The USS Laboon. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy
A Bath-built destroyer over the weekend shot down four drones sent to attack the ship by Houthi militants in Yemen, according to U.S. military officials.
The USS Laboon was patrolling the southern Red Sea Saturday as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian when it was targeted, according to U.S. Central Command. No injuries or damage were reported. Later that night, the Laboon responded to distress calls from two commercial tanker ships that were also targeted by Houthi drone attacks. Central Command said one of the ships, the Gabon-owned M/V Sai Baba, was struck by a “one-way attack drone.” No injuries were reported.
It was the latest onslaught by the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have launched more than a dozen attacks on commercial vessels, naval ships and mainland Israel since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, according to U.S. military officials. The Hamas-supporting Houthis have condemned Israel’s military campaign and the country’s allies, including the U.S. The militant group has targeted commercial vessels destined for Israel in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Several shipping companies have diverted their vessels from the region as a precaution.
In response to the attacks, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin last week announced Operation Prosperity Guardian, a U.S.-led international security campaign in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Italy have pledged ships and naval personnel to patrol shipping lanes.
“The recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks originating from Yemen threatens the free flow of commerce, endangers innocent mariners and violates international law,” Austin said in a statement. “The Red Sea is a critical waterway that has been essential to freedom of navigation and a major commercial corridor that facilitates international trade. Countries that seek to uphold the foundational principle of freedom of navigation must come together to tackle the challenge posed by this non-state actor launching ballistic missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles … at merchant vessels from many nations lawfully transiting international waters.
“This is an international challenge that demands collective action.”
U.S. officials so far have not announced any direct attacks against the Houthis, a Shiite group that has a de facto truce with the country’s ruling Sunni majority, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. By contrast, the U.S. has announced several airstrikes against other Iranian proxy groups that have attacked U.S. military facilities in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Israel’s military campaign. Some fear retaliatory attacks by the U.S. on the Houthis could jeopardize the truce and spark a wider conflict.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder in a news conference last week said the Houthi attacks have cost shipping companies “billions” of dollars.
“The Houthis need to stop these attacks, and they need to stop them now,” Ryder said. “They need to ask themselves if they’ve bitten off more than they can chew, when it comes to taking on the entire international community.”
Other Bath-built destroyers patrolling the Red Sea, including the USS Carney, USS Mason and USS Thomas Hudner, have shot down Houthi missiles and drones in recent weeks.
The Laboon was commissioned in 1995. It’s named after John F. Laboon, a Navy lieutenant who served aboard the submarine USS Peto during World War II. He won the Silver Star for volunteering to dive off the submarine and swim through mine-filled waters to rescue a downed American pilot off the coast of Japan.
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