If bolting a gun onto the deck makes it a warship then you are right. It doesn’t and this isn’t.

They put a 76mm gun on it for the same reason they “made” a carrier out of a barge. Propaganda. No one seriously takes that as a warship. That ship has effectively no combat capability at all. I would love to know how it is controlled. Wouldn’t surprise me if it literally was aimed by sight or something very rudimentary.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
the Sea hates us all equally,.

That gave me a chuckle...after sailing out into heavy weather to save some stupid people I agree with you.

Nah, after watching hurricanes roll through the southeast and reek havoc and destruction for the past 30 years, I don't think severe weather or the ocean 'hates' us at all. They just show up occasionally to remind us just how insignificant and helpless we really are in the overall scheme of things.

Pics have now surfaced just as this Iranian 'Warship' caught fire....(at least the truck was spared).

Fire & Explosion Hit Iran Steel Factory In Third Major Incident In 5 Days

https://www.zerohedge.com/geop...ajor-incident-5-days

A large fire broke out Saturday night at a steel factory in the southeast city of Zarand in Iran. It's the latest in a mysterious string of blasts and 'accidental' blazes at sensitive sites to beset the Islamic Republic, raising questions of possible Israel sabotage akin to what happened a year ago in the summer of 2020.

"The governor of Zarand told the Iranian Fars News Agency that no injuries were caused in the incident and that the incident was under control," The Jerusalem Post reports. "The incident was reportedly caused by the sudden overflow of molten material in the blast furnace, with the governor stressing that no explosion occurred." But some early videos show otherwise.

Social media videos showed a sizable blaze which appear to have triggered a significant explosion, however, resulting in debris and what looks like molten steel flying into the air.

Even if Iran suspects that Israel is behind some of these latest incidents over the past month, Tehran officials are likely reluctant to go public with accusations given negotiators are reportedly on the cusp of a nuclear deal in Vienna, and as the country is gearing up to vote for a new president this month.

Israel has vowed to thwart a deal by any means possible, with embattled PM Netanyahu lately openly verbalizing he's willing to consider any level of action even if it causes "friction" with the United States.

And there are further reports of other fires afflicting oil facilities throughout the country, as US-funded VOA News details: "Several oil facility fires have occurred in Iran's southwestern Ahvaz region during the past 48 hours, Arab media reported Saturday. The reports came on the heels of a massive oil refinery fire this week in the capital, Tehran."

One Middle East news source reviews the recent string of fires and explosions hitting key Iranian assets as follows:

Three days earlier, a major fire tore through the Tehran Oil Refining Company in the outskirts of the Iranian capital.
Another explosion followed by a fire sank Iran’s largest naval vessel in the Sea of Oman, near it shores, on June 2.
On May 23, nine people were injured in another blast at a plant producing explosive materials in central Iran...
three days later, a pipeline explosion at a petrochemical complex near Iran's Gulf coast left one dead.

Now let me see, you send Hamas a shitload of rockets and ships sink, factories explode, and a pipeline explodes. Ya think there's a connection Iran?

quote:

Originally posted by fiasconva:
Now let me see, you send Hamas a shitload of rockets and ships sink, factories explode, and a pipeline explodes. Ya think there's a connection Iran?

Several years of sanctions and ideological mismanagement at all levels has left the Iranian economy and it's infrastructure in near collapse. Unable to run what heavy industry they have without replacement parts, minimal expertise or, know-how, and the public malaise regarding their future. Iran is ripe for an insurgency as little nudges from clandestine activities is pushing Iran's theocratic authoritarians to the edge.