There have been several ships that were attacked in this area. None were sunk, but the damage was considerable. The attacks involved placing explosive charges on the hulls of the vessels. The charges could have come from frogmen, or from miniature submarines. Many commentators think the perpetrator was Iran. The Iranians may be responding to American economic sanctions by showing they can carry out their threat that if the sanctions aren’t removed, no ships will pass through the Straits of Hormuz. The Iranians. of course, deny any involvement.
It is worthwhile to listen to the words of the diplomats involved. There seems to be a reluctance to actually condemn Iran. Some say there is no proof to show who is actually responsible. Without a “smoking gun” it looks like there will be no military action taken against Iran.
With all this happening it is hard for me not to recall a previous historical example of the use of clandestine submarines to make a de facto blockade. It took place in 1936-7 when Italian submarines (and even a few German U-boats) were sent to sink ships carrying supplies to the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War. The identity of the submarines was not known at the time. The effect of the attacks was to strengthen the forces of General Franco, the ultimate victor. But the response was interesting. Everyone wanted to contain the war and avoid it spreading outside the Iberian peninsula. The countries involved dispatched anti-submarine forces to the area. Their rules for engaging “pirate submarines” were set by an international conference at Nyon. Despite the fact that many individuals knew the Italians were involved, the fiction of the submarines belonging to a unknown party was maintained. Italy even participated.
The conference, did, in the end, put an end to the clandestine attacks. It was probably because the conference declarations were backed up with a solid deployment of additional destroyers from the British and French navies rather than the diplomatic pressure created by coverage of the event and the sinkings surrounding it.
Wetherhorn 