US warships sent to area where Iran-backed rebels attacked Saudi-led coalition shipBy Lucas Tomlinson Published October 03, 2016
USS MasonThe U.S. Navy dispatched three warships near the southern coast of Yemen after four rockets hit and nearly sank a [former USN] United Arab Emirates auxiliary ship Saturday, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack. There were no reported injuries to the Emerati crew. Al Jazeera reported on video of the attack.
Iran supplied the Houthis with the “shoulder-fired rockets” that nearly destroyed the UAE ship, according to two U.S. officials. It was not immediately clear what type of rocket the rebels may have fired. The ship was formerly contracted to the U.S., two defense officials confirmed, and at one time an American company owned the vessel.
Military officials sent the Navy warships to the southern end of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, also known as the Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers,
USS Mason and
USS Nitze, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and an assortment of deck-mounted high-caliber machine guns, joined
USS Ponce, a floating staging ship which includes a compliment of special operations forces, according to one official.
...
The UAE is part of a Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition in Yemen fighting the Houthis in a civil war that began in 2015. The United States has provided support to the Saudi-led coalition in the past, including intelligence support and mid-air refueling tankers.
...
In April, the U.S. Navy intercepted a weapons shipment from Iran to Yemen to aid the Houthis ahead of President Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia.
A year earlier, the U.S. Navy dispatched the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt to shadow an Iranian convoy which had weapons displayed brazenly on its decks. The Iranian convoy turned around and returned home before it reached Yemen, U.S. defense officials said at the time.
Excerpt. Please read more at
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/10/03/us-warships-sent-to-area-where-iran-backed-rebels-attacked-saudi-led-coalition-ship.html+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Iran-backed fighters that are going to take a few potshots at our ships if we get close enough. Time to test our our air defenses.
See previous thread here:
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,227816.0.htmlVideo of attack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTNeEYlO3IwDamage to
HSV-2 Swift (from
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/5448/images-show-a-badly-damaged-hsv-2-swift-following-attack-off-yemeni-coast):
Supposedly no casualties....quite amazing.
