Navy ships escorting U.S.-flagged merchants in strait

[nitpicker]

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2015/04/30/navy-persian-gulf-iran-cargo-ships-roosevelt-strike-group/26646393/

Navy ships escorting U.S.-flagged merchants in strait
By Meghann Myers, Staff writer 6:24 p.m. EDT April 30, 2015

Navy ships in the Persian Gulf are accompanying U.S.-flagged merchant vessels through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran's recent seizure of one cargo ship and its harassment of another in international waters, a defense official has confirmed to Navy Times.
(snip)

The official was unable to elaborate on tasking for the ships, which include:
•Coastal patrol ships Whirlwind, Monsoon, Typhoon, Thunderbolt and Firebolt.
•The minesweeper Devastator.
•The destroyers Milius, Farragut, Winston S. Churchill and Paul Hamilton.
•The cruiser Normandy.
•The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.

The move, first reported by Defense One, comes as tensions rise in the region, with news that Iranian navy ships harassed one U.S.-flagged shipping vessel in international waters and later boarded a Marshall Islands cargo ship, a country under U.S. protection.
(snip)

[mwrguy]

1. The 1980s Are Now Calling to Ask for Their Foreign Policy Back