USS Thunderbolt fires warning shots at armed Iranian patrol boat in Persian Gulf

Tensions flared in the northern Persian Gulf waters on July 25 when one armed Iranian patrol boat approached a US Navy ship and ignored warnings not to approach any closer. Those unheeded calls were made by the USS Thunderbolt, which according to US defense department officials, also fired flares and blasted their ship’s whistles as warnings to the fast approaching Iranian ship. The Iranian ship chose a time when a formation of US Navy ships were engaged in military coalition maneuvers and exercises in the Gulf’s international waters.

As a deterrent to that approaching Iranian ship, Fox News reported that, “The U.S. Navy coastal patrol ship fired warning shots from its .50-caliber machine gun at an Iranian patrol boat when it came within 150 yards of the ship in the Persian Gulf, according to two U.S. defense officials.”  This isn’t the first time the Navy had to fend off aggressive Iranian patrol boats.  Last January, a US Navy warship was forced to fire three warning shots from its a .50 caliber machine gun at four Iranian fast-attack vessels near the Strait of Hormuz as they approached the USS Mahan and ignored radio warnings to cease their approaches.

In this latest incident, USA Today shared a portion of a Navy release which stated that, “As the Iranian vessel proceeded toward the U.S. ship, Thunderbolt again sounded five short blasts prior to firing warning shots in front of the Iranian vessel.  After the warning shots were fired, the Iranian vessel halted its unsafe approach.”  The statement from the Navy added that the Iranian vessel created a risk for a collision as it “failed to respect maritime ‘rules of the road’ and internationally recognized maritime customs.”

Today when the armed Iranian patrol boat approached, the USS Thunderbolt was working with two US Coast guard vessels and the USS Vella Gulf, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser.  CNN reported a defense department official as saying that the Iranian patrol boat may have been operating under the auspices of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.  Following the warning shots fired by the USS Thunderbolt, the Iranian patrol boat ceased its provocative approach, but stayed in the immediate area for several hours.

A Cyclone-class patrol ship, the 179-foot USS Thunderbolt is armed with two 25mm Mk-38 machine guns, two .50-caliber machine guns and two automatic grenade launchers, according to the Navy.  ~ per CNN

Written by:  Ace News Today Staff