What was claimed
A video shows Yemen’s Houthi rebels destroying a US Navy ship.
Our verdict
False. The video is of a 2013 Norwegian naval exercise.
A video shows a Houthi rebels' rocket destroying a US warship, social media users have claimed.
This is false. The video is of a widely reported 2013 naval exercise involving the Royal Norwegian Navy.
Many of the false posts appear to have been taken from an X post from Australian-based commentator Maram Susli (also known as Syrian Girl or Partisan Girl).
She has been fact-checked several times in recent months.
The post, since deleted, stated: “Yemen Houthi forces Score a direct hit in US destroyer ‘Mason’. This is all because Biden decided to build a port in Gaza to help Israel genocide Palestine.”
The Houthi, who control part of north-west Yemen, have responded to the ongoing conflict in Gaza by attacking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
In a televised speech on May 15, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sare’e said the Iranian-backed group targeted the USS Mason in the Red Sea with naval missiles.
The attack was intercepted by anti-ship missiles launched from the American warship, Reuters reported, following Sare’e’s statement.
Despite confirmation of the attack’s failure, the 2013 video has been reshared several times since with the caption stating it shows the Houthi assault on the USS Mason.
The video also has more than 150,000 views on YouTube after being shared by The Times of India as a news report.
The 2013 footage showing Norway’s navy long-range missile test has a history of being miscaptioned online.
Reuters fact-checked the video in 2022 after social media users claimed it depicted a Russian warship on fire.
The video was reported on as a test strike on the decommissioned frigate named KNM Trondheim in 2013 by CNN, Yahoo News and the Daily Mail.
The Houthi claim has also been fact-checked by Newsweek.
The Verdict
The claim a video shows Yemen’s Houthi forces destroying a US Navy ship is false.
The video actually depicts a 2013 naval exercise involving the Royal Norwegian Navy.
False – The claim is inaccurate
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