https://www.navytimes.com/news...-attempt-in-red-sea/

US Navy sinks Houthi small boats during hijack attempt in Red Sea

The U.S. military said Sunday it shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired toward a container ship by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. Hours later, four boats tried to attack the same ship, but U.S. forces opened fire, killing several of the armed crews, U.S. Central Command said. No one was injured on the ship.

The Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou reported they had already been hit by a missile Saturday night while transiting the Southern Red Sea and requested assistance, CENTCOM said in a statement. The guided missile destroyers Gravely and Laboon responded to the call for help. The Denmark-owned vessel was reportedly seaworthy and no injuries were noted, the statement added.
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About fucking time. What’s the point of having a Navy if we can’t kill pirates. Or terrorists in this case.

quote:

U.S. helicopters from the Gravely and the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower responded to the distress call. While issuing verbal warnings to the attackers, the small boat crews opened fire on the helicopters using small arms, the statement said.

You have got to be seriously st00pid to do something this ill-advised

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
About fucking time. What’s the point of having a Navy if we can’t kill pirates. Or terrorists in this case.

Yep. It's a proud tradition that should be maintained!

Would firing on US Navy helicopters be an act of war? Would this be an opportunity to pave new parking lots?

Depends. Gulf of Tonkin incident fit the bill.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Would firing on US Navy helicopters be an act of war? ...

Yes.
And the Houthis control the state of Yemen.

After sinking the terrorists boats a couple of rockets at the port would have been a better conclusion of the incident.

I'm disappointed by the short attention spans of my countrymen. The Saudis (along with a few other Gulf states) were doing the heavy lifting fighting Iran's Houthi proxies, until they got tired of Slow Joe & Company criticizing them for "civilian" casualties.

3 out of 4 pirate boats sunk. 1 goes home to tell the Houthis don't shoot at US Helicopters or you'll get the 50 caliber machine gun!

Tweet from US Centcom

Iranian-backed Houthi small boats attack merchant vessel and U.S. Navy helicopters in Southern Red Sea

On Dec. 31 at 6:30am (Sanaa time) the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours reporting being under attack by four Iranian-backed Houthi small boats. The small boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, fired crew served and small arms weapons at the MAERSK HANGZHOU, getting to within 20 meters of the vessel, and attempted to board the vessel. A contract embarked security team on the MAERSK HANZGHOU returned fire. U.S. helicopters from the USS EISENHOWER (CVN 69) and GRAVELY (DDG 107) responded to the distress call and in the process of issuing verbal calls to the small boats, the small boats fired upon the U.S. helicopters with crew served weapons and small arms. The U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats, and killing the crews. The fourth boat fled the area. There was no damage to U.S. personnel or equipment.

Its about time! And once again the term "Houthi controlled areas" is used. Arc Light them already!

We need to bomb the shit out of all of the bases in Yemen. 48 hours of non-stop bombing ala Baghdad in the first Gulf War. We know exactly where they are.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Would firing on US Navy helicopters be an act of war? ...

Yes.
And the Houthis control the state of Yemen.

And Iran controls the Houthis. It's time to take care of business.

Jim

You guys remember when the Iranians nearly blew the USS Samuel B. Roberts in two with a mine, and then the Navy sank half of Iran’s navy and two oil platforms? We need some of that “proportional” response today. That’s the difference between having Reagan in the chair vs Biden.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Arc Light them already!

I witnessed an Arc Light once, a long time ago.

We got radio traffic that said it was inbound at a compass heading and a distance that I don't recall, 1000 yards distant for sure, maybe further.

First we saw the horizon light up and roll to our left and with a slight delay we heard the rumble of the explosions, loud, not painful because it wasn't sharp, but loud enough, and a hair later, a second? who knows, the ground shook as a rolling ground swell passed under us.

Impressively loud, it got lots of cheers, (we were on a reinforced battalion operation) and then it rolled to a stop.

In the A.M. we moved into an area dotted with craters, some a dozen feet deep filling with ground water at this point. What had been a rolling hillside dotted with concrete bunkers, pill boxes, was now the mountains of the moon. It was obvious some bunkers had just disintegrated, some shattered, some leaving only craters as memorial. A couple that I saw hadn't been directly hit nor had they caved-in but the occupants had become good VC.


If I had a kid on one of our ships in that AO taking incoming, I'd be good with watching another one.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
You guys remember when the Iranians nearly blew the USS Samuel B. Roberts in two with a mine, and then the Navy sank half of Iran’s navy and two oil platforms? We need some of that “proportional” response today. That’s the difference between having Reagan in the chair vs Biden.

We had a different president back then that cared about our soldiers and country.




https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d5v6hlRyeHE

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
And the Houthis control the state of Yemen.

Not quite. They claim to do so, but only one country (Iran) recognizes their claims, and they hold only the western third of the country. To the rest of the world, they're a rebel group against the legitimate internationally-recognized Yemeni government. On the current map shown below, green areas are Houthi rebel territory, while red and yellow areas are controlled by the recognized Yemeni government:

Ah. Thanks for the correction.
I need to read up more.

My guess is that these Seahawks used Hellfire missiles to sink the boats. These boats were probably equipped with 12.7mm HMG so that's a 50 cal on 50 cal duel and the helos probably wouldn't win that contest so handily.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
You guys remember when the Iranians nearly blew the USS Samuel B. Roberts in two with a mine, and then the Navy sank half of Iran’s navy and two oil platforms? We need some of that “proportional” response today. That’s the difference between having Reagan in the chair vs Biden.

Thats what I'm talking about.