The New York Times has reported that the two U.S. Navy destroyers, USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy, have transited the Strait of Hormuz to conduct mine clearing operations.

Excellent news. For the life of me, I cannot explain why USN didn't do this earlier or more recently, why Trump was demanding the British and other allies do it.

10 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Excellent news. For the life of me, I cannot explain why USN didn't do this earlier or more recently, why Trump was demanding the British and other allies do it.

Destroy the other assets from the Air to lesson danger

3 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Destroy the other assets from the Air to lesson danger

In the first week of action, the Pentagon released imagery of several small Iranian minelayers being destroyed as they sat in various ports. A week or so later, the obliteration of the entire Iranian navy was being claimed. With the imminent threat removed by air superiority, why didn't the USN minesweepers go in earlier?

4 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

In the first week of action, the Pentagon released imagery of several small Iranian minelayers being destroyed as they sat in various ports. A week or so later, the obliteration of the entire Iranian navy was being claimed. With the imminent threat removed by air superiority, why didn't the USN minesweepers go in earlier?

Ask Central Command

2 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Ask Central Command

They got a 1-800 number?

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

They got a 1-800 number?

Phone numbers for Centcom HQ in Tampa, FL listed here:

https://www.centcom.mil/CONTACT/

Sir Keir has already sent the pesky turbans a strongly worded message and is currently diverting the Isle Of Wight ferry as it's the last boat still working 🤔

How are Arleigh Burke-class Aegis Destroyers now suddenly minesweepers? They have K Mk20 Mod 1 EO sonar arrays, but this is for defensive purposes. Having an array doesn't mean you can now clear mines, unless you hit one. Stupid reporting/ OP summary. CENTCOM reported a minesweeping mission at the same time these two vessals cleared the straits.

Moored mines are typically set at a 50 foot depth. These destroyers have a draught of 31 feet. A fully laden crude carrier is 72 feet. Guess what hits a mine, and what passes over.

Ordinarily shipping companes can't go and pay a sanctioned regime $2m per load to pass through the Straits without suffering punishment by the United States. But the way these payments are facilitated by China is interestting. The payments are outside of SWIFT, and are via Kunlun Bank in Yuan or Crypto. Washington can't detect the payment.

The MCM system the US is deploying is designed to clear mines for combat ships, not deeper draught commerical ships. The AN/AES-1 laser system used by the LCSs detects floating and near-surface mines but cannot detect bottom-influence mines, the type most dangerous to deep-draught supertankers. The two warships conducted a purely symbolic freedom of passage cruise, which has no meaning to commericial shipping.

While both Iran and the US have signed the 1982 UNCLOS treaty that governs maritime freedom of passage, both countries refuse to ratify it. Washington refuses because if it does it would tie the United States to UNCLOS provisions on deep seabed mining, continental shelf delimitation, and exclusive economic zone enforcement. Every Congress has refused to ratify on the basis that the agreement infringes US sovereignty.

This is where Iran's 10 point plan comes in. Point 7 requires all vessals to coordinate with the Armed Forces of Iran while transiting. The IRGC Navy issued a statement on 11-4 requiring vessals to "observe maritime safety principles and avoid potential collisions with sea mines". Iran’s Parliament has already codified in the Strait of Hormuz Management Plan on March 30, 10 days before the ceasefire and 12 days before CENTCOM’s mine-clearing assertion.

Iran is invoking mine avoidance rather than territorial sovereignty over the Straits ("follow us if you don't want to die") which comes from another convention, the 1907 Hague Convention, where states who lay sea mines must provide a safe alternative. That works when you know where all your mines are. By some accounts, Iran started off the war with 6000 sea mines, and have laid the lot. Drift mines are god knows where. Some of the anchored mined have probably broken away. GPS positioned mines will have moved. Bottom influenced mines can only de detected by the survey equipment the US scrapped last September (the Avenger class minesweepers). Even worse, the alternative system, using MH-53E Sea Dragons to tow the Sonar sleds, were got rid of in August 2025.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2026/april/crisis-mine-countermeasures

US Naval Institute April issue with timely observations:

On 18 February 1991, during Operation Desert Shield, the USS Princeton (CG-59) and USS Tripoli (LPH-10) struck Iraqi mines and sustained significant damage. Mines in the Gulf were cleared after that war, and conditions remained relatively stable because of deterrence, sustained presence, and economic realities. But the core lesson endured: Once deployed, mines cannot be retrieved, only cleared.

To go to war with Iran without considering that Tehran might again employ mines seems folly. Yet, that appears to be exactly what happened.

U.S. military leaders in March appeared to recognize the possibility that Iran could employ naval mines and treated this option with heightened concern. More troubling, senior leaders—from the Chief of Naval Operations to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense—have been forced to confront a stark reality: The Navy’s MCM capacity is severely limited.

So, what does the U.S. Navy do now if Iran mines the Strait of Hormuz? Its options are limited to three Independence-variant littoral combat ships (LCSs). The decision to assign the MCM mission primarily to the Independence-variant, rather than the Freedom-variant, reflects considerations of space, weight, stability, and mission integration. The trimaran design of the Independence provides a large mission bay (approximately 15,000 square feet) and a wide beam, enabling the embarkation of multiple unmanned systems and their support equipment while retaining capacity for maintenance operations.

However, not all Independence-variant ships are available for MCM missions. Although the Navy plans to acquire 24 MCM mission packages—for operational use, training, and development—only four have been fielded to date, and one remains dedicated to testing.

The Knifefish unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV)—designed to hunt sophisticated Iranian influence mines resting on the seabed or buried in sediment—is experiencing significant growing pains. Unlike the Avenger-class ships of the past, all MCM systems on board an LCS must be deployed individually, a process that consumes substantial time and is limited by system endurance and range. Issues concerning the data link between the LCS’ two deployable USVs and their host ships further slow operations. The result is that mine clearance is now a complex, slow, and resource-intensive process; the days of sweeping simple moored mines with a cable are long gone.

If Iran were to mine the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. and allied navies would need to establish swept channels, or Q-routes, before shipping could safely transit. The strait’s traffic separation scheme stretches roughly 100 nautical miles. While a standard Q-route is 1,000 yards wide, supporting both inbound and outbound oil and LNG traffic would require two channels, each 2,000 yards wide, covering roughly 200 square miles.

CENTCOM might actually get the Strait cleared by June, maybe.... There are now two lanes; CENTCOMs crappy lane unfit for Supertankers, or China's, which might expand faster than the Americans can clear theirs. The yuan becomes the settlement currency of choice for Gulf exports. By running payments through Beijing’s financial system, China now has a de facto monopoly on commercial Hormuz access that no other state has replicated or challenged. China runs the Gulf.

Where I am now, I saw diesel is now USD10 per US gallon.

In the words of Gunny Highway, it's a cluster <deleted>. Sheer <deleted> incompetance on the part of segments of the US government. They knew this was going to happen, and instead of getting all their ducks lined up, allies on board, decided instead to waste energy pissing them off, threatening them. For a major war that kicked off in February, you better <deleted> hope they started the planning process last summer. Wait, thats when they scrapped their minesweepers in favour of none-minesweeping ships that crack and take on water if they go too fast.

****Trolling meme with profane language removed****

1 hour ago, sammieuk1 said:

Sir Keir has already sent the pesky turbans a strongly worded message and is currently diverting the Isle Of Wight ferry as it's the last boat still working 🤔

The Royal Navy has more minesweeping capability that the entire US Navy. Fact.

Are we allowed to use slang terms to describe peoples? I thought using nicknames like "Septics" was banned on the forum.

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

In the first week of action, the Pentagon released imagery of several small Iranian minelayers being destroyed as they sat in various ports. A week or so later, the obliteration of the entire Iranian navy was being claimed. With the imminent threat removed by air superiority, why didn't the USN minesweepers go in earlier?

Probably for the same reason the Americans spent weeks attacking missile batteries EXCEPT coastal missile batteries. And they were apparently saving the IRGC Navy until last. You know, the Navy that's full of religious loons rather than the Navy that was mostly professionals now at the bottom of the Drink. Could have done with the latter right now.

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Excellent news. For the life of me, I cannot explain why USN didn't do this earlier or more recently, why Trump was demanding the British and other allies do it.

IMO it was too risky at the time. Now with a ceasefire in place it is hopeful than Iran will not not attack these ships or attempt to lay more mines with non-military boats. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the operation is successful without any casualties.

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Excellent news. For the life of me, I cannot explain why USN didn't do this earlier or more recently, why Trump was demanding the British and other allies do it.

Aegis Destroyers are not Minesweepers. Inaccurate reporting. The Americans have done <deleted> all to show the straits are open to commericial shipping.

15 minutes ago, Roadsternut said:

Aegis Destroyers are not Minesweepers. Inaccurate reporting. The Americans have done <deleted> all to show the straits are open to commericial shipping.

Supposedly they will be using underwater drones.

19 minutes ago, Hawaiian said:

Supposedly they will be using underwater drones.

No, they are using the Knifefish array to make sure their destroyed don't run over an Iranian mine at 32 feet. Thats not locating and destroying mines. That's force protection.

Destroyers are not minesweepers.

2 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

No, they are using the Knifefish array to make sure their destroyed don't run over an Iranian mine at 32 feet. Thats not locating and destroying mines. That's force protection.

Destroyers are not minesweepers.

Most mines are pressure or magnetically activated that way the vessel only needs to pass near by to set it off.seems to me that arligh burk class ships are a very expensive asset to be risking there …..I’m of the opinion that the navy thinks Iran is bluffing about the mines and they are perhaps trying to draw the Iranians out.Those ships can defend themselves quite handily if attacked.If I were a mariner or naval commander in that area what would keep me up at night would be those loitering drone type torpedos the Ukrainians used to run the orks out of their waters.I would bet money the Chinese have them and would love an excuse to give some to Iran.

30 minutes ago, Tug said:

Most mines are pressure or magnetically activated that way the vessel only needs to pass near by to set it off.seems to me that arligh burk class ships are a very expensive asset to be risking there …..I’m of the opinion that the navy thinks Iran is bluffing about the mines and they are perhaps trying to draw the Iranians out.Those ships can defend themselves quite handily if attacked.If I were a mariner or naval commander in that area what would keep me up at night would be those loitering drone type torpedos the Ukrainians used to run the orks out of their waters.I would bet money the Chinese have them and would love an excuse to give some to Iran.

3 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

No, they are using the Knifefish array to make sure their destroyed don't run over an Iranian mine at 32 feet. Thats not locating and destroying mines. That's force protection.

Destroyers are not minesweepers.

Here is a description of the system you mentioned. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knifefish_(robot)

CBS called them underwater drones.

2 hours ago, Hawaiian said:

Here is a description of the system you mentioned. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knifefish_(robot)

CBS called them underwater drones.

Adm. Brad Cooper of the U.S. Central Command also called them underwater drones.

10 hours ago, NanLaew said:

In the first week of action, the Pentagon released imagery of several small Iranian minelayers being destroyed as they sat in various ports. A week or so later, the obliteration of the entire Iranian navy was being claimed. With the imminent threat removed by air superiority, why didn't the USN minesweepers go in earlier?

The U.S. Sank One of Iran’s Navies. The Other Still Controls Hormuz.

The U.S. has destroyed most of Iran’s navy. But not the one Tehran uses to control the Strait of Hormuz.

The regular navy operated Iran’s big battleships largely for prestige and occasional long-range deployments. The paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on the other hand, has its own extensive fleet of more nimble boats designed to control the crucial waterway with missiles, mines and harassment of commercial ships—and they are much harder to reach.

Farzin Nadimi, an Iran-focused senior fellow with the Washington Institute, a U.S.-based think tank, said more than 60% of the Revolutionary Guard’s fast-attack craft and speedboat fleet remains intact.

https://archive.ph/4oTWw

8 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

Probably for the same reason the Americans spent weeks attacking missile batteries EXCEPT coastal missile batteries. And they were apparently saving the IRGC Navy until last. You know, the Navy that's full of religious loons rather than the Navy that was mostly professionals now at the bottom of the Drink. Could have done with the latter right now.

You are suggesting that the Iranian navy's vessels were all fully crewed and ready to roll? Even Starmer knows that's not possible.

5 hours ago, Hawaiian said:

Here is a description of the system you mentioned. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knifefish_(robot)

CBS called them underwater drones.

What I said. Sonar sensor system. Doesn't destroy or clear mines. Finds them so you can go around them. Minesweepers remove mines from the equation. Destroyers are not minesweepers.

8 hours ago, Hawaiian said:

IMO it was too risky at the time. Now with a ceasefire in place it is hopeful than Iran will not not attack these ships or attempt to lay more mines with non-military boats. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the operation is successful without any casualties.

Yes, an attack on the USN vessel's with the probability of injuries and death would have been very risky behavior with the mid-terms coming down the track.

8 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

Aegis Destroyers are not Minesweepers. Inaccurate reporting. The Americans have done <deleted> all to show the straits are open to commericial shipping.

In my opinion, this whole mine threat was just another deflection. If the destroyers and their drones do detect and destroy any mines, I will eat my hat, but if the report of detection and destruction is solely from Hesketh's department of dip<deleted>tery and unverified by independent observers, I won't.

1 minute ago, NanLaew said:

You are suggesting that the Iranian navy's vessels were all fully crewed and ready to roll? Even Starmer knows that's not possible.

Not suggesting that at all. Read again. What has Starmer go to do with this? You are one of these clever clogs who thinks how the Royal Navy operates 3000 miles away is the same as the Iranian Navy at Bander Abbas 50 miles away. For all the slagging off of the British Armed Forces your lot enjoy, they are on a different level to the Iranians.

Iran never had minesweepers. No one is expecting the Iranians to remove their own mines. How the <deleted> are you going to magic that up? What you expect is someone in summer whites and a brass chest, to break out a big map on a mahogany table, and start explaining where they think the mines are and depth. But they can't do that, because they are all dead, and it was the Iranian version of Terry Taliban chucking big cylindrical things off the side of his 60 year old SunSeeker.

What it had was dedicated minelaying vessals operated by trained crews, lead by capable officers. Some of their 3 ringers might even have had experience with the British and Americans. If they had laid the mines, they would have followed a plan, because they would expect a post conflict period, eg Iran winning whatever, and so they would need to clear the mines. But they're all dead now, so the Americans tell us, and now its the IRGC Navy that's on the blower to transiting vessals. Its blokes in skiffs, jetskis, whatever, who in a panic seem to have dumped the entire arsenal into the Gulf, with a map being nothing more than something written on the back of a f ag packet.

The Americans went arse about face with the Iranian naval assets. Should have targetted the amateur, fanatics first. You best chance of rationality, slim as it was, was with the Artesh all along. Kill the mullahs, have the Artesh step in representing stability and rationality, enjoying the support of all parts of Iranian society. There is no precedence of Mad Mullahs transitioning to constitutional government. But there are plenty of examples when militaries have taken over, then transitioning to constitutional government. Ask Pakistan. Ask Turkey.

13 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

In my opinion, this whole mine threat was just another deflection. If the destroyers and their drones do detect and destroy any mines, I will eat my hat, but if the report of detection and destruction is solely from Hesketh's department of dip<deleted>tery and unverified by independent observers, I won't.

Knifefish is a sonar system. It does not destroy mines. Takes 6 hours to set up and deploy. The only time in history that a destroyer has destroyed a mine is when it hits it. Ask the USS Princeton.

All the Aegis ships have proven is that the US Navy can transit the Straits, until they hit a mine, then they can't.

The reports are garbage reporting by journalists who have confused two CENTCOM briefings and parroted on forums by people who believe America actually doesn't need any minesweepers only Aegis destroyers.

28 minutes ago, Roadsternut said:

What I said. Sonar sensor system. Doesn't destroy or clear mines. Finds them so you can go around them. Minesweepers remove mines from the equation. Destroyers are not minesweepers.

As a U.S. Navy veteran I've served as a radio operator aboard U.S. destroyers and I know what their missions are. Minesweeping is not one of them.

9 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

Aegis Destroyers are not Minesweepers. Inaccurate reporting. The Americans have done <deleted> all to show the straits are open to commericial shipping.

That's also what I heard from military experts on TV.

Trump was lying, as usual! 🤣

10 minutes ago, Roadsternut said:

You are one of these clever clogs who thinks how the Royal Navy operates 3000 miles away is the same as the Iranian Navy at Bander Abbas 50 miles away. For all the slagging off of the British Armed Forces your lot enjoy, they are on a different level to the Iranians.

"Clever clogs"?... "you lot"...?

Assuming much, aren't we?

9 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

The Royal Navy has more minesweeping capability that the entire US Navy. Fact.

Yes, they do. But the majority of that fleet was laid up, either for repairs, scheduled maintenance or possible lack of crewing. Of the active vessels, at least one was committed to NATO security and at sea.

9 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

Are we allowed to use slang terms to describe peoples? I thought using nicknames like "Septics" was banned on the forum.

Steady on there. You appear to know your stuff, but there's no need to get so prickly. Nobody has introduced any pejoratives to this discourse. We're all friends here... well, most of us are.

The title of this thread is misleading. The US claims that two destroyers traversed the SOH inbound yesterday as part of a broader mission to clear mines. This claim has not been independently verified, and is contested by Iran.

Furthermore, no one (not the US, GCC states, nor Iran) is claiming that mine clearing operations are ongoing anywhere in the Persian Gulf or the SOH.

Lastly, (US) destroyers are not equipped with mine clearing systems beyond those installed for own vessel protection.

29 minutes ago, Hawaiian said:

As a U.S. Navy veteran I've served as a radio operator aboard U.S. destroyers and I know what their missions are. Minesweeping is not one of them.

Those are mighty expensive assets to have in confined waters just wondering did we retire all of our FFGs seems to me they are a bit ahemmmm more expendable and a proper little war ship in their own right + they have lots of air cover close by..