Four months on and no days off. How those protecting the Red Sea pass the time

Red Sea: Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its accompanying warships have spent four months straight at sea defending against ballistic missiles and flying attack drones fired by Iranian-backed Houthis, and are now more regularly also defending against a new threat — fast unmanned vessels fired at them through the water.

While the Houthis have launched unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, in the past against Saudi coalition forces that have intervened in Yemen’s civil war, they were used for the first time against US military and commercial vessels in the Red Sea on January 4.

The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and other warships cross the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf.Credit: AP

In the weeks since, the US Navy has had to intercept and destroy multiple USVs.

It’s “more of an unknown threat that we don’t have a lot of intel on, that could be extremely lethal,” said Rear Admiral Marc Miguez, commander of Carrier Strike Group Two, of which the Eisenhower is the flagship.

The Houthis “have ways of obviously controlling them just like they do the [unmanned aerial vehicles], and we have very little fidelity as to all the stockpiles of what they have USV-wise,” Miguez said.

The Houthis began firing on US military and commercial vessels after a deadly blast at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza on October 17, a few days after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

The rebels have said they will continue firing on ships transiting the region until Israel ceases its military operations inside Gaza.

Sailors participate in a steel beach picnic on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.Credit: AP

The Eisenhower has been on patrol here since November 4, and some of its accompanying ships have been on location since October.

In that time, the Eisenhower’s fleet of fighter and surveillance aircraft has worked non-stop to detect and intercept the missiles and drones fired by the Houthis at ships in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden.

The carrier’s F/A-18 fighter jets are also frequently launched to take out missile sites they detect before munitions are fired.

As of Wednesday, the carrier strike group – which includes the cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the destroyers USS Mason and Gravely, and additional assets in the region, including the destroyers USS Laboon and USS Carney — has conducted more than 95 intercepts of drones, anti-ship ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles and made more than 240 self-defence strikes on more than 50 Houthi targets.

On Thursday, US Central Command reported that the strike group had intercepted and destroyed seven additional anti-ship cruise missiles and another explosive USV prepared to launch against vessels in the Red Sea.

A commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden reported a suspected Houthi attack, and the crew and ship were able to safely continue their journey after an explosion occurred near the ship, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre reported.

Sailors prepare to load ordnance on an F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to the Sidewinders of Strike Fighter Squadron 86 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.Credit: Getty

Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree later claimed the attack, asserting without evidence that the rebels’ missiles struck the vessel. He identified the targeted vessel as the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier Lycavitos, owned by the British firm Helikon Shipping.

The company declined to comment.

“We are constantly keeping an eye on what the Iranian-backed Houthis are up to, and when we find military targets that threaten the ability of merchant vessels, we act in defence of those ships and strike them precisely and violently,” said Captain Marvin Scott, commander of the carrier air wing’s eight squadrons of warplanes.

But the USV threat, which is still evolving, is worrisome, Miguez said.

“That’s one of the most scary scenarios, to have a bomb-laden, unmanned surface vessel that can go in pretty fast speeds. And if you’re not immediately on scene, it can get ugly extremely quick,” Miguez said.

US Central Command also reported on Thursday that the US Coast Guard cutter Clarence Sutphin jnr boarded a vessel in the Arabian Sea that was bound for Yemen on January 28 and seized medium-range ballistic missile parts, explosives, USV components and military-grade communications equipment.

An MH-60S Seahawk helicopter flies back to the USS aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.Credit: AP

The ships have spent four months at a constant combat pace with no days off with a port call. That takes a toll on sailors, the commander of the Eisenhower, Captain Christopher “Chowdah” Hill, said in an interview aboard the Eisenhower.

The ship keeps up morale by letting sailors know how important their job is and by giving them Wi-Fi access so they can stay connected with their families back home.

“I was walking through the mess decks the other day and I could hear a baby crying because someone was teleconferencing with their infant that they haven’t even met yet,” Hill said. “It’s just extraordinary, that sort of connection.”

The destroyers don’t have Wi-Fi because of bandwidth limitations, which can make it harder for those crews.

Sailors participate in sporting events on the flight deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Credit: AP

Joselyn Martinez, a second class gunner’s mate aboard the destroyer Gravely, said not being in touch with home and being in a fighting stance at sea for so long has been hard, “but we have each other’s backs here”.

When a threat is detected, and an alarm sounds directing the crew to respond, “it is like a rush of adrenaline,” Martinez said. “But at the end of the day, we just do what we come here to do and, you know, defend my crew and my ship.”

A crew member walks next to a C-2 Greyhound on the tarmac of Manama airport, Bahrain, before a flight to the USS aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.Credit: AP

AP

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.