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| - By: Ankita Kulkarni
October 12 2023
The video shows two U.S. Navy warships narrowly avoiding a head-on collision in San Diego Bay in November 2022. It is unrelated to Israel.
What is the claim?
Amid the escalating violence between Israel and Hamas, numerous misattributed videos are circulating widely on social media. One such clip shared on X (archived here) shows two ships where the smaller one is moving towards the bigger one. The video caption reads, “Big News: A US ship carrying F-16 fighter jets has reached Israel's west coast. America is defending Israel.” It also includes several trending hashtags such around the Israel Hamas war.
The text overlaid onto the video states, “USS washington aircraft carrie(r). Safely reach israel. (s)hip has 5 f-16 fighter jets on.” The video is also being shared by several other users on X with similar narratives. Other archived versions can be viewed here and here.
Screenshots showing posts circulating online. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)
However, the video predates the current war between Israel and Gaza. It was captured on November 29, 2022, at San Diego Bay, a harbor in California, U.S.
What are the facts?
A reverse image search of a screenshot taken from the viral clip led us to a video report posted on the official YouTube channel of ABC News on December 2, 2022. The video caption reads, “Two large warships narrowly avoid collision in San Diego Bay.” We can see the same visuals as in the viral clip. ABC News reported that the video showed two ships on a clear head-on collision course that were only 35 yards apart at one point.
A report by NBC 7 San Diego on November 30, 2022, also carried the same video. It said that “USS Momsen and USS Harpers Ferry — came a little too close for comfort Tuesday morning as they passed each other in San Diego Bay.”
We also found the footage on YouTube, uploaded by San Diego Web Cam. At the 21:12 timestamp, the footage seen in the viral clip is visible. The video also carries a date stamp of “11-29-2022.”
Comparison between the viral clip and the San Diego Web Cam video. (Source:X/YouTube/Screenshot)
Moreover, the words “TRT News” and the overlaid text on the video seem to have been digitally added to the video of the two ships, as the TRT, a Turkish public broadcaster channel, goes by the official name “TRT World” and not “TRT News.”
According to AP News, on October 9, 2023, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered aircraft carriers to the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready to assist Israel. However, the viral video shows the ships USS Harpers Ferry and USS Momsen, which are not being sent to Israel.
The verdict
An old and unrelated video is incorrectly being shared as U.S. ships carrying F-16 fighter jets arriving in Israel. Although the U.S. has ordered navy warships to move toward Israel to aid its fight against Hamas, the viral video now in question does not show one of these. Therefore, we have marked the claim as misleading.
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