The USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier played a key role in operations against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill, the commander of the carrier, noted proudly in a post on social media that during its recent operations, it had launched the “largest strike from an aircraft carrier; 670 strikes in all; around 160 enemy drones and missiles intercepted during the five months Truman Strike Group spent in the Red Sea.”
He was quoting from an article at Stars and Stripes, a US military daily newspaper, which said: “The USS Harry S. Truman and its strike group launched the ‘largest airstrike in the history of the world’ from an aircraft carrier during recent operations near Somalia, the Navy’s top admiral said Monday.”
Adm. James Kilby, the acting chief of naval operations, was speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations Robert B. McKeon Endowed Series on Military Strategy and Leadership when he revealed these details.
The US Naval Institute said: “Truman left its home port at the end of September and sailed to the North Sea for NATO drills before heading to the Eastern Mediterranean. The Pentagon extended Truman’s deployment several times recently due to the campaign against the Houthis.”
When the Truman was operating against the Houthis, it “conducted 670 strikes and intercepted around 160 enemy drones and missiles during the five months it spent in the Red Sea,” Stars and Stripes reported.
Kilby said: “[The Houthis] are not China, but they are a threat, and they are hunting our ships. Understanding that and not being dismissive about that and being prepared is what we are focused on now.”
The Truman was active in the Middle East from December 14 after the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier had left the area.
“The aircraft carrier and its strike group were due to return to the U.S. in the spring, but its deployment was extended in May as part of a U.S. bid to cripple the Houthis by way of daily strikes,” Stars and Stripes reported.
The report also discussed strikes on extremists in Somalia. ISIS in Somalia has apparently grown to up to 1,500 fighters. This has led to US strikes on ISIS there.
The US attempted to get the Houthis to stop attacks on shipping more than once
The US began a bombing campaign against the Houthis on March 15 and ended the strikes on May 6. The campaign was aimed at stopping the Houthi attacks on shipping. It appears the attacks have not stopped. The Houthis have continued to target Israel with ballistic missiles.
The Biden administration also tried to stop Houthi attacks via a campaign called Prosperity Guardian, which began in December 2023 after the Houthi attacks on shipping began.
The US has supported freedom of navigation in the high seas for more than 100 years, essentially inheriting this mission after the US Navy became a serious force in the first years of the 20th century. The British Navy had been the world’s foremost navy, but it declined throughout most of the 20th century, leaving the US as the world’s premier naval power.
The US has 11 aircraft carriers in two different classes: the Nimitz class and the Gerald Ford class. The US Navy has more than 300 ships.