Category Archives: asymmetric warfare

Warship Wednesday, March 13, 2024: SEAL Time Capsule

Posted on by One comment

Here at LSOZI, we take off every Wednesday to look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1833-1954 period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places.- Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, March 13, 2024: SEAL Time Capsule

Sorry about the short WW this week. I’m currently in the midst of a 17-day work trip to Europe visiting iconic old-world gunmakers for factory tours. We’ll be back to our regular format next week!

330-PSA-61-63 (USN 1066434)

Official caption for the above photograph, released 61 years ago today, 13 March 1963

U.S. Navy frogmen have the capability of being air-dropped into coastal waters, fully equipped to perform any of their various missions. After landing in the water, they abandon their parachutes, take to the underwater environment, and upon completion of their tasks are picked up by anyone of a variety of methods including aerial, high-speed surface, or submarine retrieval.

The first two U.S. Navy Sea, Air, and Land Teams, commonly known as SEALs, were stood up under orders from JFK– himself a WWII Navy man– in January 1962, with one based on the West Coast at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California, and another on the East Coast at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia. Drawn from the Navy’s preexisting underwater demolition teams dating back to WWII, the plankowners of SEAL Team ONE and TWO only numbered 60 frogmen each.

While they would soon face their first test in Vietnam, they got to show off for the cameras in the Virgin Islands in March 1963 for this set of interesting photos showing off a lot of classic gear including what look to be Sportsways Hydro Twin regulators long before Draeger units were a thing, round facemasks, and slab-sided early XM16s complete with waffle mags.

The sub used in the exercise was the old USS Sealion (APSS-315), which earned five battle stars during World War II and then spent almost the entire period from 1954 to 1967 in a series of such exercises with Marines, Underwater Demolition Teams, SEALs, Beachjumper units; and, on occasion, Army units ranging from the Virginia coasts to the Caribbean.

U.S. Navy Frogmen on training exercises at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, leave the submerged submarine USS Sealion through the forward escape trunk carrying their demolition equipment, proceed to the beach as the spearhead forces of an amphibious assault, and after their mission is accomplished, rendezvous with the submarine and reenter through the escape trunk. 330-PSA-61-63 (USN 1066438)

U.S. Navy Frogmen on training exercises at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, leave the submerged submarine USS Sealion through the forward escape trunk carrying their demolition equipment, proceed to the beach as the spearhead forces of an amphibious assault, and after their mission is accomplished, rendezvous with the submarine and reenter through the escape trunk. 330-PSA-61-63 (USN 1066431)

“US Navy SEAL holding a rifle near a shack, during a military demonstration at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands,” by Marion S Trikosko. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). LC-U9-9190- 21

“US Navy SEALs wearing and holding aquatic equipment during a demonstration at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands” by Marion S Trikosko. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). LC-U9-9194- 29

“US Navy SEALs training on a boat and rubber raft at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands,” by Marion S Trikosko. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). LC-U9-9194- 29

Catch you guys next week!

Ships are more than steel
and wood
And the heart of burning coal,
For those who sail upon
they know
That some ships have a
soul.

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval study, images, and fellowship. http://www.warship.org/membership.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

With more than 50 years of scholarship, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

PRINT still has its place. If you LOVE warships you should belong.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Vivr Libre du Mouris

Posted on by Leave a comment

From mid-January to late March 1944, some 460 French maquis guerrillas of the Battalion des Glières occupied the Glières plateau, making it a besieged Free “French” territory where they hoisted the tricolor flag every day.

The motley assortment included not only paroled French soldiers and sailors but also 56 exiled Spanish Republicans who had escaped to the area in 1939 when Franco took over.

The remote alpine pasture only held about 20 year-round inhabitants but it made a great parachute drop zone to receive weapons intended for the maquis of Haute-Savoie, and the first RAF weapons drop, of 54 containers, was made on the night of 13/14 February. Guns and explosives were then spirited out through the nearby trails and paths to other parts of the region. 

RAF parachute container drop to Resistance French 1944

Under the command first of LT Théodosius Morel (formerly of the Blue Devils of the 27e bataillon de chasseurs alpins) known as Tom Morel, then Capt. Maurice Anjot, the pocket held out against increasingly strong Wehrmacht attacks until 26 March 1944 when Anjot ordered those who could to break out and melt back into the countryside.

Maquis members of the Allobroges section during its breakout on Esserts on March 27, 1944 Plateau des Glières

In all, at least 129 maquisards died there, were killed in combat, executed on capture, or– along with the 20 inhabitants– were deported to concentration camps.

They are remembered in the National Necropolis of Glières, and a memorial stands on the plateau where the battalion mustered.

Lost the battle, but not the war…

The battle along the Glières plateau was perhaps the biggest set-piece battle by the Resistance in the lead-up to the twin Overlord and Dragoon Landings in the summer of 1944 that would spark the overt liberation of the Republic. The Allies had gone far to build up the shadow army for “the day.”

Allied Military Missions in Occupied France, 1944

As noted by Plan Sussex:

From 1941 to 1945, SOE organized about 3,733 parachute landings and 81 pick-up operations (Lysander, Hudson, or Dakota) into France:

About 470 SOE agents, including 39 women, were sent out into France. Among Section F, 104 of whom were killed in action or executed (13 women), 30 escaped and 12 were released. They were “closely harnessed to the military effort” and “played a very considerable part in our complete and final victory.”

About 100 Jedburgh teams were dropped into France, Belgium, and Holland between June and December 1944.

Jed Nationalies dispatched into France :

  • British: 91 Jed
  • French: 108 Jed
  • USA: 77 Jed
  • Canadian: 2 Jed

The Jedburgh Teams had in Europe:

  • 14 members were killed in action.
  • 5 members died from injuries and were shot when prisoners or by accident.
  • 3 members were killed due to bad dropping or parachute failure.
  • 11 members were severely injured during the fighting.
  • 4 members were injured due to bad dropping.
  • 4 prisoners who escaped.

The Carpetbagger operation dropped some 10 million pounds of equipment to the French Resistance including 104,536 STEN submachine guns, 409,224 grenades, and 307,023 kg of explosives.

French Bernard maquisards 1944 with PIAT and STEN. Note the blend of civilian clothes with Adrian helmets

More background surfaces on 11 January Dhow incident

Posted on by One comment

There is much more color that has been added to the tragic 11 January boarding, search, and seizure of the stateless dhow of the Somali coast, reportedly packed with Iranian rocket and missile components headed for the Houthi. The boarding resulted in the deaths at sea of two SEALs, Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers, 37, and Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram, 27.

Chambers and Ingram were declared lost at sea on 22 January after being missing for 11 days

The information comes from an odd source, the DOJ, which indicted four foreign nationals this week who were members of the crew of the dhow– Muhammad Pahlawan, Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah, and Izhar Muhammad– who made their initial appearance via teleconference before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Richmond, Virginia. Ten other crewmembers are being held as material witnesses but are not charged.

The 31-page complaint makes some interesting reading. 

The boarding was accomplished by members of a West Coast-based Navy SEAL team and USCG MSST elements operating from the 100,000-ton sea base, USS Lewis B. Puller, supported by helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. Once the VBSS team was aboard (sadly, after losing Chambers and Ingram in the process) they confirmed it was a stateless vessel and proceeded with the search. Although the crew at first said that they had been fishing for the past six days, there were no fish aboard and no fishing equipment in use. The crew said they were unaware of any cargo on the dhow.

What the VBSS team turned up were a series of warhead, and propulsion and guidance components for MRBMs and anti-ship cruise missiles, all “packaged without markings, labels, or identification in compartments near the front of the dhow.”

“The military’s belief that the weapons are Iranian is based in part on labels on various components, the recovery of similar exploded or destroyed missiles and destructive devices from other Houthi attacks in the region around the time of the seizure, and comparison of seized weapons to known information about Iranian manufactured missiles and rockets.”

The rocket and missile parts were found hidden in culvert piping and net float buoys and the 14-member crew transferred to the Puller, which then became a floating brig. The dhow was sunk by the Navy afterward as it was deemed “no longer safe or seaworthy.”

Several of the crew had Pakistani identification cards and in interviews, some said the dhow came from Pakistan and they didn’t know what the cargo was, while others said it came directly from Iran. One, Pahlawan, who told the rest of the crew to only refer to him as a refrigeration mechanic, was in charge. Pahlawan said he had been in Iran for two years and that he began working on the dhow 10-15 days before it left Konarak, Iran, where it had been inspected by the Iranian Navy an hour before it departed. Once they left Konarak, they took on diesel at night at Chah Bahar, a known base of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy.

Pahlawan said he was instructed by the owner and captain of the vessel– neither of which embarked– on what heading to take toward the Somali coast and was given a sat phone to communicate with an individual through a series of calls that the FBI traced back to an individual known to be affiliated with the IRGC.

Of note, Pahlawan also had a personal cell phone and was active on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. You gotta stay on top of things, after all.

As noted by the DOJ:

Pahlawan faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted of unlawfully transporting a warhead, and all four defendants face a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted of the false statements offense. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Double Seven

Posted on by Leave a comment

80 Years Ago this month: 77th Naval Construction Battalion insignia on the cowling F4U Corsair at Bougainville, February 1944. Note the M1911 in the shoulder holster of the aviator to the right in case he wound up in the “walking club” and a bubble canopied F4U-4B in the background. During the period the image was captured, the base was home to Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) which included VMF-211, 212, 215, 218, 222, 223, VMSB-235, 244, and VMTB-134, and 232. The plane painted was White 77 (possibly BuNo 17677?), with the cowling design applied by hand by T. Preuit, of the 77th’s Sign Shop.

Via The U.S. Navy Seabee Museum

The 77th NMCB was formed stateside at Camp Peary, WV on New Year’s Eve 1942 and shipped out just eight months later for points West via Port Hueneme in August 1943. Bound for Guadalcanal, the battalion’s first echelon began arriving in Vella La Vella by 25 September and from there transferred as a body to Bougainville starting that same December.

There, for the next four months, they constructed the YOKE field as well as a myriad of buildings and support facilities for MAG 24.

They were aboard when what was known as the three-week-long “Battle of Bougainville Perimeter” took place, with ‘Bees conducting 24-hour armed patrols while they worked and enduring nearly 1,000 Japanese artillery shells close to their camp, their personnel spending almost all of their off time sheltering in slit trenches.

M1903 Seabees in the 77th Naval Construction Battalion armory cleaning & checking their rifles

“At chapel services, attendance held up well despite the shelling,” noted the 291-page WWII cruisebook for the battalion.

Once that was accomplished, the “Double Seven” moved on to Emirau and Sangley Point, ending the war in the P.I.

Inactivated on 15 October 1945, the battalion earned 22 purple hearts, an NMCM, and three bronze stars for heroism.

Welcome aboard, John L. Canley

Posted on by Leave a comment

Marines and Sailors at Naval Base Coronado participated in commissioning ceremonies for the giant new 100,000-ton ton expeditionary mobile base USS John L. Canley (ESB 6), on Feb 17.

This is the first ship to be named after Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Maj. John L. Canley, Ret., for his actions during the Battle of Hue City in 1968.

Canley (ESB-6) is the fourth Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base (ESB) and is envisioned to support low-intensity missions in remote areas as a sort of modernization of the old Mobile Sea Bases Hercules and Wimbrown 7 from the Prime Chance era. As such, they can support MCM assets, USCG patrol boats, Army aviation types, and all flavors of Marines and Navy special warfare units.

They carry the 4th largest flight deck in the U.S. Navy, as part of a huge mission bay. 

Check out this tour: 

Class leader Lewis B. Puller was home to the SEALs who lost their lives late last month while interdicting stateless dhows smuggling rocket parts to Yemen.

Just taking my drone boat for a walk

Posted on by One comment

Just walking around the Gulfport harbor on the weekend– back when it was 70 degrees just a week ago– and spied this, now increasingly familiar, scene: an Ocean Aero Triton Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicle (AUSV), with its recycled USCG 26ft RB-S chase boat (note the red showing through on the sides) and the replica of the old Ship Island lighthouse on the west horizon. The new (post-Katrina) Coast Guard station is to the left. 

(Photo by Chris Eger)

Ocean Aero is based at the port, nestled in among the banana boat facilities, and tests its production Triton AUSVs from the harbor before packing them up for delivery.

They typically run them 2 at a time, which leaves open the possibility of drone boat races? I think they should keep that in mind. I grew up with the submarine races in Pascagoula back when Ingalls was making Sturgeon-class hunter-killers and that was a blast.

Prosperity Guardian Goes on the Offensive (Well, Not Officially)

Posted on by Leave a comment

Statement via CENTCOM (emphasis mine):

On Jan. 11 at 2:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command forces, in coordination with the United Kingdom, and support from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Bahrain conducted joint strikes on Houthi targets to degrade their capability to continue their illegal and reckless attacks on U.S. and international vessels and commercial shipping in the Red Sea. This multinational action targeted radar systems, air defense systems, and storage and launch sites for one way attack unmanned aerial systems, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.

Since Oct. 17, 2023, Iranian-backed Houthi militants have attempted to attack and harass 27 ships in international shipping lanes. These illegal incidents include attacks that have employed anti-ship ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. These strikes have no association with and are separate from Operation Prosperity Guardian, a defensive coalition of over 20 countries operating in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden.

“We hold the Houthi militants and their destabilizing Iranian sponsors responsible for the illegal, indiscriminate, and reckless attacks on international shipping that have impacted 55 nations so far, including endangering the lives of hundreds of mariners, including the United States,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM Commander. “Their illegal and dangerous actions will not be tolerated, and they will be held accountable.”

The release came with images of an F-18E making a night cat from (likely) the Ike which is deployed to the region, and what looks like a TLAM lifting off from a DDG.

The F-18E looks to be “Canyon 400” the CAG bird of the “Gunslingers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 105, part of CVW-3 based out of NAS Oceana

For reference, Carrier Strike Group (CCSG) 2 currently includes the flagship Nimitz carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), the Tico cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), Burkes USS Gravely (DDG 107), USS Laboon (DDG 58), and USS Mason (DDG 87) of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 22, and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 with nine embarked squadrons.

Known as the “Battle Axe,” CVW-3 dates back to the old USS Saratoga in 1928 and has an all-Rhino punch from four F-18E squadrons (VFA-32, VFA-83, VFA-105, and VFA-131).

Meanwhile, the Brits chipped in some strikes made by RAF Typhoons flying 3,200-mile round-trip sorties out of Akrotiri, Cyprus, with the combined target count reportedly being 60 sites across 16 locations by both the USN and RAF with 150 munitions employed.

The use of Typhoon is rare, as the RAF only has five squadrons and usually devotes these modern fighters to air defense (MoD image)

From the MoD statement: 

Four RAF Typhoon FGR4s, supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker therefore used Paveway IV guided bombs to conduct precision strikes on two of these Houthi facilities. One was a site at Bani in north-western Yemen used to launch reconnaissance and attack drones. A number of buildings involved in drone operations were targeted by our aircraft.

The other location struck by our aircraft was the airfield at Abbs. Intelligence has shown that it has been used to launch both cruise missiles and drones over the Red Sea. Several key targets at the airfield were identified and prosecuted by our aircraft.

As for the locals, they say 73 sites were hit, with about a dozen casualties, all among their fighters, and they had been given a 2-3 hour warning before the raid. Following much smack talk and lots of public rallies in the Houthi areas, it is possible an effort may be made against the American and allied bases in nearby Djoubuti in the Horn of Africa. 

BTW, the strikes on Houthiland came within hours of the Iranian Navy seizing the Greek-owned and Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St Nikolas in the Gulf of Oman.

A Very “Greyhound Moment”

This TLAM and Rhino blitz against targets ashore in Houthiland comes two days after what has been described as a “Convoy Battle” that saw the Iranian-backed rebels launch a “complex attack” that included 18 one-way attack drones (OWA UAVs), two anti-ship cruise missiles, and one anti-ship ballistic missile shot down by the Ike’s combined carrier group and the Royal Navy’s HMS Diamond (D34).

Sal Mercogliano – maritime historian at Campbell University– richly detailed in his What’s Going on With Shipping podcast just what that was like from the feedback he has gotten from his contacts in the region.

There is also a bit of chatter that an Iranian merchant ship loitering in the area (Behshad) is actually a floating covert Revolutionary Guard seabase that is feeding targeting information to the Houthi. Behshad has been in the Red Sea since 2021 off Eritrea’s lawless Dahlak archipelago and had arrived there to apparently relive the Saviz, another suspected Iranian spy vessel that had been mysteriously damaged in an attack that some blamed on the Israelis.

If you aren’t listening to Mercogliano’s podcast and are interested in what is going on with the Houthi naval war, you are missing out.

Last of ‘The Originals’ has grabbed his Sun Compass and Set Off Across the Desert

Posted on by One comment

Major Willis Michael “Mike” Sadler, MM, MC, the last survivor of both the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), and David Stirling’s original L Detachment SAS, has marked his map for the last time at age 103.

A Rhodesian, Sadler’s WWII service including 4 Rhodesian Anti-Tank Battery (ranks), ​Long Range Desrt Group (S Patrol) 1942 (Cpl)​ award M.M. with LRDG​, L Detachment SAS July 1942-September 1942 (CR/3514 Sgt)​, 1 SAS (A Squadron) 1942-43 (2 Lt)​, Special Raiding Squadron 1943 (Lt)​, and 1 SAS (HQ + A Squadrons) 1944-45 (Cap)– recommended MC 1945, ret Maj.

Sadler joined SAS in 1941 and was the group’s primary navigator across the featureless Libyan desert, successfully guiding their gun trucks and war jeeps to success, among others, at Wadi Tamet where his team famously destroyed 24 aircraft and a fuel dump.

Using “very blank” maps and a sun compass — and sometimes not even that!– Sadler got it done long before the days of GPS.

A 2016 interview with Sadler:

Sadler is portrayed by Tom Glynn-Carney in the new BBC series Rogue Heroes.

 

Post-war, he served with the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (now the British Antarctic Survey) and Sadler’s Passage in Stonington Island, Antarctica was later named after him in 2021 in recognition of his work there.

And thus, we remember.

Prosperity Guardian Counts 19 (of 61) Cyclops/Vampires

Posted on by Leave a comment

231206-N-GF955-1026 U.S. 5TH FLEET AREA OF OPERATIONS (Dec. 6, 2023) Sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) responds to a simulated small-craft vessel during an anti-terrorism drill, Dec. 6. Carney is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)

The latest press briefing by the Pentagon has the CENTCOM commander, VADM Brad Cooper, remarking that the U.S. Navy alone has splashed 61 incoming Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea since late October in now some 25 attacks on merchant shipping. This apparently doesn’t count drones and missiles shot down by the British RN or French fleet.

Of that number, 19 have been swatted down since Operation Prosperity Guardian kicked off on 18 December 2023, expanding “Of the 19 drones and missiles, 11 have been uncrewed aerial vehicles. There have been two cruise missiles and six anti-ship ballistic missiles.”

OPG has also zapped three small boats while a large boat-borne IED was released offshore earlier this week. 

While at least two vessels have been hit by Houthis, Cooper said that “1,500 vessels have safely transited through the Bab al-Mandab,” since OPG started with none by UAVs. Notably, Maersk Hangzhou was hit by a missile which caused no casualties. Speaking of which, the only injuries thus far are to Houthi smallboat crews, with at least 10 killed.

Nonetheless, on 2 January, both Maersk and Happag-Lloyd announced that the Red Sea route would once again be avoided moving forward.

While it hasn’t been released just what kind of missiles are being sent up from coastal batteries along the Yemeni coast, the Houthis have developed a modified version of the Iranian Quds-1 and Quds-2 cruise missiles, with Iranian assistance. Iran also has Chinese C802 and C700 series AShMs and a whole series of domestically produced variants, such as the Noor, Ghader, and Ghadir.

Many of these are set up to be very mobile– and thus hard to target.

Transporter erector launcher (TELs) for Iranian Noor/Qader missiles. The TEL can be disguised as a civilian truck. (Wiki Commons)

Carney Going Home

231019-N-GF955-1104 RED SEA (Oct. 19, 2023) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19. Carney is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)

The American ship with the most documented “kills,” including 14 drones shot down in a single day (16 December), is the modernized Flight I Burke, USS Carney (DDG-64).

Before that incident, Carney had counted at least a 22-0 score on the eve of the Army-Navy game in early December.

Carney, which is headed home, just hosted VADM Cooper aboard who presented the whole crew with a CAR while some individuals picked up a NAM and the skipper a Bronze Star.

For now, the Ike carrier group is in the region with her DESRON 22 tin cans keeping watch along with the British Type 45 frigate HMS Diamond while other countries are promising a couple grey hulls as well.

With Denmark set to send a frigate to the Red Sea to take part in OPG, the Royal Danish Navy just released a video of the air defense frigate Iver Huitfeldt undergoing Fleet Operational Sea Training, preparing to fight while underway.

Since you have come this far, take a look at these two semi-related videos, featuring the Army’s new 1-3 week counter-drone school– including the use of a Smart Shooter device for M4 carbines, and a sit down with some Ukrainian soldiers who are manufacturing 3D-printed parts for reconnaissance and kamikaze drones on the cheap– which is the future of warfare as we are seeing it today.

 

Prosperity Guardian upates

Posted on by One comment

ARABIAN GULF (Dec. 5, 2023) An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter attached to the “Dusty Dogs” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 7 escorts explosive ordnance disposal technicians to conduct helicopter rope suspension drills aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107) in the Arabian Gulf, Dec. 5, 2023. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Janae Chambers)

The U.S.-led multinational sea control/protection of shipping operation formed in December 2023 to respond to Houthi-led attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, primarily in the Bab-el-Mandeb (also known as the Gate of Grief or the Gate of Tears, names that are more apt than ever before) saw a lot of movement in the past week.

This included Denmark promising to send a frigate— likely one of its trio of new Iver Huitfeldt class air defense ships– to the region to join the OPG convoy effort. Likewise, the Greeks are sending a frigate of their own, possibly a Hydra/MEKO-200HN class vessel with limited AAW capability. That these two countries are sending grey hulls is a no-brainer as Maersk is a Danish-owned shipping company and something like 20 percent of the shipping on earth is Greek-owned in one way or another. Meanwhile, cash-strapped OPG “partners” such as Canada and Australia have elected to only send a few staff officers to the safety of Bahrain.

Current missile-slingers on OPG include the British Type 45 frigate HMS Diamond (D34), the drone ace Burke USS Carney (DDG 64), the DESRON 22 destroyers USS Laboon (DDG-58), USS Mason (DDG 87), and USS Gravely (DDG-107) from the Eisenhower strike group; as well as airpower from Ike herself which is being closely screened by the old Tico USS Philippine Sea (CG 58).

And they have been very busy.

Dec. 23: Laboon shot down four unmanned aerial drones originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen that were inbound to the destroyer. There were no injuries or damage in this incident. However, M/V Blaamaen, a Norwegian-flagged, owned, and operated chemical/oil tanker, reported a near miss of a Houthi one-way attack drone with no injuries or damage reported while the M/V Saibaba, a Gabon-owned, Indian-flagged crude oil tanker, reported that it was hit by a one-way attack drone with no injuries reported.

Dec. 26: Laboon and F/A-18 Super Hornets from the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, shot down twelve one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles, and two land attack cruise missiles in the Southern Red Sea that were fired by the Houthis over 10 hours. The Liberian-flagged MSC United VIII was narrowly missed by incoming AShMs.

Dec. 28: Mason shot down one drone and one anti-ship ballistic missile in the Southern Red Sea that was fired by the Houthis. There was no damage to any of the 18 ships in the area or reported injuries. “This is the 22nd attempted attack by Houthis on international shipping since Oct. 19,” reported CENTCOM.

Dec. 30. Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned/operated container ship Maersk Hangzhou was struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile, and when Gravely responded she splashed two more that were directed at her. In a follow-up attack the next day, four Houthi small boats bird dogged the wounded container ship and then fired crew-served and small arms weapons as close as 20m from the Danish vessel. Armed MH-60Rs from Ike and Gravely responded and sank three out of four boats, reportedly killing at least 10 Houthis.

Maersk is apparently running embarked private security teams to dissuade Yemeni helicopter and small boat teams from landing– the Maersk Hangzhou responded with small arms during the recent attacks on her. Others are taking to Automatic Identification System messages to wave a sort of “not it” white flag at the Houthi, who are apparently using such systems as an easy open-source intelligence for targeting.

And, as if the region couldn’t be any more tense, the 55-year-old Iranian Alvand-class corvette Alborz has entered the Red Sea.

« Older Entries Recent Entries »