Two Houthi missile attacks on United States ships indicate that Thursday's airstrikes by the United States and the United Kingdom may not have created the hoped-for response.

BACKGROUND:

 BREAKING: US, UK Start Attacks on Houthis; Biden Issues Statement, Then Calls Lid

UPDATED: A 'Morning After' Look at the Strike on Yemen and What It Is Likely to Mean

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Laboon was fired upon on Sunday by a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile while patrolling in the southern Red Sea. An F/A-18 fighter operating from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower engaged and destroyed that missile. The approximate location of that attack is the orange starburst on the map below. As far as I can determine, this is the first-ever operational interception of an anti-ship cruise missile by an aircraft.

The Houthis struck again on Monday.

The US-owned and Marshall Islands-flagged container ship, M/V Gibraltar Eagle, was struck by a Houthi-fired missile in the Gulf of Aden, just over 100 miles from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. The ship is owned by Stamford, Connecticut, based Eagle Bulk Shipping. It is flagged in the Marshall Islands, a US protectorate under a Compact of Free Association. 

According to a United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations bulletin, the master of the Gibraltar Eagle reported the ship was "hit from above" by a missile. The US Central Command released this statement:

On Jan. 15 at approximately 4 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship. The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey. 

Earlier in the day, at approximately 2 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Forces detected an anti-ship ballistic missile fired toward the Southern Red Sea commercial shipping lanes. The missile failed in flight and impacted on land in Yemen. There were no injuries or damage reported.

The ship reports no injuries or significant damage and is continuing on its voyage.

Two questions arise here. First, what kind of anti-ship ballistic missile was fired? In the past, the Houthis have fired generic ballistic missiles at ships but have failed to hit them. What makes this attack different? The second part of the equation is how the Gibraltar Eagle was targeted. The Iranian spy ship is well out of the area of the attack.

🇮🇷MV BEHSHAD & IRIS ALBORZ(?)🇮🇷
IRCG Intelligence vessel Behshad spotted on Sentinel 2 on 15 Jan 2024 ~70km E of Djibouti. She appears to have an escort with her. Based on length, this very well could be IRIS Alborz (~7km N/NW). An unknown vessel is stopped ~4km S of Behshad. pic.twitter.com/X5JTtczLqQ

— MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) January 15, 2024

The attacks on the USS Laboon and the Gibraltar Eagle confirm a pattern established since the Houthis provoked a US attack by attacking four US-flagged ships under escort by the Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group. The rationale appears that they are intent on drawing a major US response in an attempt to escalate the Israel-Hamas War into more of a regional conflict. 

BACKGROUND: Houthis Launch Largest Attack So Far Targeting American-Flagged Merchant Ships With American Sailors

The flaccid imitation of a strike operation that was announced hours in advance didn't serve to deter the Houthis; it only confirmed that we are weak and that we don't want to make them or their Iranian masters angry.