The Red Sea has historically been a busy crossroads where politics and trade collide, but lately, it’s become something additional—a dangerous hotbed where real fighting is occurring. When missile and drone attacks started hitting military as well as commercial shipping, the U.S. Navy suddenly found itself in the middle of one of the longest and toughest sea battles we’ve seen since World War II. At the center of all this was the USS Carney, a destroyer that quickly became part of naval history.
It didn’t take long to see how serious the threat was. Within a few months, over a hundred confirmed attacks on ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters had been made. Vessels from over sixty countries were impacted by piracy, their cargoes and crews threatened from the Gulf of Aden to the Indian Ocean. The impact on world shipping was huge. Container shipping increased by over twice, and the majority of firms detoured their vessels around the bottom of Africa, taking weeks and millions of dollars in fuel and expense.
This was not your typical piracy or harassment. This was a completely different generation of warfare. Anti-ship ballistic missiles were being used against commercial and military ships for the very first time in history. Most of these drones and missiles were shot down or failed to hit their targets, but several ships were severely damaged, and unfortunately, lives were lost. Even for those who escaped harm, the constant fear of a surprise, high-technology attack made every trip stressful.
When the USS Carney arrived at this point of crisis, the crew expected a routine deployment. That was destroyed on October 19, 2023. Suddenly, the ship was exposed to a fierce and savage bombardment. Deck-clearing orders were heard in the vessel, and in the blink of an eye, guns fired to defend the sailors and the vessel. In the span of a ten-hour ordeal, Carney’s crew destroyed fifteen drones and four cruise missiles. The Navy would later refer to this as the most intense engagement the ship had ever experienced in decades.
Teamwork and training by the crew truly paid off. Despite adrenaline flowing through their veins, they remained diligent about keeping everyone safe. Before the deployment concluded, the Carney had participated in more than fifty combat operations, downing a combination of drones, cruise missiles, and even ballistic threats before they could harm anyone. The ship’s commanding officer praised his crew for their professionalism and resilience, and he mentioned how much they relied on each other in such difficult times.
The Carney’s mission was just a part of a much larger international effort to close down the shipping lanes. Twenty-plus countries came together to patrol the zone, working together under combined maritime task forces. U.S. Navy destroyers, aircraft carriers, and allied warships worked together to detect and stifle threats, and when required, they attacked weapons targets before attacks were launched. This was an enormous operation, where hundreds of enemy drones and missiles were eliminated, and huge resources in terms of logistics and ammunition were spent.
As the operation unfolded, the rules of engagement were changed. At first, the focus was primarily on the attack of incoming weapons. But when a few attacks on merchant’s vessels made front-page news, coalition forces became more aggressive, striking at enemy launchers, supply caches, and other key targets to pre-emptively strike before an attack could happen. But the attackers continued to adapt, changing how they refuel and moving weapons around. Naval warships intercepted shipments of advanced missile parts and drone components headed for future attacks.
Persistent war in Yemen was never distant from anyone’s thoughts. Even as ground combat had subsided somewhat, tensions that supported such Red Sea attacks were complex and included local and regional interests. Peace negotiations offered some optimism but no definitive outcome. In the interim, millions of Yemenis suffered a human catastrophe, having to cope with food shortages and a ruined economy.
For the men of the Carney, this deployment was so much more than they’d ever signed up for. A few had enlisted expecting to be assigned routine patrol time and training, only to be thrust into the middle of a swiftly developing and dangerous war. With every deployment, they became more purpose-driven—they realized they weren’t fighting for the ship but protecting a vital vein of world trade and the safety of thousands of noncombatants.
Of course, lengthy operations like this one are expensive. The pace was exhausting, and the wear and tear and the ship and crew were evident. Maintenance added up, and the need for rest and retraining was a necessity. However, since the Carney did come back home, the sailors carried a sense of pride with them. They had endured threats never before faced and had helped write a new chapter in naval warfare.
The Red Sea mission was a powerful reminder that in our era, too, the world’s most important shipping routes can be threatened and defending them demands skill, flexibility, and endurance. The mission tested every part of their readiness, as described by one of the veteran crew members, but trust, training, and familiarity among shipmates helped them through. What they discovered will shape naval operations for years to come.