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| US Ship Fires on Boat off Dubai, 1 Dead |
| 2012-07-16 |
| The U.S. Navy says a security team aboard one of its ships fired on a small boat after it disregarded warnings and raced toward the vessel near the Dubai port of Jebel Ali.. Lt Greg Raelson, a spokesman for the Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, says sailors aboard the USNS Rappahannock issued a series of warnings Monday before resorting to lethal force using a .50-caliber machine gun. A U.S. consular official and an Emirati rescue official in Dubai told The Associated Press that one person was killed and three were wounded in the shooting. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the incident between the two allies. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #18 In one war game with the USN against a Southeast Asian naval force, the latter 'sunk' an Australian merchant instead of the USN target. Man, I'd love to hear that story some day (or what can be told). My dad taught radar operation and tactics during WWII. A lesson from his stories was that sensors report data, but you still have to interpret what you are seeing. And as Pappy says, experience and cunning count big time. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-07-16 23:29 |
| #17 The most likely counter-response at this time, iff any, from Iran or Radical Islamic Groups would be a TerrOp agz US andor Israeli target(s) somewhere in the ME. * VARIOUS MSM-NET NEWS > repor that the Persons aboard the small boat were INDIANS - howvere, this alone does necessarily prove or disprove they were affiliated wid Iran + violent Islamic Groups. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-07-16 23:02 |
| #16 Mr. Radar is not fooled by such pitiful human tricks. Weelll, yes and no. In one war game with the USN against a Southeast Asian naval force, the latter 'sunk' an Australian merchant instead of the USN target. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that advanced radar and electronics didn't quite work as well that day as cunning and experience. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2012-07-16 21:39 |
| #15 Agree w/ dry run theory. As to paint schemes, visual deception takes many forms. If you look at a Nimitz class CV, there is a tall light pole fwd of the island. Properly lit the CV can visually (at night) resemble a merchantman. |
| Posted by: USN, ret 2012-07-16 20:53 |
| #14 a few ships in the Gulf were painted a lighter gray with just slightly darker gray hull numbers. Why don't they just paint them transparent? Or does that only work in Photoshop? The WWII dazzle camouflage was a cool look, but Mr. Radar is not fooled by such pitiful human tricks. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-07-16 19:28 |
| #13 One must always listen, obey Mama Deuce. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-07-16 19:28 |
| #12 won't do that again. perhaps an innocent mistake, or perhaps a dry run to test ROE. If they do it often enough, it'll make some idiot complacent. Nice shooting today, sailor |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-07-16 19:07 |
| #11 That is affirmative Skipper, we've got one dead Indian and three dead Mercury's. Survivors appear to be frantically waving a bloodstained white dishdashah. I suspect they are signalling for reinforements. Shall I fire another 100 rounds ? OVER |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-07-16 18:41 |
| #10 Is there regulation or conventions that Navy ships are a grey vs merchant ships various colors? Makes it harder to discern regarding profile and heading. Riverine craft and some Scandanavian coastal defense warships get painted green for the same reason. For a while, a few ships in the Gulf were painted a lighter gray with just slightly darker gray hull numbers. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2012-07-16 18:35 |
| #9 BBC reports this as an Indian fisherman killed, with the boat being a 30 footer with 3 outboard moters. Sounds more like a Go-fast smuggler than a fisherman. I can undersand the fire order given the profile. |
| Posted by: Northern Cousin 2012-07-16 18:21 |
| #8 Froma Canuck perspective, grey hull in the North Atlantic grey fog means stealth. (although many ships in WW1 and WW2 were specifically painted with broken pattern stripes. Merchant ships - strictly speaking -want to be seen by others (except in the Guld of Aden). Maybe we should paint ours off white to lurk in the North. (Pure white is hospital ship colors as set out in Geneva Conventions) |
| Posted by: Northern Cousin 2012-07-16 17:38 |
| #7 Isn't Gray the Navy Khaki? |
| Posted by: Slusosh Thrineck4715 2012-07-16 17:29 |
| #6 Oh yeah. Quick question for all you ex-Navy types. Is there regulation or conventions that Navy ships are a grey vs merchant ships various colors? |
| Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division 2012-07-16 17:23 |
| #5 I know I'd rather be the ship captain that shot up the wrong boat than the one explaining why one got close enough to do a Cole job on my ship. Personally I think the .50's ought to be replaced with 20mm or more. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division 2012-07-16 17:20 |
| #4 Right you are Besoeker. Wood splinters is the best outcome, or its amputation (one or the other). In any event - its Board of Inquiries here we come, and likely imposed expensive VISAs for US air passengers (as the UAE did to Canadians). Its an Arab way of sending a message. We know what happened to the USS Cole. Its a tough call, but someone made it. |
| Posted by: Northern Cousin 2012-07-16 17:05 |
| #3 "Wounded" by a .50 cal? Not a very pleasant visual I must say. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-07-16 16:58 |
| #2 Sounds more like a dry run. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-07-16 15:01 |
| #1 Obama gearing up for elections? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-07-16 14:40 |