Iran’s largest warship catches fire and sinks

[Kapitan]

Built in the UK in 1977 the Kharg caught fire under suspicious circumstances and sank

I briefly recall Jimbuna had some connections to her when she was under RFA ownership (if memory serves)

https://apnews.com/article/persian-g...bc4705c6629fcd

[Skybird]

Was it a real ship or just another model? Just asking...

[Kapitan]

She is a real ship ex British RFA OL class oiler

[Skybird]

Irony.

[vienna]

Starting a betting pool: how long before Iran accuses Israel or the US of the loss...?...




<O>

[Rockstar]

Their other oiler is supposedly on the way to Venezuela. Wonder if it continues or is recalled.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Kapitan

Built in the UK in 1977 the Kharg caught fire under suspicious circumstances and sank

I briefly recall Jimbuna had some connections to her when she was under RFA ownership (if memory serves)

https://apnews.com/article/persian-g...bc4705c6629fcd

Yeah, I worked on her when she was being built at the Swan Hunter yard just up the river from my place of abode.

She had quite an eventful early history.

Iran ordered the ship from the English shipyard Swan Hunter in October 1974 in a contract worth £40 million (equivalent to $54 million). Kharg was laid down on 27 January 1976, launched on 3 February 1977 by Gholamreza Pahlavi and named by Manijeh Pahlavi, a member of the royal family. R. J. Daniel, a Royal Corps of Naval Constructors officer, wrote in his memoirs that the ceremonial ship launching was attended by the wife of the Shah's brother, and a cleric wearing a black turban blessed the battle honours but got the name of the ship wrong in his first attempt. She ran some trials in November 1978, but delays in fitting-out postponed her commissioning by the Imperial Iranian Navy and shortly afterwards the Iranian Revolution took place. In August 1979, it was reported that the Interim Government of Iran intended to cancel the contract, and as a result Swan Hunter was looking for a new purchaser.


Kharg moored at Walker Naval Yard in 1982
She was painted in battleship grey and between September 1979 and February 1980, she undertook sea trials in secrecy. Though she was delivered to the Iranian government on 25 April 1980, the UK government refused an export license for the ship that had been wholly paid by Iran. This resulted in Kharg's some 200 crew members being trapped in the United Kingdom. Swan Hunter declared that it was uninvolved in any political implications and considered building Kharg a "straightforward commercial contract". The Guardian warned Iranians that Kharg may become subject to a "theft" similar to Reşad V, the battleship ordered by the Ottoman Navy from Vickers and seized by the British in 1914 to join the Royal Navy fleet.

Many negotiations were undertaken to release the vessel, and the British told the Iranians that as long as the American hostages were not released, Kharg would remain in the United Kingdom. However, after the hostages returned to the United States, the export license remained unissued and in August 1981 the Foreign Office declared that the ship would not be handed to Iran for a foreseeable future, citing the detention of a British national in Iran, Andrew Pyke, as the reason. Pyke was released in February 1982 and in July Iran sent three high-ranking officers to inspect the Kharg. On 10 July 1984, Kharg arrived at Tyne Shiprepairers for overhaul and she started sea trials on 4 September. Kharg left the dock for Iran on 5 October 1984, after the UK government approved her export without any armaments on the grounds that she was "not suitable for use in the war against Iraq".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRIS_Kharg