The Tanker War: How history is repeating itself on the Strait of Hormuz

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/22/middleeast/iran-war-history-tanker-wars-intl-hnk-ml

As President Donald Trump looks at ordering US Navy ships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, for naval analysts and historians, there’s a distinct feeling of “been there, done that.”

Almost 40 years ago, US Navy warships were facing the same enemy they’d be facing now, the navy and the sea forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The so-called Tanker War of the late 1980s saw some of the same weapons and problems a US escort force would face today, and provides lessons on how, in war, things can go wrong quickly in unexpected ways – with deadly consequences.