In reply to a few points in John Konrad’s article ‘The Maritime Blockade Of Ukraine Is Working’
Our Navy simply can’t do sealift there. Russia is already attacking merchant ships in the Black Sea with mines and missiles. As American warships cannot pass the straits they could not defend the sealift ships.
An attack on an American sealift ship even if by an indiscriminate mine would demand retaliation by the American public. A tit-for-tat could trigger Article 5. You sure you want that?
The Navy, however, sent their closest hospital ship, USNS Comfort, to a shipyard last week effectively removing her from service for months.
She’s a wreck. She has to go to the yards now. Besides, those white elephant hospital ships are passé. This isn’t the 1940s.
The USNS Trenton, an unarmed fast response ship recently moved into the Aegean Sea
Christ! They moved her? That was risky with all the cracks. She’s a wreck, too. At a speed of 43 knots she wouldn’t make it to the Dardanelles never mind Bosporus. Not with a sealift weight on deck. Crap design for that metal but we keep building!