US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) transferred the three ships to Egyptian Navy ownership on 21 March at a formal ceremony in Alexandria, Egypt.
The US Navy turned over former patrol coastal ships USS Hurricane (PC 3), USS Sirocco (PC 6), and USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) after sailing from Bahrain to Egypt in a month-long journey around the Arabian Peninsula, January through February.
The transfer represents the culmination of weeks of preparation, training, and professional exchanges between Egyptian and US sailors, NAVCENT said in a statement.
“The Egypt-US maritime partnership has been a fundamental pillar of our bilateral defence cooperation for decades,” said Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, NAVCENT commander, US 5th Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces.
“This transfer is yet another major milestone in our strong relationship that will enhance regional maritime security for years to come,” he added
During the 4,000-mile transit to Alexandria, US, and Egyptian crewmembers worked together navigating the three ships. After their arrival on 12 February lessons were shared on engineering, search and rescue, damage control, and weapons handling.
“This transfer process was an incredible opportunity for our crews. It enabled us to strengthen our bilateral ties while enhancing our interoperability with a highly capable regional maritime partner,” said Captain Anthony Webber, commander of Task Force 55, which oversees operations for the US 5th Fleet’s surface forces.
In their service with the US Navy, two of the patrol craft have been involved in operations against Iranian Navy ships during their deployment in the Arabian Gulf.
On 25 July 2017, Thunderbolt fired warning shots at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy vessel. According to US officials, the IRGCN boat was coming in at a high rate of speed and did not respond to any signals or calls leading to the USS Thunderbolt firing warning shots.
On 19 June 2022, the USS Sirocco was involved in a confrontation with patrol craft of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in the Strait of Hormuz. The US Navy claimed that the Iranian vessels approached Sirocco at “unsafe and unprofessional” speeds and “aggressively” sailed to within 50 yards of it.
Sirocco issued warnings over her loudspeaker system and fired a warning flare, and the Iranian vessels departed within an hour without further interactions.
On 30 August 2022, Thunderbolt intercepted IRGC Navy ship Shahid Baziar which attempted to tow away a deployed US Navy Saildrone Explorer-type unmanned surface vehicle.
The Egyptian Navy currently commands Combined Task Force 153, one of four multinational task forces organized under the US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). The task force coordinates multinational maritime security efforts in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and the Gulf of Aden.
The CMF, headquartered in Bahrain, includes forces operating in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean, and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal, and Bab al-Mandeb.