Houthis Say All Warships Must Leave Red Sea as Brit Ship Sent Off for Refit Following Militia Attack

The UK is the only US ally to have committed anything besides a handful of shipless seamen to take part in the American-led operation to try to contain the Houthis in the Red Sea amid the Yemeni militia’s attempts to close the waterway to Israeli-linked shipping.

The Houthis will continue to fire on Western warships operating in the Red Sea, with the goal being to force all foreigners out of the region, Yemeni Supreme Political Council member Mohammed Ali al-Houthi has announced.

“Our message is that just as the British warship has left the region for overhaul, the other warships will likewise leave the region…All [foreign] warships must leave the Red Sea, stop their attacks on Yemen, and end their blockade of the country,” al-Houthi said Thursday, in the wake of reports that the HMS Diamond guided missile destroyer would be “temporarily” pulled out of the Red Sea for refit following repeated attacks by the militia.

Houthi-affiliated media released footage earlier in the week showing what appeared to be a cruise missile appearing to strike a warship, later said to be the HMS Diamond, and setting it ablaze.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense did not comment on the footage, but did confirm Tuesday that the Royal Navy’s HMS Richmond frigate would be taking the HMS Diamond’s place to continue “to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea” as the latter is taken out of service for refit.

“HMS Diamond joined Operation Prosperity Guardian…in December and has maintained a near constant presence in a ‘high threat area’ of the Red Sea,” the MoD said in a statement. “The destroyer came under fire in three separate attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, successfully destroying nine drones using her world-class Sea Viper missile system and guns,” the ministry added.

The warship is now expected to “undergo a period of maintenance and resupply as HMS Richmond takes over her important mission,” the MoD said.

“The situation in the region is fraught, and ships in the force are firing on a daily basis – we hand over the baton with our best wishes to the fantastic team in Richmond who we know will do a great job,” HMS Diamond Commander Peter Evans said of the rotation, offering no further details about its nature.

Coalition forces have been extremely sensitive in discussing Houthi attacks, possible casualties or injuries in the Red Sea mission. Last week, US authorities revised their story about the deaths of two Navy SEALs, who were lost at sea in the Red Sea, indicating that the troops perished while trying to board a ship suspected of trying to smuggle weapons to Yemen.

Separately this week, the Houthis reported an attack on the Morning Tide, a Barbados-flagged, British-owned cargo ship, and the Star Nasia, a Marshall Islands-flagged American ship. The company operating the Morning Tide confirmed that its vessel had been struck in a drone attack on February 6, causing minor damage to the port side of the vessel. No injuries were reported.

Besides the US, Britain is the only country to have committed warships to the American-led Red Sea coalition, with other countries sending symbolic support such as handfuls of seamen or information sharing assistance, and the European Union announcing plans for its own mission in the region.

Since January 13, US and British warships have launched multiple waves of strikes on targets inside Yemen meant to weaken the Houthis’ missile and drone capabilities. But the militia has remained defiant, responding with attacks of its own against coalition warships, and vowing to continue targeting coalition vessels and commercial cargo ships owned or operated by or heading to or from Israel for as long as the Israeli military continues its military campaign against Gaza.

The HMS Diamond is one of the newest warships in the Royal Navy. Commissioned in 2011, the vessel has a crew of about 190 sailors and officers, and is armed with an array of anti-air and anti-ship missiles and close-in weapons. The operation against the Houthis appears to be the ship’s first combat deployment, with previous operations limited to escort assignments, non-combat missions in the Middle East and the Caribbean, and a 2021 deployment to the Far East alongside the HMS Queen Elizabeth, which went awry after the ship suffered two bouts of “technical issues” which required long and costly repairs. It's unclear how long the ship will be out of action before returning to the Red Sea.