The destroyers USS Truxtun (DDG-103) and USS Mason (DDG-87) are the same two destroyers that, four days ago, during the first hours of the US mission “Project Freedom,” were targeted by Iranian forces as they passed through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf (if OSINT imagery is accurate). On the evening of May 7, these two destroyers were attempting to leave the Persian Gulf when they were ambushed by Iranian forces with missiles. The destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115) had also approached the Strait of Hormuz to provide additional defensive cover and was also attacked.
The Americans had deployed multiple layers of protection for these destroyers, deploying other destroyers, fighter jets, Apache helicopters, and various reconnaissance and combat aircraft, to protect them from Iranian missile and drone attacks while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Approaching the Strait of Hormuz is an extremely dangerous operation, tantamount to suicide, and the US Navy cannot afford to take such a large-scale risk. With the increase in the number of naval vessels, battlefield management will become even more complex, and the likelihood of being hit will dramatically increase. At least under current conditions, the rules of the Strait of Hormuz are as follows—unless other significant events occur.
The fact that the Americans did not want these two destroyers to remain in the Persian Gulf and accepted the risk of withdrawing them so quickly after only three days is likely further evidence that they, too, are aware of the high probability of a full-scale resumption of hostilities and that the US destroyers, in a major combat scenario in the Persian Gulf, would certainly have been hit.
In any case, the movements of US destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz over the past four days must be interpreted in the context of Trump’s ill-conceived “Project Freedom” mission, which forced him to take serious risks to settle the matter. Moreover, after these two brief clashes with US destroyers in southern Iranian waters, the Iranian military is likely to modify its offensive tactics somewhat to achieve the desired success. Iran certainly possesses effective offensive capabilities, but everything depends on the tactics and how they are implemented.
Two US destroyers apparently successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf three days ago.
An infrared image from NASA’s VIIRS satellite relating to the events of the evening of May 7th reports a fire in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz. Concurrent with the clashes on the evening of May 7th, an image was also published, broadcast by local channels in the south, showing a fire at sea, which had previously gone unnoticed.
It can now be said with certainty that the US destroyers, while exiting the restricted traffic zone of the Strait of Hormuz, were hit by missiles and drones from the Iranian army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, sustaining damage. No merchant ships requested assistance during those hours, nor did the British Navy report any incidents.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
Follow our updates on Geopolitical Gleanings - Spigolature geopolitiche: https://t.me/agc_NW and on our blog The Gleanings of AGCNEWS - Le Spigolature di AGCNEWS: https://spigolatureagcnews.blogspot.com/
