United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution with its diplomatic and economic rivals in Mexico, particularly Great Britain and Germany, meant that foreign powers affected the way the Mexican situation played out. When U.S. agents discovered that the German merchant ship, the "Ypiranga", was carrying arms to Huerta's regime, President Wilson ordered troops to the port of Veracruz to stop the ship from docking. The U.S. did not declare war on Mexico city but the U.S. troops carried out a skirmish against Huerta's forces in Veracruz. The "Ypiranga" managed to dock at another port, which infuriated Wilson. On April 9, 1914, Mexican officials in the port of
James Dutton (Royal Marines officer) Division, 16 Air Assault Brigade along with troops from multiple other nations, including US Marines, the first time American troops had been under the operational command of a British officer since the Second World War. Royal Marines from 40 Commando under Dutton's overall command, along with United States Navy SEALs, secured oil fields on the Al-Faw Peninsula to prevent them from being burned in the first days of the ground operation, after which 40 Commando and others from 3 Commando Brigade moved up the peninsula and took the port city of Umm Qasr, where they encountered resistance into the fifth