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| - Fact Check: Yemeni Navy targeting US ship? Nope, this is 2020 video from America
India Today found that this video shows the USS Bonhomme Richard, which caught fire off the coast of San Diego in 2020.
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India Today Fact Check
This video shows the US Navy warship USS Bonhomme Richard that caught fire in July 2020 off the coast of San Diego.
On January 26, Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a missile at a US warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden. The American ship, USS Carney, reportedly shot down the projectile, which struck a British vessel. Now a video of smoke billowing out of a ship was shared by many on social media. In it, helicopters could be seen flying over the ship, attempting to extinguish flames.
An X user wrote while sharing the clip: “Breaking: Video surfaces showing Yemeni Naval Forces targeting US Battleship in Bab Al-Mandab. British media releases footage of the confrontation. The incident marks a significant escalation in Yemen-US tensions.” Its archive can be seen here.
India Today found that this video shows a July 2020 incident off the coast of San Diego in the US.
OUR PROBE
We noticed that several people reacting to the viral post pointed out that the ship in the video was USS Bonhomme Richard, which caught fire off the coast of San Diego in 2020. A subsequent keyword search led us to the official YouTube channel of the US Navy. The viral video was shared on July 14, 2020, titled “USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) Firefighting Efforts, July 13th Part Three”. The US Navy video was much better quality, and the viral clip appeared to be its laterally inverted version.
According to the video’s description, it showed the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3 attempting to extinguish a fire aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6). The US Navy stated that on the morning of July 12, 2020, a fire was called in aboard the ship while it was moored pier side at Naval Base San Diego in the US.
According to the New York Times, at least 57 people were injured after a fire and explosion broke out on the vessel. Federal investigators reportedly questioned a sailor for suspected arson. However, he was later found not guilty.
Notably, this isn’t the first time a video of USS Bonhomme Richard was shared in the context of the ongoing Houthi crisis in the Red Sea. You can read India Today’s previous fact-check here.
It’s also worth noting that the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, are an armed group that controls most parts of Yemen. This included the capital, Sanaa, some of the western and northern areas close to Saudi Arabia, and the Red Sea coastline. According to the BBC, a significant part of the Yemeni population resides in these areas, and the Houthis run a de facto government that collects taxes and prints money. The internationally-recognised government of Yemen is based in the southern port of Aden.
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