More missiles believed fired at US ships off the coast of Yemen

ABC News:

The destroyer USS Mason fired defensive countermeasures in response to what may have been incoming missiles, a defense official said . The ship had been attacked two times before in the past week, which triggered retaliatory strikes against radars used by Houthi rebels in those attacks. The Pentagon is investigating the incident.

"A U.S. Strike Group transiting international waters in the Red Sea detected possible inbound missile threats and deployed appropriate defensive measures," said a U.S. defense official. "Post event assessment is ongoing. All U.S. warships and vessels in the area are safe."

The destroyer USS Nitze and the USS Ponce, an afloat forward staging area ship, were close to the Mason at the time.

U.S. officials had said earlier Sunday that the Mason had come under attack from two inbound missiles that originated in Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.

"We are aware of the reports and we are assessing the situation," a U.S. defense official had said earlier. "All of our ships and crews are safe and unharmed."

According to one U.S. official, an initial report indicated that the destroyer had deployed defensive missiles, which resulted in the interception of one of the missiles, and that the other may have fallen into the sea. It now appears the destroyer fired missiles at what may have been incoming missiles.

The "post-event assessment" will determine what actually occurred Saturday, the official said.

Another U.S. official said of Saturday's incident, "We will continue to defend freedom of navigation in this critical waterway, and we will take all necessary steps to respond to threats and defend our personnel and ships."

The latest incident comes just days after the United States military launched a retaliatory missile attack that destroyed three Houthi radar sites used in the previous attacks.
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The CNN report said that the incident could have been caused by a malfunctioning radar.

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There are initial unconfirmed reports of missiles possibly being fired from positions both ashore on Yemen and by small spotter boats operated by Houthi rebels.
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The use of the small  "spotter boats" appears to be consistent with Iranian swarm tactics.  The US should bring in Apache attack helicopters to deal with the spotter boats.