An Iranian barge modified to resemble an American aircraft carrier sank near the Strait of Hormuz.
 The “carrier,” built to take abuse in propaganda videos made by the 
Iranian regime, unexpectedly turned on its side near the Iranian port 
city of Bandar Abbas. The fake carrier is now a hazard for local 
shipping, and experts believe it will need to be towed away and 
salvaged.
The unnamed barge was recently a star
 in Iran’s “Great Prophet 14” exercises. The annual air and naval 
exercises are used to showcase all the ways Iran believes it can stand 
up to American military power. In last month’s exercises, Iranian forces
 launched an anti-ship missile at the barge, and commandos fast-roped 
onto the deck of the make-believe ship. 6park.com
The barge, which Iran previously attacked in 2015 (and subsequently 
repaired), apparently sustained enough damage during that exercise to 
cause it to sink. The image below was taken by an PLEIADES Earth-imaging
 satellite as it passed over the Persian Gulf region. 6park.com
The barge sank in 45 feet of water and now, as Forbes points out,
 is proving a more formidable opponent as when it was afloat. It's 
currently near Bandar Abbas, a major Iranian port responsible for 
shipping the country’s oil overseas and also one of the Islamic Republic
 of Iran Navy’s largest naval bases. 6park.com

This could very well create tension between the 
Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy, the paramilitary force that 
hammered the fake carrier during the Great Prophet Exercises, and the 
more traditional Iranian Navy. 
The barge is the second Iranian “warship” to sink in the area in the past three months. Back in May, an anti-ship missile accidentally targeted an Iranian Navy vessel, sinking it. The friendly fire incident killed 19 sailors and injured another 15.  6park.com
						
						
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