Hours ago, the USS Spruance, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, fired on and disabled the Iranian-flagged container ship M/V Touska. The Touska was en route from Port Klang, Malaysia, destined for Chabahar, Iran. The ship encountered the U.S. Navy blockade line in the Arabian Sea and ill-advisedly attempted to bull its way through. The captain probably hoped to impress his Islamic Revolution masters with his contempt for the kufar navy that, according to leftists in the West, is illegally blockading Iran. Over a six-hour period, the ship received multiple warnings to turn around and refused them all.
As my colleague Nickarama pointed out, this was not a great evolutionary decision: Iranian Cargo Ship Tries to Get Past the U.S. Blockade – Trump: It ‘Did Not Go Well for Them’ – RedState. Not only was the ship ordered to stop, but it was also under U.S. Treasury sanctions for its links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
U.S. Central Command has now released video of the warnings given to the Touska and the actual engagement.
WATCH : U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has released footage showing the interception of the motor vessel Touska in the Northern Arabian Sea by USS Spruance (DDG-111).
According to CENTCOM, the destroyer issued repeated warnings over several hours before taking action after… pic.twitter.com/AmaiZeXAHs
— Inside the conflict (@InsidConflict) April 19, 2026
The gun used is the Mark 45, a 5-inch, 62-caliber gun (that means the barrel is 62 times the bore diameter). Each shell fired weighs about 68 pounds and travels at 2,500 feet per second. Three of them, tearing through the engine room, undoubtedly cooled the captain’s jets even if the engine remained operational.
Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (Up to 2,500 Marines Are Headed to the Persian Gulf As Iranian Blockade of Hormuz Takes Center Stage – RedState) boarded the Touska and are now in control of it. Since the blockade was announced (see CENTCOM Starts the Iranian Blockade Monday – Here Are the Rules and What to Look For – RedState), the U. S. Navy has ordered 25 ships to turn around. This was the first time our Navy has been challenged, and I’m willing to bet it will be the last. Someone owns that ship, and the odds of them retrieving it or getting an insurance payout are about zero.
President Trump has ordered U.S. negotiators to fly to Islamabad Monday (US Negotiators Head Back to Islamabad, but the Iranians May Not Be There – RedState), for their part, the Iranians have said they will not be there unless President Trump removes the blockade. This looks like a fairly emphatic “No!” in response to that demand. If the Iranians persist in their demand, the war will resume by Thursday morning (Don’t Trust *And* Verify: US Amb. Waltz Says Iran Can Be Assured of 1 Thing Ahead of Any Nukes Agreement). Their other option is a massive climb-down from their high horse and an admission that they don’t have a way to enforce any of their demands.
For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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