Iran Loves This: The Royal Navy Doesn’t Have Enough Ships to Patrol Persian Gulf
The Royal Navy plans briefly to double its number of warships in the Persian Gulf following an attempted attack by Iranian forces on a British oil tanker on June 20, 2019.
But the temporary increase in British warships in the region, from one to two, underscores just how few ships the Royal Navy can deploy even in an emergency.
Iranian boats tried to “impede” the British oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, the BBC reported. HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate, “was forced to move between the three boats and the tanker,” according to the BBC.
Navy Sends Robots to Take Out Iranian Mines in Strait of Hormuz: Several Successful Detonations Already Reported
WHCD Shooter Was California Teacher Once Praised as ‘Teacher of the Month’
California DOGE leader slams Newsom, Bonta over state’s massive fraud issues: “Every day is opposite day”
Mississippi middle schoolers stop runaway bus after driver loses consciousness from asthma attack
Correspondents’ dinner chaos hits high-profile guests already marked by political violence
Who is Cole Allen? California man named as suspect in White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
Breaking: WH Correspondents’ Dinner Shooter Identified, Appears to Be Kamala Harris Donor on Public Listing
Trump strikes defiant tone after another shooting: ‘I can’t be concerned’
WH Correspondents’ Dinner Cancelled After Shooting Despite Trump Wanting the Show to Go on
Secret Service in line of fire at WHCA shooting still unpaid due to Dem-led shutdown
Man charged security checkpoint and shot Secret Service agent at White House correspondents’ dinner: Trump
Trump rushed from same hotel where Reagan assassination attempt unfolded in 1981
Breaking: Shooter Reportedly Shot Dead or Apprehended at WH Correspondents Dinner with Trump in Attendance
Breaking: Shots Reportedly Fired at WH Correspondents Dinner, Trump and Melania Rushed Out
Trump shares details on ‘very sick person’ who fired shots at White House Correspondents’ Dinner
The British government claimed the attacking boats belonged to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps militia. The IRGC also allegedly was behind several recent bomb attacks targeting oil tankers in the Gulf and surrounding waters.
Tensions have escalated in the Middle East following U.S. president Donald Trump decision unilaterally to withdraw the United States from the 2015 deal limiting Iran’s nuclear program. After Trump restored economic sanctions, Tehran resumed stockpiling uranium.
The July 2019 tanker incident compelled the Royal Navy to accelerate by several weeks a planned deployment to the Gulf by the Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan. Montrose and Duncan together will patrol the Persian Gulf before Montrose returns to U.K. waters for maintenance.
Duncan sailed south through the Bosphorus on July 13, 2019. The destroyer had been in the Black Sea region for NATO exercises.
