Iran Attacked Two US Navy Destroyers During First Day of "Project Freedom"
Defense officials have identified the destroyers that transited the Strait of Hormuz Monday as USS Truxtun and USS Mason, according to CBS.
The vessels reached the relative safety of the Arabian Gulf, but only after coming under fire, as previously confirmed by CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper. CBS obtained additional detail: Iran responded to the transit by launching missiles and drones at the warships, and it dispatched small craft to interfere with the transit.
Other air defense assets were on hand to engage and defeat the inbound threats, and half a dozen small boats were destroyed, according to Adm. Cooper. Neither U.S. warship was struck - but the intensity of the reported barrage is not likely to provide reassurance to shipping, especially as two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels came under fire in the course of the first day of operation.
Foreign-flagged traffic near the waterway also came under fire, even though it is unclear if the foreign vessels selected for attack had any connection to the U.S.-operated "Project Freedom" transit scheme.
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The multipurpose cargo ship HMM Namu sustained an explosion and fire in way of the engine room on Monday evening; the fire was out by Tuesday morning, and operator HMM is waiting for safe access to inspect the compartment in order to confirm whether it was an attack or a technical fault. At present, HMM said in a statement, the engine room is still filled with CO2 from the firefighting effort. Once ready, the vessel will be towed into port at Dubai for inspection and investigation.
A second vessel, the ADNOC-operated tanker Barakah, was reportedly hit by two drones off the coast of Oman while conducting a Hormuz transit. The crew are uninjured, ADNOC said in a statement.
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