Here's the reason the US Navy is reluctant to sail through the Strait of Hormuz

[JPK]

Last edited Sun Mar 15, 2026, 10:49 AM - Edit history (4)

In the 2000 the USS Cole, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, was almost sunk in the Gulf of Aden by a al-Qaeda terrorists in a small boat laden with explosives. The SoH would become a shooting gallery for the IRGC's drones. There is just not enough maneuvering room through the Strait. The admirals are not that stupid. The president may be but not them.

[Tetrachloride]

1. i submit that the location of the Straits is not the key issue

rather , these 3 are more fundamental:

the anger of Iran and

the range of the drones and

the number of drones

[ms liberty]

2. I agree with both of you, but I would summarize it thusly:

It's just too freakin' many enemies in too close a proximity with the ability to come at us from every frickin' direction, 24/7.

The stupidity of this whole war idea should have gotten the Orange Monster removed before it started.

[FakeNoose]

29. At the moment we don't have any friends ... only enemies

Chump doesn't know how to make "friends." The truth is that Netanyahu is Jared Kushner's buddy, not Chump's.

[Arazi]

32. Fairly sure Putin considers us more "friend" than foe atm

[azureblue]

44. He's got Republicans

Covering his ass at every turn.

[JPK]

3. I fundamentally agree with your three points

However, the SoH is very narrow and US DDG's escorting tankers that travel at 15kt's best speed assures that they would target the DDG's. They would be sitting ducks in a pond. There might be a better solution but it involves the Marines. An amphibious force landing near Bandar Abbas to sanitize the immediate area, denying the IRGC the best place to launch their drones. The loss of one Arleigh Burke would be at least the dollar equivalent currently of one day's bombardment, not to mention the sailors killed.

An amphibious ship is heading to the Mid East now with 2,500 Marines on board would have to endure a fury of drone attacks before it could land the Marines. I don't think 2,500 would be enough. A Wasp class amphib costs around 3bln. Does not include the aircraft.

[littlemissmartypants]

21. Good morning. Please explain what DDG's are, JPK. Thank you. ❤️

[Beausoleil]

27. DDG is a guided missle destroyer

Arleigh Burke is a class of DDG, so here the two terms are interchangeable. Most if not all of our active DDGs are Arleigh Burke class.

[littlemissmartypants]

43. TY ❤️

[JPK]

38. DDG

Guided Missile Destroyer. The classic destroyer class identifier was DD. DDG came later when destroyers became equipped with missiles.

[littlemissmartypants]

42. TY ❤️

[3Hotdogs]

55. Another way to see why this is a fuck-up ---- read about WW1, Churchill and the Dardanelles.

To sweep mines, requires slow moving vessels which then become easy targets for artillery on shore. Then add drones.

[3825-87867]

6. You forgot 2..

The vanity of trump
and
the stupidity of trump and his appointees.

[COL Mustard]

49. If the Commander in Chief wanted to set the example

He would lead from the front. Then we’d know he was serious.

[Old Crank]

40. The Persian, Arabian, gulf is totally within g the range of drones

from Iran. They are the country that covers the whole north side of the gulf, the straights and part of the Gulf of Oman.
Most navy ships are big and relatively slow and don't maneuver quickly. Cargo ships are worse and unarmed. There is also the possibility of being able to hit ships with 155mm howitzer fire. At the narrowest point of the straight. Those might be hard to hide and move quickly after firing several rounds.

An example is the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. Confined to port by a country with no navy and no air cover.

[JohnnyRingo]

4. The admirals aren't stupid but they aren't in charge.

Somebody may have explained to the guy who "knows more than the generals" that getting a ship sunk would look like losing.
Still, he may order the Pentagon to pull it off without casualties. The whole thing has been nuts all along.

I suspect this whole war plan was drawn up on the Resolution Desk with a Sharpie.

[rampartd]

12. i had guessed "grok" but it seems "claude" is in command.

either way, programmed to please dear leader.

[Seinan Sensei]

17. The question is

… is he feelin’ it in his bones?

(You can’t make this sh*t up)

[littlemissmartypants]

23. The Iranian Foreign Minister just told Margaret on FTN...

President DJ Epstein is doing it for "fun" and claims DJ said that himself. He insisted upon that when she pressed him on his word usage.

This is on brand for a psychopath like DJ, seeing the inflicting of pain and chaos on anyone, anywhere as "fun" is their M.O.

Characteristics of Psychopaths

1. Aggressive, callous, and cunning
2. Complete absence of conscience and empathy
3. Very adept at manipulating others
4. Willingness to engage in immoral, criminal conduct
5. Willingness to take what they want and do as they please, regardless of who is hurt or wronged
6. Deceptive ability to appear outwardly benevolent
7. Deceptive ability to behave in superficially charming ways to hide purely selfish motives
8. Willingness to use intimidation and violence to control others in order to satisfy their own needs
9. Willingness to intentionally violate the basic inherent human rights of others
10. Complete absence of any sense of guilt or remorse for the harm their actions have caused to others
11. Rationalization of their own immoral behavior
12. Will attempt to lay blame upon someone else for their own conduct
13. Denial, will deny their own wrongdoing outright
14. Utter contemptuousness toward the feelings and desires of their fellow beings
15. Pathological lying, will say anything without any concern for truth to advance their own hidden agendas
16. Ablity to feign [fake] normal human emotions and empathy
17. Distorted sense of the consequences of their actions
18. Total failure to accept any responsibility for their own socially irresponsible ways
19. Strong bellef that they will never be brought to justice for their criminal behavior

[modrepub]

5. Asymetrical Destruction

So on the US side, you're going to risk billions of dollars in ships that may take half a decade to build with hundreds of sailors who take years of training to become efficient. And on the Iranian side, you've got air drones that cost tens of thousands of dollars to produce, ballistic missiles which may run into the millions (and may be stockpiled in the thousands in fortified tunnels), sea drones (jet skis packed with explosives) that may be capable of running autonomously (no radio signal to jam) that may cost thousands to build (who knows what is stock piled).

Simply put, it seems highly problematic to deploy any large naval force into the Gulf without the chance that something catastrophic will happen to your military assets. And one major hit by the Iranians means most merchant vessels are going to stay put (doesn't matter about insurance; you may get your money back but now your vessel is gone and it will take years to decades to replace it).

Again, Trump (and the Israelis) didn't seem to understand why others before them balked at a direct attack on Iran.

[JPK]

7. I am positive

There have been many scenarios created by the military planners in the last 47 years. All the presidents since JC(RIP), no doubt had many chances to evaluate the plans and decided they just weren't viable without a large loss of life and treasure to do it.

I don't understand why Rump is so anxious to remove a dictator in Iran when he is turning the US into the same thing. He should have been friends to the leadership there like he is to Putin, Xi and Little Rocket Man.

[modrepub]

22. Mercurial Personality

Whoever has his ear last is usually who he goes with.

I think Trump went all in when the Israelis dangled that he’d be a hero when Iran’s current regime was swept away by just beheading it. And maybe the Israelis fell for their own BS? More likely, they calculate that if Iran was hit hard enough at worst it would fragment into a failed state (and we all know how good failed states are for local security).

And you can already see that the Trump apologists are attacking those pointing out their failures as supporting the terroristic Iranian regime. I’m not opposed to removing the Iranian regime, I’m pointing out Tump and his supporting cast is incapable of accomplishing that task and is more likely to FUBAR the situation.

[vanessa_ca]

50. I'm partially with you

Where we part ways is "maybe the Israelis fell for their own BS?"

Netanyahu knows exactly what he's doing. In addition to using US force to decimate his enemies, the US will be pushed out of the Middle East and Israel will have total hegemony in the Middle East. No one will be able to rein them in even a little. Netanyahu us evil, but quite brilliant. Trump is, well, not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

[JPK]

9. Bibi didn't give a shit about Iran

Bibi's scheme was to convince Drumph to go along with him on Iran allowing him to deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Bibi was playing chess while Drumph is sucking on his sharpie.

[Arazi]

33. Au contraire, Netanyahu deeply cares about Iran

This is a lifelong dream of his - to utterly destroy the Islamic State and permanently ruin the country.

Neighbors that are in total collapse works for Netanyahu and rendering Iran to rubble is most likely his current objective.

In fact there’s going to come a moment when Traitor finally wakes up to Netanyahu’s plan and will have to decide if he wants to participate in the utter destruction of Iran. My guess is when desalination plants become targets is when Traitor will have to decide if that’s a bridge too far. I think Kharg Island (the central hub of Iran’s oil activity) is already doomed. Only time will tell if Traitor goes along with murdering millions by destroying their water supplies. He's as much of a sadist as Netanyahu …

[Shipwack]

10. The era of large surface combat ships is over.

Submarines will possibly also be obsolete in a couple of decades. Maybe more, maybe less; undersea combat is a bit trickier.

[AverageOldGuy]

8. All the navies in the world cannot open or close the Strait of Hormuz

The Strait is controlled by Lloyd's of London.

[dalton99a]

11. The world is ruled by a fucking moron

[littlemissmartypants]

24. He may believe that in his miniscule mind but it's far from the truth. ...

Like everything else with President DJ Pedo.

[xocetaceans]

13. Independent of the discussion of the Strait of Hormuz, your history on the USS Cole is not accurately . . .

. . . stated.

First, it was not in the 1990s. It was in the year 2000.

Second, more particularly, it was in port at Aden.

Here is an FBI report of the event:

USS Cole Bombing

On October 12, 2000, two suicide pilots of a small bomb-laden boat pulled alongside of the USS Cole at midship, offered friendly gestures to several crew members, and detonated their explosives.

The U.S. destroyer, en route to the Persian Gulf, was making a prearranged fuel stop at the port of Aden, Yemen, when the attack occurred.

The blast ripped a 40-foot-wide hole near the waterline of the Cole, killing 17 U.S. sailors and injuring nearly 40 other crew members.

. . .

https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/uss-cole-bombing

And here is another discussion of that event:

Naval War College Review

Learning the Hard Way
John Callaway

page 111 (page 5 of the PDF)

...

USS COLE
On 10 October 2000, Cole transited the Suez Canal en route to the Persian Gulf,
where the ship was to enforce the United Nations sanctions against Iraq and
keep its Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles ready for possible use by the
Commander, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). On 11 October 2000 Cole
passed southward through the Red Sea at twenty-seven knots. The next day, the
12th, the ship entered Aden and tied up alongside a dolphin, a pierlike structure
of concrete pilings in the middle of the harbor, to take on fuel. As is customary
when a ship visits a port, numerous small vessels soon approached it. Two tugs
maneuvered the ship along the dolphin, assisted by two smaller boats carrying
line handlers, who would pull the mooring lines to the dolphin’s cleats and make
them fast. The harbor pilot, when his task was complete, disembarked into a pi-
lot boat, and the husbanding agent, a representative of the company arranging
for fuel and other services, boarded from (probably) yet another boat. Several
small scows came to take trash, as well as sewage pumped from the ship’s holding
tanks.
Less than two hours after Cole’s arrival, another small craft approached the
warship from the pier area across the harbor. One man was in the stern, handling
the outboard motor, and a second was standing in the bow. The skiff turned to-
ward the center of the warship, the man in the bow waving to the crew topside,
and a moment later an explosion rocked the harbor. An explosive charge ripped
a forty-by-forty-five-foot hole through the steel skin of the ship, killing seven-
teen sailors and wounding forty-two others.(19)

...


https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol62/iss1/8

All of that being said, though, it is a terrible idea to sacrifice the Navy (or any soldiers or people for that matter) on the altar of Donald Trump's moronic planning, war, and ego.

[JPK]

20. Never the less, the point was...

The Cole was struck and almost sank from a small boat with explosives. A three billion dollar ship was out of action for two years by several hundreds of dollars of TNT. I corrected the time on my OP.

[littlemissmartypants]

25. I do believe that is your salient point.

[Farmer-Rick]

14. Seems to me the only person

Benefitting from this illegal war, aside from grifters who take advantage of a bad thing to make a buck, is Putin.

His embargos are lifted and the price of the oil he forces the Russian people to hand over to him has gone up.

[LymphocyteLover]

16. Saudi Arabia is also benefiting greatly, more than Russia, since RU relies on Iranian drones for their war on Ukraine

[Farmer-Rick]

18. Yeah, they are making a buck off this illegal war too

But they didn't have embargos against them.

Venezuela's oil prices are up too. I wonder if pedo Trump will let the socialist country keep their new found wealth or have the corporations taken over their oil fields?

I wonder what happened to the oil pedo Trump confiscated from the Venezuelan people? Venezuela was forced to transfer approximately 80 million barrels of oil into US hands, which have then been sold by pedo Trump. Where is that money?

[LymphocyteLover]

31. Iran is the #1 enemy and threat to Saudi Arabia's dominance in the gulf region

[littlemissmartypants]

26. If I was forced to make a list of people, it would be much longer. ❤️

[paleotn]

28. Anyone with oil to sell without the threat of it going up in flames is benefiting.

[FakeNoose]

30. Hello ... Venezuela!

[LymphocyteLover]

15. Yep, it's pretty simple

[Pacifist Patriot]

19. October 2000. I remember the coverage because...

I was glued to a recliner with a newborn and that story along with the recount in Florida was 24x7.

The world felt crazy at that time. How naive in retrospect.

[Kaleva]

34. You left a lot out

Rules of engagement back then prohibited sailors from defending the ship unless actually fired upon.

I was in the Navy back then and we weren’t even allowed to have our weapons loaded while standing guard duty.

Another difference is today the Navy doesn’t have escort ships optimized for convoy duty. The last Perry class frigate were decommissioned years ago.

[flashman13]

35. In summary: The Iranians own the Straits.

Shooting gallery is the best description. Maybe if the American people see videos of a U.S. destroyer burning and dying they will put a stop to this madness.

[Dan]

36. Reading the post here - do you think that Trump is looking for an excuse to Nuke?

[Red Mountain]

37. Nuke what?

They aren't magic. Great for obliterating cities but that won't open the strait.

[JPK]

39. The radioactive cloud

The wind generally blows west to east. The cloud and debris would drift over the Stans and then into western China, maybe eventually make it to the west coast of the US.

[RB77]

51. Yes!

I don’t put anything past his warped mind. He’s a person who will not accept a loss no matter what the circumstance. I feel he wants this war to expand (even attacks here on our soil) to give him more power that he craves.

[druidity33]

41. Re-familiarize yourselves with the Millennium Challenge of 2002...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Challenge_2002

"MC02 was an experiment mandated by Congress in 2000 to "explore critical war fighting challenges at the operational level of war that will confront United States joint military forces after 2010."[4] The simulation took two years of planning and involved 13,000 troops. The Red force, led by retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General Paul K. Van Riper, used numerous asymmetrical tactics unanticipated by the Blue force; a pre-emptive cruise missile attack sunk sixteen Blue warships and led to the exercise's suspension. The simulation was restarted with Blue forces fully restored, and Red forces heavily constrained from free-play "to the point where the end state was scripted",[4] resulting in a Blue victory. Van Riper later criticized the cost of the exercise as "wasted".[5]

[RainCaster]

53. More details on that exercise

https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/that-time-a-marine-general-led-a-fictional-iran-against-the-us-military-and-won/

[druidity33]

54. OOOOooo... i'd love to see this!

"The three-star general wrote a 21-page critique of the exercise that was immediately classified. But Van Riper spoke out against the rigged game anyway."

[IronLionZion]

45. Our president is willing to make that sacrifice

the one who sacrificed a million Americans during COVID for no apparent reason.

[stage left]

46. Trump cares nothing at all

for human life. Or life of any kind.

[ShazzieB]

47. Here's an image to aid in visualizing just how tight this aituation is.

[czarjak]

48. Not...

Smarter than The Admirals?

[OC375]

52. They don't need to

Kharg disappears when the first ship sinks. Oil from Iran ends for everyone. Iran and everyone else wants the oil to flow. It’s the unspoken treaty.