What might be interesting is that Hezbollah thought they were attacking an Israeli ship, but struck a UK vessel instead. And the UK lies, which isn’t a surprise. And it also paints a sad picture that missile interceptors and their guns along with their Sea Whiz couldn’t take out the missile. With the flood of supersonic and hypersonic missiles that can evade with extended ranges, how would naval vessels truly fair in a shooting war between superpowers?
https://southfront.press/british-warships-was-reportedly-hit-by-hezbollah-cruise-missile/
Hezbollah launched a “shore-to-sea missile” at a British warship after mistaking it for an Israeli one on April 5, Israel’s Channel 14 News reported.
The news channel said that the Israeli assessment indicated that “damage was caused” by the missile attack from Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted a warship of the Israeli Navy with a cruise missile. In a statement, the group said it targeted the warship as it was sailing 68 nautical miles off the coast of Lebanon, claiming that it was “preparing to launch attacks on Lebanese territory” and that “a direct hit was confirmed.”
Nevertheless, the Israeli military told AFP when contacted later that it was “not aware” of any such attack by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
Following the Channel 14 News report, it was speculated by many analysts that Hezbollah’s missile hit HMS Dragon, a Royal Navy type-45 guided missile destroyer.
The warship was sent to the eastern Mediterranean to strengthen the two Royal Air Force bases on Cyprus, which were targeted with drones shortly after the start of the American-Israeli war on Iran more than a month ago, with later reports indicating that Hezbollah may have been responsible.
British defense sources, however, told The Telegraph’s defense editor Tom Cotterill that HMS Dragon was not attacked or struck.
Others analysts claimed the Lyme Bay from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary had been struck – though that vessel is in dry dock in Gibraltar.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) later confirmed it had not received any such reports, according to The Telegraph.
It’s worth noting that the UK previously attempted to hide the fact that one of the drone attacks on its bases in Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, caused damage to a hangar usually housing an American U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane. The damage was later, however, exposed by The Sun which obtained a photo of the hangar.
Based on this, it can’t be completely ruled out that some British warship, or even a commercial vessel took some damage by mistake as a result of Hezbollah latest attack.