Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 14/04/20267/ But a strange amnesiac effect surrounds the threat of mines. No weapon has sunk more ships since World War II. Yet U.S. minehunting forces are perennially underfunded. 100
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 14/04/20266/ The Roberts' story is now a touchstone of Navy schoolhouses, where instructors exhort officers and enlisted sailors to master the grueling business of damage control. 100
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 14/04/20265/ Mines damaged six more vessels that year. Then the threat appeared to recede—until April 14, 1988, when the Roberts ran into a newly laid string of them. 100
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 14/04/20263/ The first convoy began with U.S. warships escorting the supertanker Bridgeton. Then the giant ship hit a mine. Thanks to her double hull, the tanker sailed on—with the thin-skinned Navy ships huddled in her wake. 100
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 14/04/20262/ The attack came nearly a year after Iranian minelayers first took U.S. planners by surprise. In 1987, Washington began escorting reflagged Kuwaiti tankers through the Persian Gulf. The convoy effort was dubbed Operation Earnest Will. 100
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 14/04/2026🧵1/ Thirty-eight years ago today, an Iranian mine tore a hole in the hull of the USS Samuel B. Roberts. The blast broke the frigate's keel, flooded its engineroom, and lit fires on several decks. Only the well-trained crew saved it. 110
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 14/04/2025On this day in 1988, the USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian naval mine in the wartorn Persian Gulf. The explosion blew a hole in the hull and broke the ship’s keel. Over the next five hours, the ship’s crew fought fire and flood to save their ship. 110
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 10/04/2025And for good measure, the "Reforming Foreign Defense Sales" EO is listed twice on the Executive Orders page. 010
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 10/04/20254) The URL for the "Reducing Competitive Regulatory Barriers" EO points to the "Reforming Foreign Defense Sales" EO. 110
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 10/04/20253) The URL for the "Reforming Foreign Defense Sales" EO points to the "Reducing Competitive Regulatory Barriers" EO. 110
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 10/04/20252) The URL for the "Modernizing Defense Acquisitions" EO points to the Susman Godfrey EO. 110
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 10/04/20251) The URL for the EO punishing the Susman Godfrey law firm points to the EO for "Restoring America's Maritime Dominance." 110
Bradley Peniston @navybook.bsky.social · 10/04/2025The White House released seven executive orders today. In its rush, someone mixed up several of the URLs. A thread: 220