Old image of US aircraft carrier falsely shared as proof of 'Huthi attack'

Published on July 29, 2024 at 05:56
3 min read
By Tommy WANG, AFP Hong Kong

An old image of a docked aircraft carrier has recirculated in online posts that falsely stated it shows damage on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower after Yemen's Huthi rebels claimed to have struck the ship in the Red Sea in May 2024. Washington has denied any of its ships were damaged by the Huthis. The USS Eisenhower returned to a naval base in the eastern state of Virginia in July 2024 following a nine-month deployment, according to the US military.

"The US aircraft carrier is covered with a large white cloth. Doesn't this prove it was bombed?" read a simplified Chinese Weibo post shared on June 7, 2024.

The image featured overlaid Chinese text that read "Eisenhower carrier about to pass through the Suez Canal". The carrier seen in the picture is numbered 69 -- referring to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, CVN 69.

Screenshot of the false post, taken July 23, 2024.

The video circulated shortly after Yemen's Huthi rebels claimed that they had launched a missile attack on the US aircraft carrier the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea on May 31, 2024.

The Iran-backed Huthis, who control much of Yemen, have carried out scores of drone and missile attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November, citing solidarity with Palestinians over the Israel-Hamas war.

Washington has dismissed claims the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower had been damaged or struck, according to reports from CBS News and the Voice of America in June 2024 (archived links here and here).

But the image of an aircraft carrier surfaced alongside a similar false claim elsewhere on Weibo, as well as on X, and YouTube.

In July 2024, the US Navy said in a report that the aircraft carrier returned to Naval Station Norfolk in the eastern US state of Virginia on July 14 after a nine-month combat deployment (archived links here and here).

The maritime news site USNI News also reported the ship "arrived unharmed and in one piece in Norfolk" after it faced-off with Huthi drones and missiles daily in the Red Sea (archived link).

Unrelated footage

A reverse image search and subsequent keyword searches on Google and digital media provider Getty Images found the image was captured from a video published on June 10, 2007 (archived link).

It is titled: "Aerial dolly shot aircraft carrier and battleship docked in harbor / Norfolk, Virginia."

It was credited to Energy Films Library, a stock video company acquired by Getty in 1997 (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image shared in the false Weibo post (left) and the Getty Images' video (right):

Screenshot comparison of the image shared in the false Weibo post (left) and the Getty Images' video (right)

AFP has debunked other posts falsely linking unrelated images to the purported Huthi attack on US aircraft carriers here, here and here.

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