US Navy Fires on Ship in Persian Gulf, One Dead

[WestVirginiaRebel]

ABC News:

An American Navy ship fired on a boat in the Persian Gulf today, killing one person and injuring three others aboard the craft, U.S. naval officials told ABC News.

Lt. Greg Raelson, a spokesperson for the Navy's 5th Fleet, which is based in nearby Bahrain, said that a security team aboard the oil supply ship U.S.N.S. Rappahannock fired a .50 caliber machine gun at a "small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly approached the U.S. ship" off the coast of Jebel Ali, a city approximately 30 miles from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The Navy has launched a joint investigation with the UAE into the incident as details continue to emerge. A defense official described the offending vessel was a white pleasure craft, but two UAE officials told ABC News it was a fishing boat with four Indians and two Emiratis on board. The UAE's official news agency identified an Indian fisherman as the man who was killed.

There doesn't appear to be any indication the incident was terror-related, one of the UAE officials said.

A Navy official said it's not uncommon for Iranian speed craft to harass U.S. ships in the region, but in this case the boat wasn't Iranian.

"I can't emphasize enough that this has nothing to do with Iran," the official said.

Spc. Seaman Erin Devenberg/U.S. NavyThe USNS Rappahannock sails alongside the... View Full Size Spc. Seaman Erin Devenberg/U.S. NavyThe USNS Rappahannock sails alongside the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington before conducting a replenishment at sea in this Oct. 4, 2011 photo.

Raelson said the small motor vessel that was hit by gunfire from the Rappahannock was "approaching at a high rate of speed" and "on a deliberate approach."

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Somebody's playing a dangerous game...