U.S. Officials: Captured Boats Missed Refueling Meet-up
Carla Babb, Voice of America
A refueling rendezvous that went astray and an engine issue are key pieces of the puzzle behind the incident involving the 10 U.S. Navy sailors who were held earlier this week by Iran, according to U.S. officials.
The U.S. Navy boats and their crews were detained for 16 hours by Iranian Revolutionary Guards after apparently veering into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf near Farsi Island. The boats had intended to meet up with A U.S. Coast Guard boat for refueling, "but never rendezvoused," a U.S. official told VOA.
The sailors were traveling through the Persian Gulf from Kuwait toward Bahrain when U.S. controllers lost contact with them Tuesday. The Revolutionary Guard members boarded the U.S. vessels and surrounded the crew members, a second U.S. official said.
"They went off course somehow. Initial indications are that when they realized they were in Iranian waters, the engine was not able to get to full power for at least one of the boats," the official said.
An investigation is underway into further details surrounding the incident. When it happened, a U.S. strike group in the area was tasked with the search and rescue.
"When conducting a search and rescue, you are allowed to enter into countries' territorial waters," one official said. Some assets available included the guided missile cruiser USS Anzio, fixed wing aircraft, and helicopters.
The search and rescue was "simultaneous" with diplomatic outreach, one of the U.S. officials said, and searchers did locate the missing vessels at Farsi Island, but could see the sailors were not in the boats.
"We had visual of the boats," the official told VOA.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said resolution of the incident was a success for diplomacy, and Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he was grateful to have the service members “back in our hands.”
Comments
There is still no definitive report from the Navy on this ignoble incident.
Either the Iranians jammed COMMs and spoofed the NAV signals, or they didn't. If our guys screwed up this badly in a quasi-war zone, sans Iranian EW, the OinC and the Senior Enlisted Advisor should be examined at court martial.
The Navy's Long Blue Line, and the American public, have a right to know what happened, one way or the other.
McCain has called for the crew to appear at hearings, under oath. "Make it happen, Cap'n."
It's now reported that all US Navy gear on both boats was accounted for, with the exception of the SIM cards from SAT phones.
So, location data is now incomplete or missing, as is any evidence of Iranian interference in NAV and COMM signals.
Is the Iranian nuke deal important enough that the US Navy will leave the boats' OinC hanging out to dry and slowly twisting in the wind?
The boats were 30-40 miles off course.
This is impossible to understand, outside of Iranian interference with navigation signals and communications equipment.
Anyone can spoof a GPS signal. So, either all the NAV gear on both boats was inop--and everyone's cell phone GPS--or the Iranians did a little EW to draw them in. This would explain the missed refueling RDV as well.
That trickery, plus the disgusting and illegal treatment of our sailors, would have been a causus belli in an earlier age...before the Pueblo Incident, I guess.
The boats' OinC should not be faulted for looking out for his men, which apparently included the "apology" taped and put out to the world by the Iranians.
Old people recall the orders given by John Parker to the Massachusetts Militia before the Battle of Lexington: "...hold your ground, and do not fire unless fired upon. But, if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."
But, the old people were not in the Gulf that day.