post by Hellas


This is nothing new at all. From what little I understand of how our navy operates, even I know that our nuclear aircraft carriers are never without submarine escort, it's part of the carrier task force. This means that american submarines have been inside the Persian Gulf every time we've had a carrier there, (which is pretty much most of the time) and that's just the ones we know about. I would even venture to say that the Persian Gulf has probably not been free of american subs since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003 and quite possibly since the '91 Gulf War.