Two missiles were fired at the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Mason while it was in international waters off the coast of Yemen on Sunday.
The missiles originated from war-torn Yemen, fired from territory controlled by the Iran-allied Houthi rebels, according to a Navy spokesman.
“There were no injuries to our sailors and no damage to the ship,” US military spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told Reuters.
The failed strikes appeared to be in retaliation for US support of a Saudi-backed coalition blamed for killing hundreds of people in a recent bombing of a funeral.
The US warship was in international waters more than 12 nautical miles (22 km) offshore in the southern end of the Red Sea, north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The US Navy reportedly dispatched ships to the area after the Houthis fired rockets at a United Arab Emirates military ship.
“The United States remains committed to ensuring freedom of navigation everywhere in the world, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of our ships and our service members,” Davis said.
The US has backed the Saudi-led coalition fighting to prevent Houthi rebels allied with both Iran and forces loyal to Yemen’s deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh from taking power.
But US officials are now reevaluating support after the attack on a Sanaa funeral killed up to 450 people.
The bombing targeted the funeral for the father of the Houthi-run government’s Interior Minister Jalal al-Roweishan.
The Saudi-led coalition had earlier denied accusations that it was responsible for the attack. But then said it would immediately investigate reports that its warplanes were behind the air strikes.
“The coalition will immediately investigate this case along with the Joint Incidents Assessment Team in Yemen and experts from the United States who participated in previous investigations,” said a coalition statement.
The coalition, which includes several Arab countries, launched a military campaign in Yemen in 2015 after Houthis — a minority Shia group — drove out the US-backed government led by President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and took over Sanaa.
The conflict has killed an estimated 10,000 Yemenis and left millions in dire need of aid, according to the United Nations.
Yemen’s UNICEF office has reported that nearly 10,000 children younger than 5 died from preventable diseases during the past year.
Some 1.5 million children are currently malnourished and 370,000 of them suffer from severe acute malnutrition.
The intent was clear…to kill Americans. The safety of our military is in jeopardy as long as Obama is in office.
We have the technology to back track the launch site of the missiles but we continue to sit on our hands.
It makes you wonder, what if any response would happen if American blood was shed?