What’s going on in the Gulf

As the story continues to unfold, I start to wonder what is going on with our Naval Forces.

As discussed in these two posts from the BBC web site, there seems to be issues in the way that this event seems to have been initially handled by the Navy.

“Knowing the waters well and having been myself ‘captured’ by the IRG, something smells here. Cornwall had the eye in the sky (helo) watching overhead, the zodiac boats can do 30 knots and the interdict was approx 2 miles from Cornwall. How did they not see the Iranian fleet steam up and ‘surround’ the zodiacs? How do you surround a rubber dinghy capable of 30 knots. Or is this the issue the USA has been needing to justify an offensive move against Iran?”

Phillip Carr, Sherborne

“There is something very fishy going on. HMS Cornwall is a state of the art ship with a radar tracking system that would have seen the Iranian boats as they left port. Why did the captain of HNS Cornwall not go to cut off the Iranians?. Why did the gemini boats not fight or at least run away when they saw the six boats coming?. No RN captain would send its people out without protection!!!. Either the captain is an incompetent fool OR he was ordered to stand by and do nothing!!!!!?????”

Beryl Hutchinson, larnaca, Cyprus

As the two posts point out, why were the movements of the Iranian boats not being monitored? If they were, why were the communications systems not used to get our personnel out of their reach quickly?

I spent many years in the Navy, granted not in any major conflict. But I always knew and understood that there was always a planned escape route for any mission that we were sent on. What about if an Iranian warship had come out as well as the patrol boats, would we have given up the Cornwall so easily?

I hope as I have read in a number of posts that this is will not be used as some kind of perverse logic to allow the ‘Allies’ to mount some kind of military action against Iran which would be totally disastrous!

Although I understand the need for caution in any conflict, I hope and expect that there is an active plan to fix this issue without the UK being drawn into another wider mess!