U.S. fired at Iranian vessel that approached aircraft carrier, officials say
Washington — An Iranian ship sailed too close to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and the United States fired on the ship, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the matter who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Officials said a U.S. Navy ship attempted to fire on the Iranian ship using its 5-inch, 54-caliber Mark-45 gun, a fully automated naval gun mounted on the foredeck of Navy destroyers and cruisers and which has served as the fleet’s standard deck gun since the early 1970s.
Although it is unclear which military ship fired at the Iranian vessel, officials said it missed several times. It is not clear whether these were warning shots.
A helicopter equipped with Hellfire missiles was launched and hit the Iranian ship with two of these missiles.
The status of the Iranian ship and its crew is not known. The incident occurred earlier this week.
The USS Spruance and the USS Michael Murphy, both destroyers, are embarked aboard the Abraham Lincoln, which is operating in the Arabian Sea in support of U.S. military actions against Iran. However, six other guided-missile destroyers were operating in the Arabian Sea last week.
It is unclear exactly what type of helicopter was used, but Navy Seahawk helicopters and Marine Corps Viper attack helicopters both have the capability to carry Hellfire missiles. However, the MH-60R Seahawks have a multi-mission role that includes both anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare.
CBS News contacted U.S. Central Command, the main unit overseeing U.S. military operations against Iran. A defense official said: “We have nothing for you on this.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln is one of two American aircraft carriers deployed to the Middle East. The Lincoln Carrier Strike Group arrived in the region in late January, part of what President Trump described as an “armada.”
In early February, an Iranian Shahed-139 drone “aggressively” approached the aircraft carrier and “unnecessarily maneuvered” in that direction, a spokesperson for US Central Command said at the time. The drone was shot down by a US warplane, a moment of tension between the United States and Iran weeks before the start of the war between the two countries.
Since the start of the US-Iran war, US forces have damaged or destroyed more than 90 Iranian ships, according to Central Command.
