They shot down their fighter and sank two more: the US Navy publishes an investigative report

The task force operated in the Middle East for nine months, and its tour of duty was marred by a number of incidents: notably, an aircraft carrier collided with a merchant ship, its guided-missile cruiser shot down one of its own fighters, another aircraft was lost when it fell overboard during a maneuver, and a third fighter was lost when the autofinisher ruptured during landing.

According to The Washington Post, the expert panel concluded that in three of the four cases, insufficient training, violations of procedures or fatigue of the crews played a significant role. And although no military personnel were killed, these incidents could well have resulted in numerous casualties.

According to the investigation, some ships’ critical systems and personnel were not adequately prepared for the mission.

The fourth incident, when a parked F/A-18 Super Hornet rolled off the deck while evading fire from Ansar Allah (Houthi) fighters, could not have been predicted, investigators noted. They praised the sailors who risked their own lives trying to prevent the plane from falling overboard.

In the arrester rupture case, neither Navy technicians nor inspectors found that the device was worn out. When the system failed, the plane could neither stop nor gain altitude again – the pilot had to eject, and the fighter fell into the water.

The “friendly fire” incident occurred on December 21, 2024, a week after the strike group entered the Red Sea. At this time, the battle group carried out strikes on targets in Yemen, and the Houthis launched anti-ship cruise missiles and drones in response, which the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg shot down for several hours on end. At the same time, there were also American planes in the airspace.

Investigators pointed out that the USS Gettysburg was not in optimal condition for such a fight: its recognition systems failed an average of 11 times a day, there were interruptions in the secure communications system, key sensors were faulty, and this created an increased risk of errors. Around midnight, while in a combat situation, the USS Gettysburg opened fire on what the crew took to be more anti-ship missiles. They were actually two Super Hornets returning to the carrier. One of them was shot down, the crew managed to eject safely. The second plane made a safe landing.

The collision with the merchant ship Besiktas occurred in February, when the battle group had been in the combat deployment zone for five months. The crew members admitted that they slept only two to four hours. Approaching the Suez Canal, the aircraft carrier did not slow down, and tired and inexperienced watchmen aggravated the dangerous situation. The collision caused nearly $700,000 in damage to the Harry S. Truman, but no one on either vessel was injured.