Three Iranian vessels harass a US Navy's Cyclone-class patrol ship in the straight of Ormuz


According to information published by the U.S. DoD on June 20, 2022, three fast attack crafts from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) interacted in an unsafe and unprofessional manner as U.S. Navy ships transited the Strait of Hormuz.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) Fast Attack Craft near USS Sirocco (Picture source: DVIDS)


Patrol coastal ship USS Sirocco (PC 6) and expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Choctaw County (T-EPF 2) were conducting a routine transit in international waters when three Iranian fast inshore attack craft approached.

One of the IRGCN vessels approached Sirocco head-on at a dangerously high speed and only altered course after the U.S. patrol coastal ship issued audible warning signals to avoid a collision.

The Iranian vessel also came within 50 yards of the U.S. Navy ship during the interaction, and Sirocco responded by deploying a warning flare.

The full interaction among all vessels lasted one hour and ended when the IRGCN craft departed the area. U.S. Navy ships continued their transit without further incident.

About USS Sirocco

USS Sirocco (PC-6) is the sixth Cyclone-class patrol ship of the U.S. Navy. Sirocco was laid down on 20 June 1992 by Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana, and launched on 29 May 1993.

She was commissioned by the Navy on 11 June 1994. As of 2016, the ship was stationed in Bahrain performing coastal patrol and interdiction surveillance in the region.

The Cyclone-class patrol ships are a class of US Navy coastal patrol boats consisting of some 14 ships. These vessels weigh around 328.5 long tons and have a length of 179 feet, a beam of 25 feet, and a draft of 7.5 feet.

Their maximum speed is placed at 35 knots and they have a range of between 2,000 to 2,500 nautical miles. Cyclone-class patrol vessels are armed with two 25mm autocannons and several high-powered machine guns.