U.S. Warship Fires Across Bows of Two Boats in Gulf : Unidentified Ships Ignored Escort Warnings

A U.S. warship fired warning machine-gun blasts across the bows of two small unidentified boats in the Persian Gulf today after they ignored warnings to stay clear of a convoy of re-registered Kuwaiti tankers, the Pentagon reported.

The shots were the first confirmed by the Pentagon to have been fired by a U.S. ship since the United States began its tanker escort operation last month.

A prepared statement said the boats, known as dhows, were of “unknown nationality.”

The guided missile destroyer Kidd opened fire after they refused to heed verbal warnings and a flare fired as a warning in their direction.

The Pentagon said the dhows, traditional Arab seafaring vessels, turned away from the convoy after the Kidd opened fire across their bows.

Accompanying Bridgeton

It said a U.S. support helicopter from the Kidd, one of the U.S. warships escorting Kuwaiti tankers in the gulf, observed the boats about eight miles from the Kidd.

The incident occurred as U.S. warships were shepherding the tanker Bridgeton, which was damaged by a mine in the gulf July 24, and three smaller tankers down the gulf from Kuwait.

The convoy later safely cleared Iranian anti-ship missiles lining the Strait of Hormuz, gateway out of the Persian Gulf, and entered the Gulf of Oman.

Earlier today, U.S. Navy officers reported that another U.S. warship, the guided-missile frigate Jarrett, pulled between the tanker convoy and an Iranian warship that came within two miles of it.

Officers aboard the helicopter carrier Guadalcanal said they detected no hostile intent from the Iranian vessel, identified as a 2,500-ton amphibious landing craft built in Britain.

3 More Tankers on Way

But the Jarrett, then the lead ship in the convoy, was instructed to position itself between the tankers and the Iranian vessel to prevent any closer approach, according to a media pool report released by the Pentagon.

The interception came as a new convoy of three Kuwaiti tankers flying the American flag was reported heading into the gulf escorted by U.S. warships.

Sources at the state-run Kuwait Oil Tanker Co., which owns the tankers, confirmed that the convoy including the Bridgeton sailed safely through the Strait of Hormuz but denied that any new convoy had entered the gulf.

Three more reflagged tankers were at Kuwait’s main oil terminal at Al Ahmadi loading crude oil for the return trip down the gulf as the Bridgeton, and the three others were sailing out.