USS Carney vs. Houthi Ballistic Missiles

On October 19, 2023, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney shot down Houthi cruise missiles and drones over the Red Sea — the first fight of a deployment that, by the Navy's count, came to 51 engagements in six months. Against the Houthis' anti-ship ballistic missiles, its captain said, an engagement lasted 9 to 20 seconds, start to finish — fought from 90 launch cells that could not be reloaded at sea. This film follows Carney through the records: 15 drones and four cruise missiles in its first fight; December 3, when a ballistic missile was fired at a merchant ship and Carney answered the calls for help; a wave of 14 drones on December 16, the week major shipping lines paused their Red Sea passages; Tomahawks at a Houthi radar site on January 13; an anti-ship ballistic missile fired toward it in the Gulf of Aden on January 26, shot down, and the burning tanker Marlin Luanda that evening, where Carney's 600 gallons of foam helped put out the fire; and, with USS Arleigh Burke, Iran's ballistic missiles on the night of April 13. After 235 days, Carney came home to Mayport, Florida — never damaged, and without a single sailor wounded or killed. Then the count that came after: 220 missiles fired across the fleet over 15 months of Red Sea fighting, about two rounds per incoming missile by the Navy's own analysis; what the Navy called the first reload at sea on a warship under way in the open ocean, with an empty canister; and a strait that in May 2024 carried about 32 ships a day, down from about 79 before the attacks. Told from the Navy's own accounts, Pentagon and Central Command records, the White House, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the IMO, with U.S. Navy photographs and video from DVIDS — among them Carney's launches and its combat information center on October 19, 2023. 00:00 October 19, 2023, northern Red Sea — “Clear the weather decks” 01:17 The combat information center — 15 drones and four cruise missiles, the first fight 02:21 Back to the Red Sea — Galaxy Leader, and a ballistic missile at a merchant ship on December 3 03:30 December 16 — 14 drones, and major shipping lines pause their Red Sea passage 04:35 January 13, 3:45 a.m. — from shield to spear: Tomahawks at a Houthi radar site 05:48 January 26, Gulf of Aden — 9 to 20 seconds, and a tanker on fire 07:24 January 30 to April 6 — missiles that could not be reloaded at sea 08:34 April 13 — Iran's ballistic missiles, then home to Mayport after 235 days 09:51 Empty cells — 220 missiles, a reload at sea, and 32 ships a day Where the records count differently, the film keeps the counts apart: the Navy's 15 drones and four cruise missiles on October 19 and the captain's 19 threats; Carney's 51 engagements and the fleet-wide 220 missiles. Travel times over 60 to 70 miles and the ships-a-day averages from IMF PortWatch data are our own calculations, shown on screen with their assumptions. Sources · U.S. Fleet Forces Command — “USS Carney: a Destroyer at War,” December 4, 2024 · U.S. Navy film of the same name (DVIDS 936530), September 12, 2024 · U.S. Navy — homecoming and Navy Unit Commendation releases and Secretary Del Toro's remarks, May 19, 2024 · NAVSEA, at-sea VLS reload, October 15, 2024 · Naval History and Heritage Command · U.S. Navy photographs and video (DVIDS) · U.S. Department of Defense — briefing transcript, October 19, 2023 · Secretary Austin's statement, December 18, 2023 · U.S. Central Command — releases, November 2023 – April 2024 · The White House — briefing, December 4, 2023 · Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, January 2024 · Defense Intelligence Agency, February 2024 · Congressional Research Service, IN12301, 2024 · International Maritime Organization, 2024 Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea · IMF & University of Oxford — PortWatch data (our averages) · U.S. Energy Information Administration · CSIS · NASA Worldview · CIA map (Perry-Castañeda Library, UT Austin) · CBS News (60 Minutes, Sunday Morning) · Fox News · NPR · CNN · Reuters · dpa · Bloomberg · Politico · Washington Examiner · USNI News · Proceedings · Stars and Stripes · Military Times · Navy Times · Task & Purpose · The War Zone · Military.com · Naval News · The Maritime Executive · News4JAX · Maersk The 3D scenes are a directed reconstruction built from the records with carved models, not footage of the events. The narration is a synthetic voice. The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement. #USSCarney #RedSea #Houthis #USNavy #GulfOfAden #BallisticMissiles #MilitaryHistory #SANDTABUL SANDTABUL · Warfare, set out on the sand table. Battles, operations and the machines of war, re-staged in carved 3D and placed in the world that shaped them.