The British hostage crisis was over for yesteday. But the backbiting, recriminations, and name-calling have already begin to hit an already-beleaguered Royal Navy.
The Evening Standard
asks, "Why didn't the British personnel put up a fight?"
The tough and experienced Royal Marines and sailors offered no resistance. Their Rules of Engagement - strict guidelines governing when they can use force - are believed to have barred them from escalating the confrontation with Iranian troops.
American commanders have voiced astonishment at their passive stance.
**
Why did they not try to make a run for it or fire warning shots? Why were the Rules of Engagement so restrictive?
The Telegraph has its own questions for "Commodore Nick Lambert, the flotilla commander ultimately in charge of the 15 sailors who were allowed to venture out of sight of his flagship Cornwall with very little support while just two miles from Iran's disputed territorial waters*."*
*While *Cornwall had too deep a draught to provide line of sight cover for the boarding party, there were many other ships that could have given immediate back-up.
Cdre Lambert has 12 warships under his command in Coalition Task Force 158, including several US Navy patrol boats capable of 35 knots and bristling with machineguns that would have outgunned the Iranians.
It has been suggested he could have ordered any one of these to "overwatch" the boarding party. Questions have also been asked why the Cornwall's Lynx helicopter was not above the two Pacific tenders during the search of the Indian vessel. They can remain airborne for four hours yet the boarding lasted 80 minutes.
True, true, writes former Royal Navy Lt. Lew Page. But "the
Iranians would probably have been able to overwhelm the boarding party no matter what *Cornwall did. Ultimately, most of the British servicemen involved seem to have done about the best one could reasonably ask for with what they had available... Ships such as Cornwall *are not well suited for interdiction operations such as the one it was carrying out."
For choice you would send something with a lot of well-armed helicopters, boats and troops: for instance an amphibious assault ship. Such ships are useful for lots of missions which often crop up. They can do disaster relief, evacuate non-combatants, or invade troublesome countries - all things which have needed doing in the last few years. If you need to fight submarines, they can also act as a base for anti-submarine helicopters.
"Hopefully this whole sorry episode might lay to rest the idea that escort warships are an effective way of doing maritime-interdiction ops," Page notes on his blog. "How many times have frigate pukes told me that? I hope they feel a tiny bit embarrassed now."
(High five: David Leslie)
