LEWIS B PULLER

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Two Navy Seals lost during raid of weapon carrying dhow

The 10-day search to rescue two Navy SEALs lost in the Arabian Sea during a mission to board a ship and confiscate Iranian-made weapons has been ended and the sailors are now considered deceased, the U.S. military said on Jan 21, 2024. The Seals approached the dhow in small special operations combat boats. At 8 p.m., as they were boarding the boat in high seas with 8ft swells, the Navy Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram began climbing the ladder onto the boat, but he slipped, falling into a gap the waves had created between the vessel and the SEALs’ combatant craft. As he went under, Navy Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers jumped into the gap to try to save him. But weighed down by their body armor, weapons and heavy equipment, the two SEALs plunged into the depths of the Arabian Sea and died. Ships and aircraft from the U.S., Japan and Spain continuously searched more than 21,000 square miles, with assistance from the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command, University of San Diego — Scripts Institute of Oceanography and the Office of Naval Research. The raid on Jan 11 targeted an unflagged ship carrying illicit Iranian-made weapons to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Officials have said that as the team was boarding the ship, one of the SEALs went under in the heavy seas, and a teammate went in to try and save him. The commandos had launched from the USS 'Lewis B. Puller' and were backed by drones and helicopters. They loaded onto small special operations combat craft driven by naval special warfare crew to get to the boat. In the raid, they seized an array of Iranian-made weaponry, including cruise and ballistic missile components such as propulsion and guidance devices and warheads, as well as air defense parts. It marked the latest seizure by the U.S. Navy and its allies of weapon shipments bound for the rebels, who have launched a series of attacks now threatening global trade in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The seized missile components included types likely used in those attacks. The U.S. Navy ultimately sunk the ship carrying the weapons after deeming it unsafe. The ship’s 14 crew were detained. Report with photo: https://torontosun.com/news/world/military-ends-search-for-navy-seals-lost-in-raid-on-ship-with-iranian-weapons

U.S. Navy seized 50 tons of ammunition in the Gulf of Oman

The 'Lewis B. Puller' intercepted a fishing trawler smuggling more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses, and propellants for rockets in the Gulf of Oman along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen. Forces operating from the evessel carried out the interdiction, marking U.S. 5th Fleet's second weapons seizure in a month, it was announced on Dec 3, 2022. They found more than one million rounds of 7.62mm ammunition; 25,000 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition; nearly 7,000 proximity fuses for rockets; and over 2,100 kilos of propellant used to launch rocket-propelled grenades. Report with photos: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/u-s-navy-seizes-50-tons-of-ammunition-in-the-gulf-of-oman

NASSCO gives Navy 'pier at sea' - USNS Lewis B. Puller delivered

The Navy on Friday, June 12, took delivery of one of the most sophisticated logistics ships ever developed, a so-called “pier at sea” built at the General Dynamics-NASSCO shipyard in Barrio Logan. The 785-foot USNS Lewis B. Puller is the third Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ship built at NASSCO. All three of the vessels can be used to transport troops, vehicles and equipment to and from shore. But the Puller is capable of doing far more. The tanker-like ship was designed with a flight deck that can accommodate four helicopters, and it will be upgraded to handle MV-22 Ospreys, a tilt-rotor aircraft primarily used to transport Marines.The ship -- which cost at least $450 million -- also added more space for fuel and equipment, repairs, and accommodations for 250 personnel.