Timeline of the Red Sea crisis
On 8 October 2023, the day after the Hamas attack on Israel, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin directed the Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean in response.
Along with the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the group includes the cruiser Normandy, and the destroyers Carney, Ramage, Roosevelt and Thomas Hudner.
[1] On 19 October 2023 Carney intercepted three cruise missiles and eight drones launched by the Houthi militants in Yemen.
[4] Reports showed that Carney actually encountered a larger and more sustained barrage than was previously known on that day after it shot down four cruise missiles and 15 drones over a period of nine hours.
[5] On 8 November 2023 an American MQ-9 Reaper was shot down off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea by Houthi forces.
[8] Missiles struck three commercial ships, while Carney shot down three drones in self-defense during the hours-long assault.
[9] The United States Central Command said: "We ... have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran.
[12] On 14 December 2023 Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, Defense Minister of Iran, said that any naval coalition formed by the US would face major problems.
[7] On 16 December 2023, while operating in the Red Sea, Carney successfully shot down a barrage of 14 unmanned aerial system (UAS) one-way attack drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
[25][26] Languedoc French Navy UAV strike UAV strike The United States Navy claimed that between 3 and 8 p.m. (Sanaa time), the USS Laboon (DDG 58) which was patrolling in the Southern Red Sea as part of operation prosperity guardian shot down four unmanned aerial drones originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen that were inbound to the USS Laboon.
Minor damage was reported from a nearby explosion, but the crew was unharmed, the second missile missed and the third was claimed by the US to have been shot down by USS Laboon.
An explosion took place 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) east of Aden near the bulk carrier, causing minor shrapnel damage.
Another tanker 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) northeast of the Pollux altered her course to move away from the struck vessel after the incident.
[133] CENTCOM reported the attack caused her to take on water, leaving behind a 29 kilometres (18 mi) oil slick and leading to an environmental disaster.
She previously sent out messages reading "SYRIAN CREW ON BOARD" in an attempt to avoid being targeted by the Houthis.
A 12-member firefighting team was dispatched to assist in extinguishing the fire, and her operators later confirmed that the incident caused minor damage.
Hailed over radio by the putative Yemeni Navy to change course before being struck by a missile 54 nautical miles (100 km; 62 mi) southwest of Aden at approximately 11:30 a.m. AST (UTC+3); a catastrophic fire ensued.
Her crew of 20 comprised one Indian, four Vietnamese, and 15 Filipinos, plus three armed guards (two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal), most of whom entered lifeboats; she was promptly declared abandoned.
She sailed from Lianyungang, China and had been en route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with a cargo of trucks and steel products.
She had reportedly been owned by the British shipping firm Union Maritime in 2019, but she had changed her registration details since, including her name and operator.
Targeted by a UAV in the Arabian Sea around 170 nautical miles (310 km; 200 mi) south of Socotra, or 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) off the coast of mainland Yemen, the container ship was directly struck, making it the Houthis' furthest attack so far and first successful one in the Indian Ocean, which they had targeted several times.
Targeted by three missiles around 54 nautical miles (100 km; 62 mi) northwest of Mokha, a Malta-flagged container ship suffered an unspecified amount of damage but was able to proceed to her next port of call.
On 3 May 2024, the Houthi-aligned Yemeni Armed Forces SPC military spokesperson Yahya Saree announced the expansion of their campaign to the targeting of ships in the eastern Mediterranean bound for Israel.
