US Withdraws Aircraft Carrier Eisenhower From Red Sea Amid Stepped-Up Houthi Attacks

In perhaps another sign that the US-led ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’ is not going well (as it has not actually put a stop to the constant Houthi attacks on international vessels), Pentagon leaders have ordered the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to return home. 

The carrier which has led America’s response to the Houthis was already on a twice-extended tour. “Time to bring them home,” an American defense official was quoted in military news outlets as saying. But even with the nuclear-powered carrier’s lengthy Red Sea presence, Houthi attacks have only stepped up.

Aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, AFP/US Navy

“Flying over 30,000 hours and sailing over 55,000 miles the IKE CSG demonstrated our commitment to regional stability and protected freedom of navigation throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” Central Command wrote on X, of the Eisenhower’s deployment.

“The IKE CSG also upheld their commitment to safety of all seafarers, rescuing mariners in distress on several occasions following unprovoked attacks on innocent mariners by Iranian-backed Houthis,” CENTCOM added.

Another nuclear-powered carrier, the Theodore Roosevelt, is expected to soon be en route to the Middle East from its current position in the Pacific in order continue a US presence mission in the region.

As of Saturday the Roosevelt was anchored in Busan, South Korea, amid the ratcheting rhetoric and threats between Seoul and Pyongyang.

The last several days has seen a series of Houthi strikes on regional shipping off Yemen. For example on Saturday regional outlets reported “The Houthis in Yemen say they launched attacks on a commercial vessel after it used an Israeli port, and on a US aircraft carrier ordered home after months of responding to sea attacks launched because of the war on Gaza.”

That ship was identified as the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Transworld Navigator, allegedly hit by ballistic missiles in the Arabian Sea.

On several occasions over the last months the Houthis even claimed direct attacks on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. However, the has never been a successful strike reported on the carrier.

Fair winds and following seas to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKE CSG) as they return home to their families.

Flying over 30,000 hours and sailing over 55,000 miles the IKE CSG demonstrated our commitment to regional stability and protected freedom of… pic.twitter.com/CA9W3l7g2R

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 22, 2024

Instead, US coalition warships have on multiple occasions shot drones and inbound Houthi missiles out of the sky. There remains some degree of speculation that if a US warship did suffer damage, it might be kept under wraps. It’s entirely possible that the Pentagon would not publicize such an event in order to prevent the Houthis from declaring a ‘win’ and using it in their subsequent propaganda.