The claim that the footage depicts the instance when the German warship was struck by Yemen.

18 Mar 2024

12:02

False

True

False Connection

Result

The video does not show the German warship attacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea while on its way to aid Israel.
The explosion in the footage occurred aboard the German warship FGS Sachsen during a drill in Norwegian waters on June 21, 2018.
One of the standard missiles on the ship detonated inside its box without separating from the vertical launch system, resulting in the accident.

Claim Spread

The Houthi armed political and religious groups from Yemen hijacked a commercial ship in the Red Sea on November 19, 2023, in relation to the war in Gaza, and have continued to carry out various attacks since then.

On December 6, 2023, Houthi Defense Minister Muhammed Nasser El-Atefi stated that militias would continue to obstruct Israeli-owned or operated ships in the Red Sea and would fire missiles and drones at Israel.

In recent days, there has been a video circulating on social media, depicting an explosion on a warship. The accompanying claims suggest that the footage portrays the German warship being targeted by the Houthis in the Red Sea.

Evidence

When the screenshot from the video is reverse-searched, it leads to the ‘Defense Daily’ YouTube channel. The video in question was shared on this channel on June 27, 2018, under the title ‘German Navy Frigate SACHSEN SM2 Missile Accident’.

In the description section of the video, there are details about the incident. According to this, the video was recorded during a live firing exercise conducted by the German air defense frigate FGS Sachsen. During the exercise, an SM2 (Standard Missile-2) detonated inside its box without separating from the vertical launch system, resulting in an accident.

The information that the incident took place on June 21, 2018, off the coast of Norway, is also shared in this description section.

When a keyword-based internet search is conducted within the specified date range, numerous news articles related to the missile accident can be found.

According to the news from the media outlet of the US Naval Institute, during the exercise, FGS Sachsen (F219) was attempting to fire the Standard Missile 2 (SM2) Block IIIA while operating near the Arctic Circle alongside FGS Lübeck (F214). Therefore, according to USNI, the relevant video was recorded from Lübeck.

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