Britain's navy prepares to clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz while waiting for a peace deal

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 8:04 PM EDT, May 23, 2026


ABOARD THE RFA LYME BAY (AP) — Aboard the RFA Lyme Bay docked off the coast of Gibraltar, hundreds of British sailors are waiting to be deployed for a mine-clearing mission to the Strait of Hormuz that is still in doubt.

U.S. President Donald Trump has lashed out at allies for not doing more to support the United States’ war effort in Iran, whose chokehold on the strait has crippled international shipping and sent energy prices soaring. In March, Trump told NATO allies to “go get your own oil” and secure the strait themselves.

On the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, the U.K.’s Royal Navy is preparing to do that — but only once a peace agreement is reached. Trump said Saturday that a deal with Iran has been “largely negotiated” after calls with Israel and other allies in the region, but it still needs finalizing.

Britain’s Armed Forces Minister Al Carns took a small group of reporters to visit the RFA Lyme Bay as it prepares for a possible international operation, led by the U.K. and France, to secure the strait. As Carns spoke, the amphibious landing vessel, docked at the gateway to the Mediterranean, was being loaded with ammunition and mine-hunting sea drones equipped with sonar.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-britain-navy-hormuz-mines-9e79d2fef14886d36881883f64b45bca

[Lovie777]

1. That doesn't sounds right..........................

there is so much misinformation out there.

[littlemissmartypants]

2. Especially when there is a moronic psychopath in charge of the world's largest military dicking everyone around.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Starter had announced that the UK would not directly help until

AFTER the war "was over".

They have already been involved in a secondary role since the beginning.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143628718
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143635873
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143647855

and-

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143648891 (Sun Apr 12, 2026, 04:57 PM)

The UK has discussed deploying autonomous mine-hunting drones in the strait if a viable plan emerges in conjunction with other allies to reopen it, with Starmer previously saying those systems were “in the region.” However, that is a separate proposal to Trump’s threat to blockade Hormuz.

[gab13by13]

3. The US doesn't have any mine sweeper ships,

I believe they were decommissioned. Imagine that.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. They decommissioned *half and replaced with newer tech ones

The US Navy decommissioned Middle East minesweepers last year. Here’s what they did.

By Riley Ceder Thursday, Mar 12, 2026


The U.S. Navy decommissioned half of its Avenger-class mine countermeasure ships last year and began replacing them with littoral combat ships that possess anti-mine capabilities.

(snip)

“The [littoral combat ship] MCM mission package is a sophisticated suite of manned and unmanned systems designed to locate, identify, and neutralize sea mines, at a safer distance from minefields than the Avenger-class MCMs,” a Navy official told Military Times on the condition of anonymity.

Independence-class littoral combat ships equipped with the mine countermeasures mission package began arriving in the U.S. Fifth Fleet last year to replace the decommissioned minesweepers in Bahrain.

The USS Canberra was the first LCS with the MCM package to arrive in the Middle East on May 22 (Ed. 2025). The USS Santa Barbara and USS Tulsa, two other littoral combat ships with the MCM package, were also stationed in the U.S. Fifth Fleet as of Sept. 25, 2025, with a yet-to-be-named fourth LCS on its way, according to USNI News.

[NickB79]

7. The Tulsa and Santa Barbara are in Asia now

https://www.twz.com/sea/u-s-navy-minesweepers-stationed-in-middle-east-are-now-in-singapore

We have a single mine sweeper in the Middle East.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. But my response was to this -

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3669615

gab13by13 (32,808 posts)
3. The US doesn't have any mine sweeper ships,. Sun May 24, 2026, 07:40 AM

I believe they were decommissioned. Imagine that.

[Irish_Dem]

4. Trump would bomb their ships just for the fun of it.

The British Navy is being very foolish.