Warships

Following hints last week and an announcement on Monday by President Donald Trump, the U.S. blockade of Iran is back on in full force. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), in its latest update, stated that two commercial vessels were redirected and one was kinetically disabled in the first 24 hours. More than 20 U.S. warships, depicted in the graphic above, are operating in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, along with hundreds of aircraft dispersed across various bases, vessels, and forward arming and refueling points in the Middle East. “The U.S. military remains vigilant and prepared to ensure full compliance,” CENTCOM said.

The mechanics of the reinstated blockade appear to mirror the first, which CENTCOM outlined in an article published on X. “CENTCOM forces will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas. The U.S. military continues to support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade.” Additional information was provided to commercial mariners in a formal notice issued by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT). “The blockade encompasses the entirety of the Iranian coastline to include but not limited to Iranian ports and oil terminals.” The blockade applies to all traffic, regardless of flag, according to the notice, but “will not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations.”

The U.S. maintains a considerable naval presence, centered around two carrier strike groups (CSG) that have been operating in the northern Arabian Sea for months. Both carriers, USS Abraham Lincoln and USS George H.W. Bush, are each escorted by up to three guided-missile destroyers, with one serving as the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Commander. An additional seven destroyers from surrounding combatant commands are also independently deployed, as well as one guided-missile cruiser, USS Princeton, a littoral combat ship, USS Tulsa, and an expeditionary sea base (ESB), USS Miguel Keith. The independent destroyers serve multiple missions and are often attached and operate with other major naval assets, including the Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG) and ESBs.

Two ARGs with Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU) embarked are also underway in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. Amphibious assault ship USS Boxer, dock landing ship USS Comstock, and amphibious transport dock USS Portland sailed into U.S. 5th Fleet in early July. The Tripoli ARG, which had been operating in the CENTCOM area of responsibility (AOR) since March, moved deeper into the Indian Ocean and entered the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) AOR. The group is composed of USS Tripoli, USS New Orleans, and USS Rushmore.

The U.S. employed several different methods to kinetically disable Iranian-linked commercial vessels that failed to comply during the first blockade. In April, USS Spruance fired shots from her 5-inch Mk 45 gun into the engine room of the Iranian cargo ship M/V Touska. The following month, an F/A-18 Super Hornet launched from USS Abraham Lincoln disabled M/T Hasna by opening fire on its rudder with a 20mm cannon. U.S. aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of M/T Jalveer in June as she attempted to transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman.

“Enforcement actions include disabling and destructive fires upon vessels who do not demonstrate immediate compliance with blockading/boarding forces,” NAVCENT warned in the notice to mariners. On July 15, U.S. aircraft fired Hellfire missiles into the smokestack of M/T Belma, an unladen Curacao-flagged oil tanker in international waters attempting to sail toward Kharg Island, according to CENTCOM.

Additional Navy ships are operating in adjoining regions, and not pictured in the graphic, according to ship spotters, public AIS, and satellite imagery. At least one destroyer, USS Gonzalez, is operating in the Red Sea under U.S. 5th Fleet. Further north, in the Mediterranean Sea, four destroyers are deployed. Three of the four, USS Roosevelt, USS Arleigh Burke, and USS Paul Ignatius, are forward deployed out of Rota, Spain, and USS Thomas Hudner is homeported in Mayport, Florida.

The U.S. submarine force is not shown in the graphic but elements of it are present in the CENTCOM theater. At least two fast-attack submarines are operating with the CSGs, and potentially more are on independent deployments and protecting assets like the ARG. A guided-missile submarine, which can be loaded with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and Navy SEALs, is also often prowling the region, too.

Blockade 1.0 was lifted when the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by both parties on June 17, but the blockading forces never left the region, and U.S. naval force posture has been unchanged since. At this point, however, the MOU is worth little more than the paper it was written on, as both sides have effectively declared it dead.

Note: Positions are general approximations.

Contact the author: ian.ellis-jones@teamrecurrent.io

Here’s TWZ’s weekly carrier tracker monitoring America’s flattop fleet, including deployed Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) and Amphibious Ready Groups (ARGs), using publicly available open-source information. Check out last week’s map here.

More than 20 U.S. Navy warships, two carrier strike groups among them, are enforcing the blockade of Iran in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR). To date, CENTCOM has redirected 61 commercial vessels linked to Iran and disabled at least four attempting to run the blockade.

The Navy released new images last week of both CSGs supporting the blockade. The USS George H.W. Bush was conducting flight operations in the Arabian Sea on May 6, and recently spotted with 25 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, two E-2D Hawkeyes, and three MH-60 Seahawks of Carrier Air Wing 7 visible on the flight deck. Unlike the Abraham Lincoln CSG, also operating in the AOR, George H.W. Bush is not equipped with 5th-generation carrier-based F-35Cs.

The Gerald R. Ford CSG transited the Strait of Gibraltar westbound and is steaming toward Norfolk. The strike group has been deployed for 322 days, as of May 11, and is expected to return home in the coming weeks. The CSG departed Norfolk in June 2025 and was initially supposed to return in January, but its deployment was extended twice to support combat operations in the Caribbean and the Middle East.

Three carriers are now underway training in preparation for future deployments. The Dwight D. Eisenhower CSG, which recently completed a 15-month availability, is working up off the east coast with AIS turned on. The George Washington CSG got underway on May 10, according to ship spotters, leaving port in Yokosuka, Japan, escorted by guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls. The Theodore Roosevelt CSG is “conducting advanced training to bolster strike group readiness and capability” in the Pacific Ocean.

USS Nimitz is anchored off Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for a five-day liberty port call. Nimitz is circumnavigating South America en route to her new homeport in Norfolk. Originally slated to be decommissioned this year, her service life was recently extended into 2027.

USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and USNS Patuxent (T-AO-201) Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler along with a Brazilian attack submarine in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – May 7, 2026 SRC: X-@dmdst12 pic.twitter.com/Qch7agZEDJ

— WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) May 7, 2026

Another Marine Air-Ground Task Force is set to arrive in CENTCOM in the near-term. While the Boxer ARG has not been confirmed in CENTCOM as of publication, an arrival announcement could come as soon as next week. The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is comprised of a command element, a Ground Combat Element, Battalion Landing Team 3/5, an Aviation Combat Element with two squadrons, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced) and Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 122, and a logistics combat element. The approximately 5,000 Marines and Sailors aboard Boxer ARG will join the Tripoli ARG, already on station in the Middle East, and significantly enhance the United States’ expeditionary capabilities in the region.

Note: Positions are general approximations. Non-deployed LHA/LHD amphibious warships are not shown.

Contact the author: ian.ellis-jones@teamrecurrent.io

May 7 (UPI) — U.S. Central Command said Thursday that American forces struck Iranian military sites responsible for “unprovoked” missile, drone and boat attacks on U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

“U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

CENTCOM said Iran had targeted the USS Truxtun, the USS Rafael Peralta and the USS Mason.

“No assets were struck,” it said.

The U.S. strikes targeted the Bandar Abbas and Qeshm ports near the strait, CBS News and CNN reported, each citing unnamed U.S. officials.

The attacked Iranian facilities included “missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes,” according to CENTCOM.

After the U.S. vessels had transited the strait, President Donald Trump promptly took to social media to post a warning to Iran.

“Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down,” he wrote. “Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave! A normal Country would have allowed these Destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a Normal country. They are led by LUNATICS.”

Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said in a statement carried by Iranian state-owned outlet Press TV that it attacked the U.S. warships in response to an alleged U.S. cease-fire violation as well as a U.S. attack on an Iranian tanker near the Iranian city of Jask.

Iranian forces caused “significant damage” to the U.S. warships, it said.

A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters also said the Iranian strikes were in response to the “aggressive, terrorist and outlaw” U.S. military, Press TV reported.

The attacks come after Trump earlier this week called off Project Freedom, a U.S. military operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, as Washington and Tehran try to reach an agreement to end the war.

Despite the attacks, Trump told reporters that the fragile cease-fire that halted the war that began in late February was still intact.

“They trifled with us today. We blew them away,” Trump told reporters Thursday evening.

“If there’s no cease-fire, you’re not going to have to know. You’re just going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran.”