USS CARNEY's (DDG 64) Red Sea Battles

the old girl has a lot of fight in her

In yesterday’s Midrats we spent most of the hour with returning guest and friend of the show Mark Vandroff talking about the recent Houthi attacks and piracy in the Red Sea since the Hamas war that kicked off two months ago.

In the show we tipped our hats to some solid information flow about the most recent engagements by the USS CARNEY (DDG 64) coming from Central Command.

In a smart move - and something we should see more of - information was sent directly to the people and not through intermediaries.

A little more than 30-minutes before the show went live yesterday, this was sent out on twitter/X by USCENTCOM;

Today, there were four attacks against three separate commercial vessels operating in international waters in the southern Red Sea. These three vessels are connected to 14 separate nations. The Arleigh-Burke Class destroyer USS CARNEY responded to the distress calls from the ships and provided assistance.

At approximately 9:15 a.m. Sanaa time, the CARNEY detected an anti-ship ballistic missile attack fired from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen toward the M/V UNITY EXPLORER, impacting in the vicinity of the vessel. UNITY EXPLORER is a Bahamas flagged, U.K. owned and operated, bulk cargo ship crewed by sailors from two nations. The CARNEY was conducting a patrol in the Red Sea and detected the attack on the UNITY EXPLORER.

At approximately 12 p.m., and while in international waters, CARNEY engaged and shot down a UAV launched from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen. The drone was headed toward CARNEY although its specific target is not clear. We cannot assess at this time whether the Carney was a target of the UAVs. There was no damage to the U.S. vessel or injuries to personnel.

In a separate attack at approximately 12:35 p.m., UNITY EXPLORER reported they were struck by a missile fired from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen. CARNEY responded to the distress call. While assisting with the damage assessment, CARNEY detected another inbound UAV, destroying the drone with no damage or injuries on the CARNEY or UNITY EXPLORER. UNITY EXPLORER reports minor damage from the missile strike.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. the M/V NUMBER 9 was struck by a missile fired from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen while operating international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. The Panamanian flagged, Bermuda and U.K. owned and operated, bulk carrier reported damage and no casualties.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., the M/V SOPHIE II, sent a distress call stating they were struck by a missile. CARNEY again responded to the distress call and reported no significant damage. While en route to render support, CARNEY shot down a UAV headed in its direction. SOPHIE II is a Panamanian flagged bulk carrier, crewed by sailors from eight countries.

These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security. They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world. We also have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran. The United States will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners.

Remember, everything the Houthis do is underwritten by Iran.

This story is still in play, but what are my top-5 takeaways?

1. The USCENTCOM communications flow is nice to see, but only a fraction of what we should be seeing on the US Navy’s actions in the Red Sea the last couple of months. These actions demonstrate why we need a larger Navy and is a clear demonstration of what a Navy does. From informing the American public and their elected representatives - to just plain recruiting - photo, video, and storytelling barrage should be saturating the marketplace of ideas … and yet, but a trickle and mostly in text.

2. We are learning a lot recently all the way from the Red Sea to the Black Sea about weapons, sensors, extended watch standing in a combat environment, etc … that I hope are being quickly digested by those who have a say in the ships we build, will design, and should be supported forward. History only gives you a few small wars to learn lessons from before the next big one, so I hope we have our A-team working on this.

3. Everyone should by now fully understand that the international order everyone likes to talk about begins and end on the high seas. On the high seas, it is the US Navy that underwrites this international order. Some of our best allies either lack the capability via anemic numbers of warships or capability due to flacid leadership to do anything about it. Either the US Navy is there is keep things stitched together from the South China Sea to the Red Sea, or it will all unravel back to a pre-20th Century patchwork of various levels of chaos.

4. Lawless pirate dens - that is what the Houthi controlled coastline is, cannot be allowed to exist as a safe base to attack merchant ships or even worse, take pot shots are American warships. This is fully in the, “If they bring a knife, you bring a gun” category. Non-state actors with unlawful combatants engaged in piracy. We know where most of the missiles are stored and fired. Yes they are on purpose embedded in civilian areas, but that is not our fault. Make an example of the Houthi. Destroy their capabilities. Embargo their coastline. Encourage Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States to return to the fight … if they still want to. Ignore and dismiss the usual suspects waving the bloody shirt.

5. In the name of all that is holy, can we take whatever hull under construction that is functional to purpose and convert it to a Destroyer Tender that has the additional capability to reload VLS at sea … and build four of them? No more overthinking or “We will have a study to be delivered by 4QFY25…” BS. No, just do it. Don’t ask me for the detailed challenges, they will reveal themselves during the process and those closest to them will fix them. Just do it.

A final note, to keep up with this story, you really should be following the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) on twitter/X @UK_MTO, were the above graphic came from.