# It appears Iran wants to park some ships off our east coast. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 28, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882 "2011-09-28T14:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/21 "2011-09-28T16:01:50Z")
If they are going to camp along the east coast I’d suggest they stay to the north. If they go south they will likely be taken out by Georgia rednecks with bass boats (7th largest navy in the world doncha know), coon dogs, and shotguns (with a little moonshine to calm the nerves of course). Oh, and bless their hearts… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/22 "2011-09-28T16:04:41Z")
Maybe Congress could issue Letters of Marque and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/23 "2011-09-28T16:21:45Z")
> [@](#): > > If they are going to camp along the east coast I’d suggest they stay to the north. If they go south they will likely be taken out by Georgia rednecks with bass boats (7th largest navy in the world doncha know), coon dogs, and shotguns (with a little moonshine to calm the nerves of course). And here we have the winner! This is why I regularly read these boards. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/24 "2011-09-28T16:30:02Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > They do - by world standards, a pretty capable one, actually. A few large destroyers, 14 very modern frigates, and a few inactive submarines, along with assorted coastal patrol craft. Not that much compared to the American navy - but then, _no one_ has all that much compared with the American navy. And a modern frigate belonging to a NATO member state is not, as I understand it, the sort of thing that you want to be on the wrong end of. [http://www.satirewire.com/news/feb02/warship.shtml](http://www.satirewire.com/news/feb02/warship.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/25 "2011-09-28T16:38:40Z")
Boils down to Iran wants to flip the bird to the U.S., for whatever that may be worth. We won’t do anything about it in an overt military way–but we’ll be tracking their fleet with pinpoint accuracy. Prolly park a sub under the fleet, maybe give them an air show for grins. We can’t stop their ships in international waters–that would be an act of war, I think. They can’t enter an American port without permission, which won’t be given. And even in the unlikely event of open hostilities, their little flotilla poses no threat to us. We could sink everything they’ve brought over before they even knew shots had been fired. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/26 "2011-09-28T16:48:34Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I imagine the feelings of the naval brass will be “lol”, essentially. Iran’s Navy is like a spitting kitten compared to the U.S. _Coast Guard_, and less than nothing when compared to the U.S. Navy (which is larger than the next 13 combined, I don’t know if that is by tonnage or number of vessels.) That’s a bit much. I’m pretty sure the USCG doesn’t have anything bigger than small arms on most of its ships (and nothing bigger than 57mm deck guns on any of its ships), so it doesn’t really matter how many ships and personnel it has. Of course, none of that matters, because we’re not likely to send out the Coast Guard to deal with the Iranians. Unless perhaps one of their ships sinks and they need rescuing… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/27 "2011-09-28T16:51:25Z")
> [@](#): > > …Prolly park a sub under the fleet, maybe give them an air show for grins… No. Ignore them, for exactly that reason, they ain’t got shit. You shadow them, it will be all over the Iranian news about how America is afraid of them, and that is just what they want. Probably would make shit up anyway, but no good reason to make it easy for them. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/28 "2011-09-28T16:55:49Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > No. Ignore them, for exactly that reason, they ain’t got shit. You shadow them, it will be all over the Iranian news about how America is afraid of them, and that is just what they want. Probably would make shit up anyway, but no good reason to make it easy for them. They’d never know the sub was there. And satellites can track them easily, so we know where they are. An air show might be pushing it, though. Still, Maverick and Goose rattling the bridge with a sonic boom amuses me… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/29 "2011-09-28T17:09:15Z")
This will be a great opportunity for their navy to update their maps of the known world. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/30 "2011-09-28T17:11:07Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] No. Ignore them, for exactly that reason, they ain’t got shit. You shadow them, it will be all over the Iranian news about how America is afraid of them, and that is just what they want. Probably would make shit up anyway, but no good reason to make it easy for them. [/QUOTE] I don’t think just ignoring them is in the cards. Sets a bad precedence if someone sends warships off our coast and we don’t do anything at all. That doesn’t mean we have to harass them (that would just be the Navy having some fun), but they need to see that we are watching them with a visible token show of force. Just the way the game is played. If you take a warship off ANY country they are going to respond somehow…heck, even if you are in a non-warship and getting close to a major countries territorial waters there will be some sort of response. As an off the top of my head type example, if you have ever watched Treasure Hunters, check out the episode where they are exploring (in international waters) just outside of the territorial waters of France or Spain…both countries sent out warships to investigate, and we are talking about just a civilian vessel here. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/31 "2011-09-28T17:13:07Z")
I’m more shocked that Iran has a navy. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/32 "2011-09-28T17:20:13Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I’m more shocked that Iran has a navy. If you’re on the Med, you want a navy. History has been very, very cruel to countries that try to do without, for more or less as long as people have been living there. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/33 "2011-09-28T17:23:56Z")
They have had a Navy for quite a while (I believe there have been a few incidents where they have sent out basically gun boats to harass the USN when it was schlepping about in the area), but it’s been fairly recent (IIRC) that they have built bigger, capital type ships (well, frigates and the like). -XT ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/34 "2011-09-28T17:32:28Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > If you’re on the Med, you want a navy. History has been very, very cruel to countries that try to do without, for more or less as long as people have been living there. The Med? Iran’s not on the Mediterranean Sea. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/35 "2011-09-28T17:34:42Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > If you’re on the Med, you want a navy. History has been very, very cruel to countries that try to do without, for more or less as long as people have been living there. Iran’s on the Med, now? On meds, maybe. Or is it Medes? ETA:Ninja’ed by **Rocket Surgery**. That’ll teach me to go for the puns approach. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/36 "2011-09-28T17:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. Could they actually do it? I mean, are their ships capable of making it out that far without refueling? How many ships could make the voyage? How long could they stay stationed there given the supplies they carry? The largest Iranian surface warships (according to wikipedia) are five 1500-ton frigates with a range of 5000 miles. (That’s not very far.) [Alvand-class frigate - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvand_class_frigate) They have three diesel subs with a range of 7500 miles. [Kilo-class submarine - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilo_class) I doubt they will deploy the subs. They have one large replenishment ship [RFA Olwen (A122) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFA_Olwen_(A122)) , and two small ones. The article does not state what they intend to deploy with. My WAG is the large replenishment ship, and two or three frigates. My guess is that they would not directly deploy to the western Atlantic without stopping off to buy fuel and provisions along the way. I don’t know how much experience the Iranians have with refueling at sea, my guess is “not much”. Of course, this is a great opportunity to get some. They could conceivably use Cuba or Venezuela as a place to buy additional supplies while the frigates (however many they bring) are fooling around wherever they are going to go. If I was them, I wouldn’t go bother going any further north than the Bahamas. Get a couple good stills of the frigates “off Miami” or Key West. The USN will yawn, and assign a sub or ship or two to shadow them. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/37 "2011-09-28T17:59:40Z")
The question is what if they park off the coast of Canada or Brazil by mistake? Do we give 'em a shout out, Hey, we’re over here? ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/38 "2011-09-28T18:01:20Z")
I think the Girls Gone Wild team should charter a barge or other large flat-top type ship, and throw the world’s best floating topless party in International Waters. Follow along with the Iranian fleet with an open bar, and keep some small boats running alongside for any Iranian Sailor that wants to defect. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/39 "2011-09-28T18:02:33Z")
I wonder if they are afraid they will catch the gay from us, since there are no gay men or women in Iran. You can’t be to careful… -XT ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882/40 "2011-09-28T18:08:57Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The largest Iranian surface warships (according to wikipedia) are five 1500-ton frigates with a range of 5000 miles. (That’s not very far.) To explain this further, my old timey wall map shows “sea miles” from Al-Basra, Iraq, to Port Said (Egypt) as 3371 miles. Port Said to Gibraltar is 1935 miles. Gibraltar to Florida is 4009 miles. That’s a total of 9315 miles, without any back tracking. On top of that, if they run any of the ships at higher than economical speeds, that will greatly reduce their total range as given on wikipedia. If they encounter heavy seas, they will have to expend greater engine power than expected (and/or sail around storms), also eating into “listed” range. Lastly, no ship’s captain is going to be comfortable with having less than 20% fuel in their bunkers. (Ships ride funny when light, if nothing else.) I would not be surprised if the USN likes to refuel when the “gauge” dips to 50%. A direct shot to the eastern seaboard from Iran with those frigates is probably not in the cards, but that will depend on how much fuel their unrep ship carries… but that’s beyond the limits of my knowledge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-appears-iran-wants-to-park-some-ships-off-our-east-coast/597882.md?page=3)