Amid questioning surrounding attacks by Yemen’s armed Houthi group, the US aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived in Souda Bay, Greece, on Tuesday, heading home after eight months in the Red Sea.
“Time to bring them home,” a US official told the United States Naval Institute News. The official order by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to bring the aircraft carrier back to the US, due to whatever reasons, reignited speculation of its likely damage from Houthi rocket or drone attacks.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree told Al Masirah television channel on Saturday: “The missile forces of our armed forces carried out a targeting operation against the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in the northern Red Sea with a number of ballistic and cruise missiles, and the operation achieved its objectives successfully.”
Hours after the claim, a statement issued by the US Central Command said, “Separately, Houthis launched three anti-ship ballistic missiles from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen into the Gulf of Aden. There were no injuries or significant damage reported by the US coalition, or merchant vessels.”
But the US statement added, “Recent claims about a successful attack by Houthi forces on the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower are categorically false.”
The US-led campaign against Houthis, overshadowed by the conflict in the Gaza Strip, has turned into the most intense running sea battle the US Navy has faced since World War II, some officials and naval experts told The Associated Press.
The US Department of Defense also issued a statement on June 22, noting the “Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group departed the US Central Command area of responsibility today and will remain briefly in the US European Command area of responsibility before returning home after more than seven months deployed in support of US regional deterrence and force protection efforts”.
Retaliatory strike
Earlier, the Houthis said that they had successfully attacked the US aircraft carrier in a retaliatory strike.
Saree first announced the attack on the aircraft carrier on May 31, in retaliation against the killings of at least 16 people in military strikes by the US and the United Kingdom on the Hodeidah Province in Yemen. The figure was the highest publicly acknowledged death toll from multiple rounds of strikes, according to an Al Jazeera report.
“Within the framework of reacting to the US-UK aggression, Yemen’s rocket and naval forces conducted a joint operation, attacking the US aircraft carrier Eisenhower in the Red Sea,” Saree told the Al Masirah TV channel.
However, a US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said in response that the aircraft carrier was fine.
The US has a track record of minimizing or obscuring instances of attacks on its military forces in the Middle East.
Song Xiaojun, a special commentator from CCTV, noted the Houthis’ actions are indeed a significant source of concern for the US, reflecting the challenges the US will face in future competition with other countries.
Some net users shared their opinions that Houthis did give a blow to the aircraft carrier. A platform user named “matutinal procyonlotor” posted on X that: “Despite fierce denials, I think a Houthis ballistic missile did hit the Eisenhower doing serious damage.”
“I’d think the Houthis got a hit on Eisenhower. Maybe not a direct hit but they did damage,” another user named “fgx15”, who introduced himself as a 31-year-old Australian on the platform, posted on X.