The Alliance Fairfax, a huge black-and-white car-carrying ship that had been stuck in the Persian Gulf for more than two months, was finally making its way.
“You are all good to go,” a U.S. military officer said over the radio on Monday as the ship passed through the Strait of Hormuz and rounded the peninsula at the northern tip of Oman. “safe travels.”
Shortly thereafter, Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones On commercial ships, in the US Navy – and in one of America’s allies, the United Arab Emirates, where an oil transit hub was set on fire. US helicopters sank Iranian fastboats, and Iranian drones hit a civilian ship.
The intervening hours included the most serious escalation in fighting since President Trump announced a ceasefire in April.
Then, almost as quickly as it began, Trump directed American operation Guiding ships to stop in the straits. It is known that only two ships had moved forward when the President halted operations on Tuesday, about 36 hours after the project was launched. Ship traffic, which was already slightly reduced, came to a halt again.
The short-term exercise, known as Project Freedom, exposed Trump’s limitations ability to maneuver In the area. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait withdrew permission for the US military to use mission-critical bases and airspace, fearing escalating tensions and as Washington downplayed Iran’s attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Phone conversation between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman restoration of permissionAccording to Saudi and US officials.
Pentagon officials said they could resume operations as soon as this weekend. The White House denied that any restrictions or prohibitions were ever imposed on American aircraft.
Military analysts said the mission showed that even small tactical successes can turn into broader strategic challenges. US forces moved some ships away, but tensions rose with Iran tightening its grip on the world’s most vital energy shipping lanes.
The program’s origins go back to the early weeks of the US-Israeli bombing campaign, when Trump first suggested that the Navy would escort ships through the strait “when the time comes.”
The US military in April began quietly laying the groundwork for an operation to roll back Iranian influence across the strait, uncrewed maritime drone Scanning mines in the area to eventually help establish new mines. safe shipping lanes According to defense officials, on the southern side of the strait. The US also sent a pair of destroyers early in mid-April.
Providing a military shield for civilian vessels could increase pressure on Tehran in negotiations, while also rolling back its efforts to institutionalize its hold on the strait, including imposing tolls.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Kane, and the head of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, briefed the White House on May 1 about several military options, including guiding ships through the strait.
Trump announced the impending mission in a social-media post on May 3, calling the operation a “humanitarian gesture” and an effort to get stranded personnel out of the Gulf, while warning Iran not to interfere.
According to US officials, Trump had set out a defensive mission that included guided-missile destroyers and more than a hundred aircraft to provide cover. Sending more ships would put more service members at risk while also taking resources away from the Navy’s other key mission in the region: the blockade of Iranian ports, which was designed to cut the Iranian regime off from oil revenues.
In contrast, an American operation that took ships during the so-called tanker war with iran American warships were deployed in a series of “lily pads” in the Persian Gulf during the 1980s, as well as patrolling the Strait of Hormuz and providing air support.
“They were essentially hoping to make things work on the cheap by taking these warships out and showing that there is a clear channel,” said Brian Clark, a former Pentagon official who focuses on naval operations and now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. “I think it became clear very quickly that it wasn’t safe enough.”
Sailors were issued a brief notice instructing them to use a new safe corridor that was closer to Oman’s coastline on the southern side of the strait, effectively dividing the strait into two competing shipping lanes.
In April Iran directed ships to use a new corridor along its coastline, making a hairpin turn on the northern side of the route. The navy warned that the normal channel used before the war is now unsafe because of mines left by Iran.
The companies involved in the initial operation were racing to specifications beyond the one-page notice issued by the Navy. Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk was offered a window of several hours to transfer to US-flagged car carrier Alliance Fairfax, according to company officials.
The operation will utilize the new “Enhanced Security Zone” through Omani waters. The lane was about 500 feet wide, wide enough for a supertanker to pass. This meant that only one ship could go out at a time.
Maersk’s history of carrying troops and weapons for the U.S. military dates back to the Vietnam War, and Maersk officials said the company felt safe when told its ships were under the protection of U.S. naval forces.
When the time came, the US military made radio broadcasts, guiding the ship on its journey.
The US deployed a large force in the air, including Apache and Sea Hawk helicopters, which were vital tools to counter the threat of Iran’s “mosquito fleet” of small, fast attack boats. Admiral Cooper told reporters on Monday that in the wider area, the US also used drones and had multiple fighter aircraft and other warships supporting the operation.
The plan, military officials and analysts said, was for the destroyers to provide an antimissile umbrella while U.S. helicopters would protect against Iranian attack boats.
“Please maintain your course, no turning. You are in no danger of being attacked,” an officer from the American warship radioed Alliance Fairfax, according to a recording reviewed by the Journal. An Alliance Fairfax official responded, “Yes, we are slowing down and getting our way.”
The officer said, “Let us know when we can make our way out. Can’t wait any longer to get out of here.”
It took about three hours for the boat to clear the strait.
The Iranians then sent a squadron of small attack boats. The transit time across the 20-mile-wide strait gave American helicopters time to respond.
“When small boats came out, their natural enemy is helicopters,” said Steven Wills, a former active-duty Navy officer and now a naval aide at the Center for Maritime Strategy in Washington.
Although the US launched a successful defense of the ships involved in this initiative, Iran launched a wide-ranging retaliation in the Gulf that soon threatened to push the region back into a shooting war.
This included ships that were not involved in Project Freedom. Around noon, conversations in Chinese began over the marine VHF radio. “We are a Chinese ship. We were attacked by a missile at 26°01.1, 55°48.2. The deck is on fire,” he said, according to nearby crew members and recordings reviewed by the Journal.
“Brother, what is your location? Are you tanker or cargo?” an unidentified Chinese crew member asked in Chinese over the radio.
Immediately, other sailors on the channel learned that the struck ship was the JV Innovation, a Chinese oil tanker. It was loaded with 38 kilotonnes of petrochemical products from Jubail, Saudi Arabia, according to financial-data provider LSEG.
“We are still extinguishing the fire on deck, but there are no flames visible now,” the captain said over the marine VHF radio.
Another ship, the South Korean-owned HMM Namu, was hit by an explosive late Monday. The third ship, a containership called San Antonio owned by French company CMA CGM, was attacked a day later, injuring the crew and damaging the ship, the company said.
On Tuesday, a second US-flagged ship, CS Anthem, a product tanker operated by Crowley Maritime, transited the strait using the US Navy corridor. This would be the last known ship to make the crossing.
On the morning of May 6, Trump said on social media that Project Freedom had been put on hold, citing progress in negotiations with Iran and a request from Pakistan, which is mediating talks with Iran.
Write to Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.comCostas in Paris costas.paris@wsj.comShelby Holiday At shelby.holliday@wsj.com And on Rebecca Feng rebecca.feng@wsj.com
