-
An Iranian-flagged cargo ship attempted to bypass the US blockade in the Arabian Sea last week.
-
To intercept the ship, which ignored the warning, an American destroyer fired nine rounds into its engine room.
-
A top US general shared new details about the operation on Friday.
A US Navy guided missile destroyer last week fired nine “inert” rounds into the engine room of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship trying to evade a US military blockade in the Arabian Sea.
Air Force Gen. Dan Kane, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shared new details Friday about the blockade incident, a rare use of force by the Navy against a non-combatant ship.
Since the U.S. began its blockade of maritime traffic in and out of Iranian ports earlier this month, 34 ships have been diverted under the direction of the U.S. military. However, one ship did not comply with those orders, Kane told reporters at a briefing.
The M/V Touska, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, was sailing in the North Arabian Sea on Sunday, en route to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, when it was intercepted by the Navy destroyer USS Spruance.
Spruance reached Touska at about 4 pm EST (midday locally). The warship’s crew issued several warnings to the Iranian-flagged ship, informing the vessel it was sailing in violation of the embargo and instructing it to turn around, Kane said.
Touska ignored multiple Navy warnings over a six-hour period after Spruance “executed a series of pre-planned, carefully calibrated escalation options, including firing five warning shots,” Kane said, adding that the cargo ship still did not comply. American commanders then authorized “disabling fire” against the cargo ship.
Spruance warned Touska’s crew to evacuate the engine room, and at approximately 9 p.m. EST (midday in the northern Arabian Sea), the American destroyer fired “nine inert rounds” from its 5-inch MK 45 gun into the engine room, disabling the ship.
The 127 mm Mk 45 deck gun, standard on the Navy’s Earle Burke-class destroyers, fires a range of ammunition types to suit different missions, including direct-effect, airburst, and high-explosive rounds for area effects, as well as illumination and passive practice rounds.
The USS Spruance issued several warnings to the M/V Touska before opening fire.US Central Command
The large gun’s autoloader holds about 20 ready rounds, which can be fired at maximum rate about a minute, with additional ammunition supplied from the ship’s large magazine below deck. The use of passive rounds in engagements like the one over the weekend between Spruance and Touska prioritizes containment and protection over total destruction.
This strategy is intended to target the ship’s propulsion system in order to reduce the threat to the crew in order to allow boarding.
Hours after Spruance pulled out of the engine room, U.S. Marines flew to Touska by helicopter and rappelled onto the deck and boarded the ship. The US military seized the ship and its crew.
US forces also boarded two Iranian oil tankers in the Indian Ocean this week.
More than 17 U.S. Navy warships and more than 100 aircraft — including fighter jets, helicopters, and surveillance planes — are involved in enforcing the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, which began on April 13 and stands to cut oil revenues.
The blockade coincides with a US campaign to remove Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military destroyed most of Iran’s naval mines during Operation Epic Fury, but Tehran may have kept some in or near the Strait during the war, a defense official told Business Insider. A combination of crude and undiscovered assets is working to clear strategic waterways.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he had ordered the Navy to destroy any boats, including Iranian fast attack boats, that had laid mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, a third US aircraft carrier strike group entered the US Central Command’s area of responsibility, which oversees US forces in the Middle East, on Thursday, bringing more firepower to the region amid a strained ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
Read the original article on Business Insider
