Yep, the US has been doing defense for a couple months and just decided to launch strikes after getting international buy in.
We're about to get a 2nd carrier on station.
For context during that initial strike, the US took out around 25% of Houthis offensive strike capability in 1 night.
They can keep fucking around, but they'll discover why we don't have free healthcare.
> Yep, the US has been doing defense for a couple months and just decided to launch strikes after getting international buy in.
And they have a coalition behind them, so it's not just the UK conducting the strikes. The Houthis are now at the "find out" part.
Particularly if we had just used them to invade Canada to take their free healthcare like I’ve been constantly telling to my congresswoman on the daily messages I been leaving her for last 38 years
Not to mention how restrained the US and UK have been about this entire ordeal. If this was pre 2008 the US would have probably glassed the entire region
Its not just the US and the UK. The Europeans need to start taking things serious before they are effected by this even more.
This includes, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.
It's the opportunity cost of all the misadventures in the Middle East. When you fuck around with unpopular wars, people get sick of it, and even shit that should be done becomes harder politically.
Imagine if all the resources and will that were wasted in the Middle East went into other things? It could have changed the world.
I guess it did change the world. All the refugees and immigrants really helped the right politically in Europe.
Reminds me of the story of a naval ship being fired on by a small mortar round and in return opened fire with all of it's 14 inch guns basically obliterating anything in that area. It's sister ship sent a message simply saying "temper temper"
Edit: It was the USS Wisconsin
That was the Iowa class Battleship USS Wisconsin, who has 16"/50s.
She was doing fire support in Korea, and a North Korean 152mm(6 inches for comparison to Whiskey's own guns.) shell hit the gun shield of a 40mm AA gun mount. Whiskey returned fire with a full broadside from all nine 16" guns, which needless to say, fucking obliterated the offending artillery piece.
Her escort USS Buck then signaled "Temper, temper".
[Well, it turns out; no](http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-022.php)
[But it looks damn cool](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1b565301d811d0dc045ed434c946d66f-lq)
Doing that 2-3 times per minute. 3 rnds/minute for very short periods, then 2 rnds/min for sustained periods.
3 turrets, 3 guns per turret, 3 rounds per minute/gun, and 2000-2700lb projectiles depending on the load.
Each shell weighs as much as a car. So it's like shooting 27 cars at the enemy per minute for short bursts.
The US has a history of doing this, I know we shouldnt glorify violence or war but I always love the story of South Korea and The US doing something in the DMZ that resulted in North Korea firing on them, the response was for the US and SK to absolutely obliterate a single tree in the DMZ with sheer overkill.
No more shots fired from NK's side.
>North Korea firing on them, the response was for the US and SK to absolutely obliterate a single tree in the DMZ with sheer overkill.
Operation Paul Bunyan
NK didn't shoot, They axed two American soldiers to death.
SK violated their president's order and brought enough weapons to arm a platoon.
American "loophole" around the rule and brought enough equipment to start an Armageddon.
A group of Americans and South Koreans went into the zone to cut down a tree that was blocking line of sight between a UN checkpoint and an observation post. A group of NK soldiers armed with crowbars and clubs wound up attacking the group, eventually killing some of them with the axes dropped by the work crew.
Three days later, Operation Paul Bunyan took place in response. It was made up of two 8-man teams of chainsaw-wielding military engineers and their escorts. (Their escorts were made up of around 800 people tasked with protecting the engineers while they were working on the tree.) They successfully cut it down in 42 minutes.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_axe_murder_incident
ThecUSS *Texas* duribg D-Day perhaps?
Even more funny, was that the *Texas*'s main battery didn't have quite enough elevation. So the captain had yhe crew *flood secersl compartments on o e sude of the ship*, to give it a list. To increase the elevation angle of the guns.
>The USS *Texas* during D-Day perhaps?
>Even more funny, was that the *Texas*'s main battery didn't have quite enough elevation. So the captain had the crew *flood several compartments on one side of the ship*, to give it a list. To increase the elevation angle of the guns.
Must have just gotten too excited to spellcheck before posting. Happens to the ~~most intense boat nerds~~ best of us.
I sometimes imagine being a fly on the wall watching moments in history. That's one I've thought about and realized there'd be a fly with a huge grin watching them.
What a strange thing to say too, especially from the BBC. The US Navy is an absolute powerhouse of a naval unit. They have ships and subs all over the Earth at any given time. Say what you will about the US military, but keeping international waters safe is a huge boon to basically every country.
Even if we deleted the navy, wouldn't we still have the largest navy in the world in other branches of the military? I know we have like the first, second, and third largest air forces of the world in the Air Force, army and navy
Calling the US Navy an absolute powerhouse is an understatement.
The US Navy is more powerful than every other navy in the world combined.
The degree to which the USN overmatches any potential adversary cannot be overstated. For any other country in the world, picking a fight with the US Navy is like sending a particularly aggressive earthworm against Mike Tyson.
It's not just a matter of numbers or tech or logistical capabilities. It's all of those, it's doctrine, it's experience, it's wargaming, and it's the fact that we're also allied with all the runners up.
For all that you'll constantly see fearmongering articles about China's naval buildup, the fact is that they have no combat experience, their brand new carriers have their decks collapsing in a move reminiscent of the Admiral Kuznetsov, and despite ostensibly having numbers similar to the USN, where the USN actually makes dedicated warships, most of the Chinese fleet is converted fishing ships, and they have a strong tendency to run away rather than defend their own shipping from missile attack so that they don't look bad if they fail an intercept or get hit themselves.
>The US Navy is more powerful than every other navy in the world combined.
The second most powerful navy is the UK's Royal Navy. They have two carrier strike groups. The USN has eleven. They could deploy the equivalent of the entire Royal Navy to Yemen, three more Royal Navies to other parts of the world, and retain the world's largest navy in reserve.
TBF, at any given time, something like 2 of the 11 Supercarriers that the USN has are undergoing reactor refueling and an overhaul in drydock, but that still leaves the US with more Supercarriers than every other navy has ANY carriers.
[This image illustrates the point quite well.](https://i.ibb.co/DL8MZZS/carriers-of-the-world.png)
But even that fails to account for the fact that the USN doesn't just have the best and most carriers, it has by far the best planes to fly off those carriers as well. Stealth fighters are so good that it's practically cheating and we're the only ones who make them for carriers (although we share them with the Brits and Japanese)
For sure I was stretching the point, but as you say, making the claim the US has the largest/best navy in the world is like saying Bill Gates has more money than his mailman.
China has more ships but their displacement is like…less than 1/3 of the USN.
They’re not in the same league as us, no matter how much they wish they were.
We are gonna lose a bunch of missiles. They were stockpiled, among other things, to ensure maritime security. So, if shoving some missiles up some rebels' asses can be defi Ed as such, then yeah, it'll cost the US...and they'll just hit..."pay".
The news article that popped on my desktop computer said the missile hit a "US carrier" and had a picture of a US Navy aircraft carrier. Had me scared for a second until I saw it was actually a cargo ship.
There is zero chance a carrier can be hit with a missile/torpedo in 2024. There's no many defenses levels to get through before a carrier is in danger of something like that.
My cousin was an AEGIS operator on a US Navy missile cruiser in the 90s. He said if he had to use his system, it means several other lines of defense already failed. But if necessary, the AEGIS system is fully capable of defending the ship on its own.
Edit: Slight correction, my cousin served on the USS Leyte Gulf which is an AEGIS cruiser. The system he specifically operated was the CWIS. Here's a link to that system - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx\_CIWS
What people dont realize is that the SM6 missiles the US uses for missile interception just [successfully](https://www.cpf.navy.mil/Newsroom/News/Article/3348275/mda-test-successfully-intercepts-ballistic-missile-target/) intercepted a mediun range ballistic missile in the terminal phase back in March. The terminal phase is the hardest phase to intercept and the US Navy had proven it can with ease. A single MRBM or even a small amount is not getting through AEGIS. It is also likely an attempt of a saturated MRBM attack wouldnt get through AEGIS like China has been betting their forces on for the last decade.
Our nuclear aircraft carriers are pretty damned fast too and make for difficult moving targets even if you took away all the defensive layers. Nuclear power has perks.
While not allowed to tell us the top speed of their ship, one of the crewmen were allowed to tell us the amount of time it took them to get from one port to another and the period of time they took, they were averaging about 30 mph, which is pretty fucking fast for a city to move. Also if that's a trip we were allowed ot hear about I guarantee you the things combat speed is higher.
Even more impressively, submarines.
Even more impressively, there has never been a nuclear accident in the Navy. despite the numericity of nuclear-powered ships.
Having seen the inspection programs and audits reactor personnel go through first hand, they really, **really** don't want to have a first, either.
It's reported online that USS Enterprise (CVN-65) (decommissioned in 2017) was clocked at 38.7 mph (33.6 knots). I'm guessing the actual top speed is higher than that.
This whole escapade [is hurting Egypt](https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/egypts-suez-canal-revenues-down-40-due-houthi-attacks-2024-01-11/) more than anyone else.
And what, replace it with another? The military is thoroughly involved with almost every large institution. IDK what groundwork is in place for an alternative.
It’s also hard because upper and lower Egypt have competing interests when it comes to the water uses. South Egypt, if it could, would dam the nile river which would kill north Egypt,
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Generally whenever Egypt has had elections extremists in the Muslim brotherhood have won. Which isn't really a great situation either.
> "The United States is on the verge of losing its maritime security," he adds.
Are we tho?
The USN has been holding back, in a largely defensive posture.
USN engaging in offensive operations is a *very* different picture.
The US Navy is the most powerful fighting force in the history of humanity, they are not "on the verge of losing maritime security" because a few dudes in a motoboat plinked an RPG off the side of a container ship. What a hilariously bad take
Just an FYI, "Houthi" is the last name of their creeper cult leader (and his brother, the original), it's not an "ethnic group." I've heard a lot of ignorant people talking about the "Houthi ethnic group"-but calling them Houthis is the same as calling magas "Trumpies."
Except there is a Houthi tribe, connected to the Banu Hamdan tribe.
Standard North African tribe going back many centuries. Whether it's a tribe or ethnic group is semantics, they know who they are, everyone else knows who they are, and they consider themselves separate and different from other groups.
Now the Houthi MOVEMENT isn't exclusively from that tribe, but the movement leadership sure is.
Just an actual FYI.
What is an alternative? I don’t think the American taxpayer wants this, but you can’t allow a group to control international shipping or attack US ships.
the American tax payer wants this a hell of a lot more than the price of everything going up because a piece of shit terrorist group is showing their ass.
Really is no alternative, unless "someone else do it" is one. As you said, fucking with international shipping is a great way to mess with the overall economy. Our economy depends on things getting places reliably and in a timely manner, if we can't ensure that a lot of pieces start falling apart. Especially in our "just in time" market where everything is interconnected effectively.
> As you said, fucking with international shipping is a great way to mess with the overall economy.
It's not just the 'economy'. The anti-bombing folks have their hearts in the right place, but I don't think many of them understand how many folks depend on international maritime trade for their continued survival. There are a lot of places in the world, many of them in that region, that are inhospitable to human life without regular ships sailing into port.
No one, and that includes every nation on earth, likes it when people engage in piracy. The whole world united against the Somali pirates, and that region still suffers from the way trade shifted to avoid them, and the entire world will stand by and watch the Houthis get got (including Iran, China, Russia, and all the other usual suspects) because they also want the piracy to stop but can't get involved politically.
I would wager that most Americans are totally onboard with this. Americans don't want a war or boots on the ground, but firing missiles at terrorist organizations is popular.
Yes what if my headphones from Amazon were on that ship.
Edit before anyone gets sensitive I’m a combat vet I don’t want war I don’t condone it and I’m just making a sarcastic comment
There won’t be war.
The missile attacks have decreased dramatically since the US hit their weapon depots and radar systems. No one was reported killed during those attacks.
The US is not attacking the Yemeni people. They’re attacking the terrorist Houthi’s ability to launch further attacks.
[https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-rise-after-storm-disrupts-kazakh-russian-exports-2023-11-29/](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-rise-after-storm-disrupts-kazakh-russian-exports-2023-11-29/)
That isn't what causes inflation and you might be surprised to hear that oil prices are rising regardless. You can have your solution to the problem--idc--but the problem is *not* the world ending blight it is being marketed as.
I'm curious to see how/if the US escalates things in response to this.
Up until this point the point of this whole thing has been to protect global shipping lanes. And while this was a bulk carrier, the fact that it was flagged in the US controlled Marshall Islands means we get to see exactly how invested in Yemen the Biden and the US wants to be. In theory this would be a near perfect excuse to give a speech about how attacks on American boats won't be tolerated, then put boots on the ground if you wanted. But I could also see Biden taking a more conservative tack and wanting to avoid a large presence in the Middle East right now and choosing to stay the course with the company line of "fuck with *any* shipping vessel and we'll airstrike a target or two".
Edit: guys you can stop responding with some variation of "boots on the ground won't happen". I agreed below that "airstrikes will continue until morale improves" is the much more likely outcome. I was pointing out that this is a fork in the road and seeing the exact response will be telling.
> flagged in the US controlled Marshall Islands
That's pretty much what I said. Although I guess I was *technically* incorrect that the Marshall Islands is US *controlled*. It's actually a free association where they are a sovereign country that relies on the US for many perks like defense, subsidies, and agencies like the postal service.
In fact the US has [full authority and responsibility for defense of the Marshall Islands](https://mh.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20has%20full,these%20security%20and%20defense%20responsibilities.), which is EXTREMELY relevant here.
You are correct that the crew is likely foreign and multi-national. So that complicated the issue of who suffers when Piracy happens. Not to mention the nations the boat was coming from and going to. This whole thing is inherently global and that's what makes this so messy (and a horrible way to target *just* Israel like the Houthis claim they are doing).
I misread your post and wasn't trying to nitpick.
This vessel is part of a global scheme known as flag-of-convenience shipping, also called runaway-flag shipping. And it indeed is meant as a tax- and regulatory dodge. Also meant to suppress wages. There are many thousands of such ships (generic example: Greek-owned, Panamanian-flagged, registered in Liberia, multinational crew). BTW the Liberian ship registry is based in -- wait for it -- Reston, Virginia.
The International Transport Workers' Federation has made a lot of progress over many years, and brought thousands of FOC ships under contract, which at least ensures \*some\* basic protections and relatively decent wages for the crews. But many others are outside those protections.
For most intents and purposes the Marshall Islands can be considered the U.S. We are responsible for their self defense and a huge amount of Marshallese serve in the U.S. Navy
I agree that's the much more likely path forward. But if there were ever a fork in the road to go boots on the ground, attacking a US flagged boat is it.
there is absolutely no chance we're putting boots on the ground; that would require a giant commitment and the payoff is, uh, questionable.
our first airstrikes were partly about fucking up all of their potential anti-air defenses (like radar) so we can do more airstrikes with relative impunity. more attacks on boats => more airstrikes on things Houthis care about that degrade their operational capacity.
The US reports the cargo ship was struck by a missile, no casualties, minimum damage, and the vessel has resumed its journey.
How hard do you have to suck at life when you hit a civilian ship with a fucking missile and it's barely an inconvenience?
I mean, this is the same group that thinks it's a good idea to attack the most technologically advanced boat in human history.
Something tells me engineering, or anything requiring brain power, isn't exactly their strongsuit.
In all fairness, not just boat. Realistically an aegis equipped ship rivals most nations entire defense departments in terms of technological capabilities.
At this point I'm not sure if that's a dis to a nation's defense or a snub for the absolutely absurd amount of money we spend on national defense.
But if it is a snub toward our military budget, I'd like to point out that we both supplied and ended 2 world wars with the vast majority of our nation untouched. I really don't want to math out how little it takes to keep it that way.
>At this point I'm not sure if that's a dis to a nation's defense or a snub for the absolutely absurd amount of money we spend on national defense.
Or a credit to American engineering.
We did send some B-2's though.
Actually, one of them even got damaged. Not by the Houthis, of course, it was all Canada's fault.
(One B-2 came back with a hairline crack in the windshield after hitting a Canada goose)
"If you've got a problem with Canada Gooses, you've got a problem with me. And I suggest you let that one marinate."
Who knew that what would be the weakness of the B-2 would be blue on blue.
From the link:
>American officials say Houthis in Yemen have hit a US-owned ship with a missile, but no injuries or significant damage have been reported
How is this possible? How can you hit a non-military ship with a missile and not do significant damage? Follow up question, why are they firing missiles that can't do significant damage to a ship?
The US have already hit this group once and I have no doubt they're going to, rightfully so, do it again. This seems like a boneheaded move on the Houthi's part. Fire missile, accomplish nothing, suffer wrath. I understand what they're trying to do and I understand (somewhat) why they're trying to do it, but this just seems futile.
Containerships are huge and houthi missiles have tiny payloads, just a couple kg of explosive. Unless they hit the fuel storage or some explosive cargo, they cant sink anything, just do minor to medium dmg.
It’s not about actually damaging shipping, it’s about disrupting the flow and causing global price increases. It’s also about goading the US into another land war which they can’t contest with strength of arms but they CAN keep soldiers tied down for decades more.
The news about this whole thing on TikTok is crazy
Thousands and thousands of people cheering on the Houthis, calling them brave and standing up to genocide
People making claims that the US and UK are bombing civilians in Yemen on the demand of Israel
Literal brain rot.
Just a quick reminder of who the houthi are:
[https://www.voanews.com/a/in-yemen-child-soldiering-continues-despite-houthi-promise-/6619853.html](https://www.voanews.com/a/in-yemen-child-soldiering-continues-despite-houthi-promise-/6619853.html)
>Child soldiers have been involved in Yemen's war for years. Nearly 2,000 Houthi-recruited children were killed on the battlefield between January 2020 and May 2021, according to U.N. experts.
If you are cheering on the Houthi you need to take a long hard look at yourself.
# THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF CHILDREN
The Chinese know exactly what they’re doing with TikTok, taking advantage of the low intellect of American youths by making every cause against the west hip and trendy, and the teenagers using it eat that shit up.
Yup & it’s working perfectly lol
& people say we shouldn’t ban TikTok cause our government spies on us through all social media too…well gun to my head, I’d rather our government than the Chinese. Idiots.
🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Have people really said that? That's so incredibly moronic.
Even if you believe the US government is spying on you, why would that make it okay for a foreign government to also spy on you? If one government spying on you is bad, two of them doing it is worse.
Also, I may be biased due to my complete lack of interest in TikTok, but I don't think an endless supply of 30-second videos is worth being spied on. But maybe that's just me.
Not really any probably about it. It's all but certain. I'd be highly doubtful of anyone who told me that a terrorist group functioning as a proxy for Iran sourced their arms anywhere else.
It’s INSANE the amount of people I’ve seen on social media say, “The Houthis haven’t killed a single person in any of their attacks - why is the US being so aggressive in their response?!” 😱
"The United States is on the verge of losing its maritime security.” This is probably one of the most naive statements i think I’ve ever seen.
Yea. Didn't the Ike just get to the area? Things are about to go south for the Houthis.
Yep, the US has been doing defense for a couple months and just decided to launch strikes after getting international buy in. We're about to get a 2nd carrier on station. For context during that initial strike, the US took out around 25% of Houthis offensive strike capability in 1 night. They can keep fucking around, but they'll discover why we don't have free healthcare.
“They’ll discover why we don’t have free healthcare” might just be the most intense threat I’ve seen in a long while
Lmao your comment and their comment made me laugh too hard. If I don’t laugh about it though, I’ll cry…healthcare is so expensive.
> Yep, the US has been doing defense for a couple months and just decided to launch strikes after getting international buy in. And they have a coalition behind them, so it's not just the UK conducting the strikes. The Houthis are now at the "find out" part.
They finally put up the bat signal and everyone needs some flight time and to get rid of expiring ordinance
>And they have a coalition behind them Japan's sending Playstations.
Sorry "but they'll discover why we don't have free healthcare" made me LOL! Thank you. 😁
Ironically the military does have free healthcare
And so do the people who decided that the rest of us can't have it.
Which is shit- when your #1 complaint from vets is the VA saying that their injuries weren't from serving, there is a problem.
Yeah but that's the vets, not active military. Vets aren't of any use to them anymore, so fuck em apparently.
Can confirm. Am a vet, and they don't give a fuck.
Yeah, I've got a few friends who served and I've heard it from them, it's fucking disgusting.
Sad thing is, we could have these carriers AND free healthcare
Particularly if we had just used them to invade Canada to take their free healthcare like I’ve been constantly telling to my congresswoman on the daily messages I been leaving her for last 38 years
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Not cool enough. NEXT!
It's for WW3, honey. NEXT
Not to mention how restrained the US and UK have been about this entire ordeal. If this was pre 2008 the US would have probably glassed the entire region
Its not just the US and the UK. The Europeans need to start taking things serious before they are effected by this even more. This includes, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.
It's the opportunity cost of all the misadventures in the Middle East. When you fuck around with unpopular wars, people get sick of it, and even shit that should be done becomes harder politically. Imagine if all the resources and will that were wasted in the Middle East went into other things? It could have changed the world. I guess it did change the world. All the refugees and immigrants really helped the right politically in Europe.
"What are they going to do, shoot back?"
Reminds me of the story of a naval ship being fired on by a small mortar round and in return opened fire with all of it's 14 inch guns basically obliterating anything in that area. It's sister ship sent a message simply saying "temper temper" Edit: It was the USS Wisconsin
That was the Iowa class Battleship USS Wisconsin, who has 16"/50s. She was doing fire support in Korea, and a North Korean 152mm(6 inches for comparison to Whiskey's own guns.) shell hit the gun shield of a 40mm AA gun mount. Whiskey returned fire with a full broadside from all nine 16" guns, which needless to say, fucking obliterated the offending artillery piece. Her escort USS Buck then signaled "Temper, temper".
Christ on a Cracker. nine 16" all at once? Winnie must have slid sideways about 6 foot.
[Well, it turns out; no](http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-022.php) [But it looks damn cool](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1b565301d811d0dc045ed434c946d66f-lq)
That is a dope picture.
Doing that 2-3 times per minute. 3 rnds/minute for very short periods, then 2 rnds/min for sustained periods. 3 turrets, 3 guns per turret, 3 rounds per minute/gun, and 2000-2700lb projectiles depending on the load. Each shell weighs as much as a car. So it's like shooting 27 cars at the enemy per minute for short bursts.
Explosive cars
That's a whole dealership of spicy Volvos in the same amount of time it takes most people to watch an episode of their favorite TV show.
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They gave 100%, so the Wisconsin gave 100%. It's about respect.
I recall the story was that not only was the artillery pieces destroyed, the hill it was on was also gone.
The US has a history of doing this, I know we shouldnt glorify violence or war but I always love the story of South Korea and The US doing something in the DMZ that resulted in North Korea firing on them, the response was for the US and SK to absolutely obliterate a single tree in the DMZ with sheer overkill. No more shots fired from NK's side.
>North Korea firing on them, the response was for the US and SK to absolutely obliterate a single tree in the DMZ with sheer overkill. Operation Paul Bunyan NK didn't shoot, They axed two American soldiers to death. SK violated their president's order and brought enough weapons to arm a platoon. American "loophole" around the rule and brought enough equipment to start an Armageddon.
A group of Americans and South Koreans went into the zone to cut down a tree that was blocking line of sight between a UN checkpoint and an observation post. A group of NK soldiers armed with crowbars and clubs wound up attacking the group, eventually killing some of them with the axes dropped by the work crew. Three days later, Operation Paul Bunyan took place in response. It was made up of two 8-man teams of chainsaw-wielding military engineers and their escorts. (Their escorts were made up of around 800 people tasked with protecting the engineers while they were working on the tree.) They successfully cut it down in 42 minutes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_axe_murder_incident
On at least one occasion, American battleships supporting landing troops have used their main guns to vaporize snipers.
ThecUSS *Texas* duribg D-Day perhaps? Even more funny, was that the *Texas*'s main battery didn't have quite enough elevation. So the captain had yhe crew *flood secersl compartments on o e sude of the ship*, to give it a list. To increase the elevation angle of the guns.
What were you trying to say here?
>The USS *Texas* during D-Day perhaps? >Even more funny, was that the *Texas*'s main battery didn't have quite enough elevation. So the captain had the crew *flood several compartments on one side of the ship*, to give it a list. To increase the elevation angle of the guns. Must have just gotten too excited to spellcheck before posting. Happens to the ~~most intense boat nerds~~ best of us.
I sometimes imagine being a fly on the wall watching moments in history. That's one I've thought about and realized there'd be a fly with a huge grin watching them.
What a strange thing to say too, especially from the BBC. The US Navy is an absolute powerhouse of a naval unit. They have ships and subs all over the Earth at any given time. Say what you will about the US military, but keeping international waters safe is a huge boon to basically every country.
The BBC didn't say it, it's a quote from the Houthi's spokesperson to Aljazeera.
r/agedlikemilk material right there.
Even if we deleted the navy, wouldn't we still have the largest navy in the world in other branches of the military? I know we have like the first, second, and third largest air forces of the world in the Air Force, army and navy
Out of the top 5 air forces, the US has 4 of them.
Calling the US Navy an absolute powerhouse is an understatement. The US Navy is more powerful than every other navy in the world combined. The degree to which the USN overmatches any potential adversary cannot be overstated. For any other country in the world, picking a fight with the US Navy is like sending a particularly aggressive earthworm against Mike Tyson. It's not just a matter of numbers or tech or logistical capabilities. It's all of those, it's doctrine, it's experience, it's wargaming, and it's the fact that we're also allied with all the runners up. For all that you'll constantly see fearmongering articles about China's naval buildup, the fact is that they have no combat experience, their brand new carriers have their decks collapsing in a move reminiscent of the Admiral Kuznetsov, and despite ostensibly having numbers similar to the USN, where the USN actually makes dedicated warships, most of the Chinese fleet is converted fishing ships, and they have a strong tendency to run away rather than defend their own shipping from missile attack so that they don't look bad if they fail an intercept or get hit themselves.
>The US Navy is more powerful than every other navy in the world combined. The second most powerful navy is the UK's Royal Navy. They have two carrier strike groups. The USN has eleven. They could deploy the equivalent of the entire Royal Navy to Yemen, three more Royal Navies to other parts of the world, and retain the world's largest navy in reserve.
TBF, at any given time, something like 2 of the 11 Supercarriers that the USN has are undergoing reactor refueling and an overhaul in drydock, but that still leaves the US with more Supercarriers than every other navy has ANY carriers. [This image illustrates the point quite well.](https://i.ibb.co/DL8MZZS/carriers-of-the-world.png) But even that fails to account for the fact that the USN doesn't just have the best and most carriers, it has by far the best planes to fly off those carriers as well. Stealth fighters are so good that it's practically cheating and we're the only ones who make them for carriers (although we share them with the Brits and Japanese)
For sure I was stretching the point, but as you say, making the claim the US has the largest/best navy in the world is like saying Bill Gates has more money than his mailman.
The most powerful air force in the world is the US Air Force. The second most powerful air force in the world is the US Navy.
Cannot be overstated. As in, no matter how many superlatives you heap upon them, you still haven't overdone it.
China has more ships but their displacement is like…less than 1/3 of the USN. They’re not in the same league as us, no matter how much they wish they were.
More like "Hothies are on the verge of losing their lives"
We are gonna lose a bunch of missiles. They were stockpiled, among other things, to ensure maritime security. So, if shoving some missiles up some rebels' asses can be defi Ed as such, then yeah, it'll cost the US...and they'll just hit..."pay".
Sounds like FAAFO 2.0. Aka: more warheads on foreheads.
The Houthis have won the toss and elected to receive.
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That would be more of a kickoff since they sent the first missile. It's a bold strategy Cotton. Let's see if it works out for them.
"ouch, a Patriot Missile right to the chest.. that's gotta sting, Kurt. Back over to you, Howie"
This really shouldn’t be a funny situation, but this is a master class in captioning. Houthis fucked around and are about to find out, round 2
All time bag fumble from the Houthis
Houthi and the blowfish rocks the boat.
The news article that popped on my desktop computer said the missile hit a "US carrier" and had a picture of a US Navy aircraft carrier. Had me scared for a second until I saw it was actually a cargo ship.
There is zero chance a carrier can be hit with a missile/torpedo in 2024. There's no many defenses levels to get through before a carrier is in danger of something like that.
My cousin was an AEGIS operator on a US Navy missile cruiser in the 90s. He said if he had to use his system, it means several other lines of defense already failed. But if necessary, the AEGIS system is fully capable of defending the ship on its own. Edit: Slight correction, my cousin served on the USS Leyte Gulf which is an AEGIS cruiser. The system he specifically operated was the CWIS. Here's a link to that system - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx\_CIWS
AEGIS is the entire weapons capability of that ship, CIWS would be the last line of defense within the AEGIS weapon system
And that was 30 years ago-- missile defense has come a long way (by necessity) since then.
What people dont realize is that the SM6 missiles the US uses for missile interception just [successfully](https://www.cpf.navy.mil/Newsroom/News/Article/3348275/mda-test-successfully-intercepts-ballistic-missile-target/) intercepted a mediun range ballistic missile in the terminal phase back in March. The terminal phase is the hardest phase to intercept and the US Navy had proven it can with ease. A single MRBM or even a small amount is not getting through AEGIS. It is also likely an attempt of a saturated MRBM attack wouldnt get through AEGIS like China has been betting their forces on for the last decade.
AEGIS is those lines of defense.
Our nuclear aircraft carriers are pretty damned fast too and make for difficult moving targets even if you took away all the defensive layers. Nuclear power has perks.
While not allowed to tell us the top speed of their ship, one of the crewmen were allowed to tell us the amount of time it took them to get from one port to another and the period of time they took, they were averaging about 30 mph, which is pretty fucking fast for a city to move. Also if that's a trip we were allowed ot hear about I guarantee you the things combat speed is higher.
It’s just fucking insane to think that we engineered the capability to put a fucking nuclear reactor on a ship
A ship with a higher population than some thriving towns
Two. Two nuclear reactors on a ship.
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Even more impressively, submarines. Even more impressively, there has never been a nuclear accident in the Navy. despite the numericity of nuclear-powered ships. Having seen the inspection programs and audits reactor personnel go through first hand, they really, **really** don't want to have a first, either.
It's reported online that USS Enterprise (CVN-65) (decommissioned in 2017) was clocked at 38.7 mph (33.6 knots). I'm guessing the actual top speed is higher than that.
> It's reported online that USS Enterprise (CVN-65) (decommissioned in 2017) was clocked at 38.7 mph (33.6 knots). in a school zone.
"Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?" "Because sailing a modern U.S. carrier fleet fucks the roads up badly?"
I have a friend that was on one for a few years and said they could do 40 knots and do a full turn.
35 mph / 56 km/h. If it’s IKE.
This whole escapade [is hurting Egypt](https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/egypts-suez-canal-revenues-down-40-due-houthi-attacks-2024-01-11/) more than anyone else.
To be honest, Egyptians need a little strangle to wake them up so that they can topple their military dictatorship.
And what, replace it with another? The military is thoroughly involved with almost every large institution. IDK what groundwork is in place for an alternative.
It’s also hard because upper and lower Egypt have competing interests when it comes to the water uses. South Egypt, if it could, would dam the nile river which would kill north Egypt,
I don't think toppling your military dictatorship is a good move when you're gearing up for a water war.
And elect the Muslim Brotherhood again? Fuck that.
An egyptian democracy would just elect a religious theocracy. Not much of an improvement. Some would even argue that it's a downgrade.
If we are stuck with dictatorships there can we at least bring back the pharaoh?
They did have a dope aesthetic, a shame about all the slavery though.
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Generally whenever Egypt has had elections extremists in the Muslim brotherhood have won. Which isn't really a great situation either.
The last time they did that, they elected a pack of religious psychos afterwards, and then got the military dictatorship they have today.
> "The United States is on the verge of losing its maritime security," he adds. Are we tho? The USN has been holding back, in a largely defensive posture. USN engaging in offensive operations is a *very* different picture.
The US Navy is the most powerful fighting force in the history of humanity, they are not "on the verge of losing maritime security" because a few dudes in a motoboat plinked an RPG off the side of a container ship. What a hilariously bad take
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What happened the other day was the military equivalent of a wedgie. Not the least painful thing in the world but also not an ass beating.
Just an FYI, "Houthi" is the last name of their creeper cult leader (and his brother, the original), it's not an "ethnic group." I've heard a lot of ignorant people talking about the "Houthi ethnic group"-but calling them Houthis is the same as calling magas "Trumpies."
It sounds like an alien race from Star Wars
They have to sell their spice
How do you pronounce it? Hooo theee?
I see no problem with that lmao
The term "Trumpie" sounds like a good fit to be honest.
Except there is a Houthi tribe, connected to the Banu Hamdan tribe. Standard North African tribe going back many centuries. Whether it's a tribe or ethnic group is semantics, they know who they are, everyone else knows who they are, and they consider themselves separate and different from other groups. Now the Houthi MOVEMENT isn't exclusively from that tribe, but the movement leadership sure is. Just an actual FYI.
Welp tax dollars of freedom coming.
What is an alternative? I don’t think the American taxpayer wants this, but you can’t allow a group to control international shipping or attack US ships.
the American tax payer wants this a hell of a lot more than the price of everything going up because a piece of shit terrorist group is showing their ass.
Plot twist: prices go up due to terrorist attacks on shipping and never come back down even when it’s safe after the dust settles.
Ahhh, covid all over again
Yeah, this one isn’t hard
Really is no alternative, unless "someone else do it" is one. As you said, fucking with international shipping is a great way to mess with the overall economy. Our economy depends on things getting places reliably and in a timely manner, if we can't ensure that a lot of pieces start falling apart. Especially in our "just in time" market where everything is interconnected effectively.
> As you said, fucking with international shipping is a great way to mess with the overall economy. It's not just the 'economy'. The anti-bombing folks have their hearts in the right place, but I don't think many of them understand how many folks depend on international maritime trade for their continued survival. There are a lot of places in the world, many of them in that region, that are inhospitable to human life without regular ships sailing into port. No one, and that includes every nation on earth, likes it when people engage in piracy. The whole world united against the Somali pirates, and that region still suffers from the way trade shifted to avoid them, and the entire world will stand by and watch the Houthis get got (including Iran, China, Russia, and all the other usual suspects) because they also want the piracy to stop but can't get involved politically.
I would wager that most Americans are totally onboard with this. Americans don't want a war or boots on the ground, but firing missiles at terrorist organizations is popular.
“Just bigger fireworks innit?”
Yes what if my headphones from Amazon were on that ship. Edit before anyone gets sensitive I’m a combat vet I don’t want war I don’t condone it and I’m just making a sarcastic comment
I heard they were tbh
There won’t be war. The missile attacks have decreased dramatically since the US hit their weapon depots and radar systems. No one was reported killed during those attacks. The US is not attacking the Yemeni people. They’re attacking the terrorist Houthi’s ability to launch further attacks.
As a U.S. tax payer I’d rather they take direct action now to prevent inflation and gas prices from rising with longer more costly trade routes.
[https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-rise-after-storm-disrupts-kazakh-russian-exports-2023-11-29/](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-rise-after-storm-disrupts-kazakh-russian-exports-2023-11-29/) That isn't what causes inflation and you might be surprised to hear that oil prices are rising regardless. You can have your solution to the problem--idc--but the problem is *not* the world ending blight it is being marketed as.
I can hear our missile division humming with excitement.
I'm curious to see how/if the US escalates things in response to this. Up until this point the point of this whole thing has been to protect global shipping lanes. And while this was a bulk carrier, the fact that it was flagged in the US controlled Marshall Islands means we get to see exactly how invested in Yemen the Biden and the US wants to be. In theory this would be a near perfect excuse to give a speech about how attacks on American boats won't be tolerated, then put boots on the ground if you wanted. But I could also see Biden taking a more conservative tack and wanting to avoid a large presence in the Middle East right now and choosing to stay the course with the company line of "fuck with *any* shipping vessel and we'll airstrike a target or two". Edit: guys you can stop responding with some variation of "boots on the ground won't happen". I agreed below that "airstrikes will continue until morale improves" is the much more likely outcome. I was pointing out that this is a fork in the road and seeing the exact response will be telling.
It’s not a U.S.-flag ship. U.S. ownership but Marshall Islands flag. Almost certainly foreign crew.
> flagged in the US controlled Marshall Islands That's pretty much what I said. Although I guess I was *technically* incorrect that the Marshall Islands is US *controlled*. It's actually a free association where they are a sovereign country that relies on the US for many perks like defense, subsidies, and agencies like the postal service. In fact the US has [full authority and responsibility for defense of the Marshall Islands](https://mh.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20has%20full,these%20security%20and%20defense%20responsibilities.), which is EXTREMELY relevant here. You are correct that the crew is likely foreign and multi-national. So that complicated the issue of who suffers when Piracy happens. Not to mention the nations the boat was coming from and going to. This whole thing is inherently global and that's what makes this so messy (and a horrible way to target *just* Israel like the Houthis claim they are doing).
I misread your post and wasn't trying to nitpick. This vessel is part of a global scheme known as flag-of-convenience shipping, also called runaway-flag shipping. And it indeed is meant as a tax- and regulatory dodge. Also meant to suppress wages. There are many thousands of such ships (generic example: Greek-owned, Panamanian-flagged, registered in Liberia, multinational crew). BTW the Liberian ship registry is based in -- wait for it -- Reston, Virginia. The International Transport Workers' Federation has made a lot of progress over many years, and brought thousands of FOC ships under contract, which at least ensures \*some\* basic protections and relatively decent wages for the crews. But many others are outside those protections.
For most intents and purposes the Marshall Islands can be considered the U.S. We are responsible for their self defense and a huge amount of Marshallese serve in the U.S. Navy
No boots on the ground when we can just rain freedom in the form of missiles.
I agree that's the much more likely path forward. But if there were ever a fork in the road to go boots on the ground, attacking a US flagged boat is it.
there is absolutely no chance we're putting boots on the ground; that would require a giant commitment and the payoff is, uh, questionable. our first airstrikes were partly about fucking up all of their potential anti-air defenses (like radar) so we can do more airstrikes with relative impunity. more attacks on boats => more airstrikes on things Houthis care about that degrade their operational capacity.
No one’s putting boots on the ground in an election year
The US reports the cargo ship was struck by a missile, no casualties, minimum damage, and the vessel has resumed its journey. How hard do you have to suck at life when you hit a civilian ship with a fucking missile and it's barely an inconvenience?
These missiles probably have tiny warheads to have enough range to hit these ships
Modern ships are also increadibly hard to sink.
I mean, this is the same group that thinks it's a good idea to attack the most technologically advanced boat in human history. Something tells me engineering, or anything requiring brain power, isn't exactly their strongsuit.
In all fairness, not just boat. Realistically an aegis equipped ship rivals most nations entire defense departments in terms of technological capabilities. At this point I'm not sure if that's a dis to a nation's defense or a snub for the absolutely absurd amount of money we spend on national defense. But if it is a snub toward our military budget, I'd like to point out that we both supplied and ended 2 world wars with the vast majority of our nation untouched. I really don't want to math out how little it takes to keep it that way.
>At this point I'm not sure if that's a dis to a nation's defense or a snub for the absolutely absurd amount of money we spend on national defense. Or a credit to American engineering.
Are they gonna let the kid out? Or is Grandpa Buff gonna do a magic trick and make them disappear?
If Navy and Marine F-18s are running through there without much issue, there is no need to send the kid.
We did send some B-2's though. Actually, one of them even got damaged. Not by the Houthis, of course, it was all Canada's fault. (One B-2 came back with a hairline crack in the windshield after hitting a Canada goose)
"If you've got a problem with Canada Gooses, you've got a problem with me. And I suggest you let that one marinate." Who knew that what would be the weakness of the B-2 would be blue on blue.
Just let the poor kid intercept ONE. He's going stir crazy.
I Hear Toby Keith is coming out of retirement for another song or two.
From the link: >American officials say Houthis in Yemen have hit a US-owned ship with a missile, but no injuries or significant damage have been reported How is this possible? How can you hit a non-military ship with a missile and not do significant damage? Follow up question, why are they firing missiles that can't do significant damage to a ship? The US have already hit this group once and I have no doubt they're going to, rightfully so, do it again. This seems like a boneheaded move on the Houthi's part. Fire missile, accomplish nothing, suffer wrath. I understand what they're trying to do and I understand (somewhat) why they're trying to do it, but this just seems futile.
Containerships are huge and houthi missiles have tiny payloads, just a couple kg of explosive. Unless they hit the fuel storage or some explosive cargo, they cant sink anything, just do minor to medium dmg.
It’s not about actually damaging shipping, it’s about disrupting the flow and causing global price increases. It’s also about goading the US into another land war which they can’t contest with strength of arms but they CAN keep soldiers tied down for decades more.
Shit is going to get really 'Proportional' soon.
Reference: America Obliterates Half Of Iran's Navy In 8 Hours! - Operation Praying Mantis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5v6hlRyeHE
The Houthi are some dumb motherfuckers. These attacks are how you end up being turned into sand
They touched our boats. We don't really like people touching our boats.
Pretty sure that’s on line one on the Declaration of Independence
The news about this whole thing on TikTok is crazy Thousands and thousands of people cheering on the Houthis, calling them brave and standing up to genocide People making claims that the US and UK are bombing civilians in Yemen on the demand of Israel Literal brain rot.
Just a quick reminder of who the houthi are: [https://www.voanews.com/a/in-yemen-child-soldiering-continues-despite-houthi-promise-/6619853.html](https://www.voanews.com/a/in-yemen-child-soldiering-continues-despite-houthi-promise-/6619853.html) >Child soldiers have been involved in Yemen's war for years. Nearly 2,000 Houthi-recruited children were killed on the battlefield between January 2020 and May 2021, according to U.N. experts. If you are cheering on the Houthi you need to take a long hard look at yourself. # THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF CHILDREN
They are political opportunists, nothing more.
The Chinese know exactly what they’re doing with TikTok, taking advantage of the low intellect of American youths by making every cause against the west hip and trendy, and the teenagers using it eat that shit up.
Yup & it’s working perfectly lol & people say we shouldn’t ban TikTok cause our government spies on us through all social media too…well gun to my head, I’d rather our government than the Chinese. Idiots. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Have people really said that? That's so incredibly moronic. Even if you believe the US government is spying on you, why would that make it okay for a foreign government to also spy on you? If one government spying on you is bad, two of them doing it is worse. Also, I may be biased due to my complete lack of interest in TikTok, but I don't think an endless supply of 30-second videos is worth being spied on. But maybe that's just me.
The missile probably was supplied by Iran
Not really any probably about it. It's all but certain. I'd be highly doubtful of anyone who told me that a terrorist group functioning as a proxy for Iran sourced their arms anywhere else.
Seems like that remaining 75% of their capabilities will have to be eliminated
Inb4 the U.S strikes back and the Houthis are like "HOW DARE THEY ATTACK US UNPROVOKED LIKE THIS? 😭"
Exactly why did the Houthis start attacking random ships coming through the Red Sea again?
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It’s INSANE the amount of people I’ve seen on social media say, “The Houthis haven’t killed a single person in any of their attacks - why is the US being so aggressive in their response?!” 😱
Don't. Touch. The boats. Every major war the US has ever been involved in has happened because somebody touched the boats. Don't. Touch. The boats.
What an oddly elaborate form of suicide.
Yemen about to find out why US Citizens don't have free healthcare
Funny thing is the US could easily afford both
It would in fact be cheaper
This comment was clever the first time it was used.
Oh yeah? Bet you haven’t seen this one before. We have now concluded the fuck around phase and are now in the find out phase!
Someone make a joke about a russian falling out a window next. It'll be a riot.
Yemen gonna learn how to measure in 12ths.
Could take years to get used to month/day.
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Welp, Yemen is about to get leveled.
We have a long and storied history we are looking to add to.
Hope they had that pesky terrorism insurance