Iran’s largest warship catches fire and sinks

[Kapitan]

Built in the UK in 1977 the Kharg caught fire under suspicious circumstances and sank

I briefly recall Jimbuna had some connections to her when she was under RFA ownership (if memory serves)

https://apnews.com/article/persian-g...bc4705c6629fcd

[Skybird]

Was it a real ship or just another model? Just asking...

[Kapitan]

She is a real ship ex British RFA OL class oiler

[Skybird]

Irony.

[vienna]

Starting a betting pool: how long before Iran accuses Israel or the US of the loss...?...




<O>

[Rockstar]

Their other oiler is supposedly on the way to Venezuela. Wonder if it continues or is recalled.

[mapuc]

It could have something to do with the civil war in Yemen The perpetrator in this case would most likely be Saudi-Arabia.

Markus

[Skybird]

I think of Iran's role for arming up Hamas in the Gaza strip, and Israel's recent argument with Hamas.

[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by mapuc

It could have something to do with the civil war in Yemen The perpetrator in this case would most likely be Saudi-Arabia.

Markus

Could also have something to do with internal divisions & strife inside Iran too. Not every in that country is happy living in a militant islamic theocracy.

[Texas Red]

Let’s just hope everything doesn’t go to hell again in the middle east

[Aktungbby]

Like much of Iran’s major military hardware, the Kharg dated back to before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The warship, built in Britain and launched in 1977, entered the Iranian navy in 1984 after lengthy negotiations. That aging military equipment has seen fatal accidents as recently as Tuesday, when a malfunction in the ejector seats of an Iranian F-5 dating back to before the revolution killed two pilots while the aircraft was parked in a hangar.

In recent months, the navy launched a slightly larger commercial tanker called the Makran that it converted into serving a similar function as the Kharg.

The sinking of the Kharg marks the latest naval disaster for Iran. In 2020, during an Iranian military training exercise, a missile mistakenly struck a naval vessel near Jask, killing 19 sailors and wounding 15. Also in 2018, an Iranian navy destroyer sank in the Caspian Sea.

Considering they shot down their own airliner with a missile a while back,...I'd hate to see what mistakes they'd make with their nuclear development ambitions

[mapuc]

There are many candidate who could be behind the destruction of this Iranian vessel.

It could also be as simpel as bad or lack of maintenance behind the disaster.

vienna is correct Iran will point fingers whether someone else was behind it or if it was their own fault.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Kapitan

Built in the UK in 1977 the Kharg caught fire under suspicious circumstances and sank

I briefly recall Jimbuna had some connections to her when she was under RFA ownership (if memory serves)

https://apnews.com/article/persian-g...bc4705c6629fcd

Yeah, I worked on her when she was being built at the Swan Hunter yard just up the river from my place of abode.

She had quite an eventful early history.

Iran ordered the ship from the English shipyard Swan Hunter in October 1974 in a contract worth £40 million (equivalent to $54 million). Kharg was laid down on 27 January 1976, launched on 3 February 1977 by Gholamreza Pahlavi and named by Manijeh Pahlavi, a member of the royal family. R. J. Daniel, a Royal Corps of Naval Constructors officer, wrote in his memoirs that the ceremonial ship launching was attended by the wife of the Shah's brother, and a cleric wearing a black turban blessed the battle honours but got the name of the ship wrong in his first attempt. She ran some trials in November 1978, but delays in fitting-out postponed her commissioning by the Imperial Iranian Navy and shortly afterwards the Iranian Revolution took place. In August 1979, it was reported that the Interim Government of Iran intended to cancel the contract, and as a result Swan Hunter was looking for a new purchaser.


Kharg moored at Walker Naval Yard in 1982
She was painted in battleship grey and between September 1979 and February 1980, she undertook sea trials in secrecy. Though she was delivered to the Iranian government on 25 April 1980, the UK government refused an export license for the ship that had been wholly paid by Iran. This resulted in Kharg's some 200 crew members being trapped in the United Kingdom. Swan Hunter declared that it was uninvolved in any political implications and considered building Kharg a "straightforward commercial contract". The Guardian warned Iranians that Kharg may become subject to a "theft" similar to Reşad V, the battleship ordered by the Ottoman Navy from Vickers and seized by the British in 1914 to join the Royal Navy fleet.

Many negotiations were undertaken to release the vessel, and the British told the Iranians that as long as the American hostages were not released, Kharg would remain in the United Kingdom. However, after the hostages returned to the United States, the export license remained unissued and in August 1981 the Foreign Office declared that the ship would not be handed to Iran for a foreseeable future, citing the detention of a British national in Iran, Andrew Pyke, as the reason. Pyke was released in February 1982 and in July Iran sent three high-ranking officers to inspect the Kharg. On 10 July 1984, Kharg arrived at Tyne Shiprepairers for overhaul and she started sea trials on 4 September. Kharg left the dock for Iran on 5 October 1984, after the UK government approved her export without any armaments on the grounds that she was "not suitable for use in the war against Iraq".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRIS_Kharg

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by mapuc

There are many candidate who could be behind the destruction of this Iranian vessel.

I 'spect its the incredible Mr Limpet

[Mr Quatro]