FACT CHECK: Video Claims To Show Soma­lian Pirate Boat Being Destroyed

A video shared on X claims to show a Soma­lian pirate boat being destroyed.

Soma­li pirate boat is no more. pic.twitter.com/2qth4kKG4h

— David Ather­ton (@DaveAtherton20) Decem­ber 5, 2024

Ver­dict: False

The video shows train­ing from the Unit­ed States Navy and is not a Soma­lian ves­sel.

Fact Check:

A Chi­nese fish­ing ves­sel came under the con­trol of alleged Soma­lian pirates in Soma­li waters, accord­ing to Reuters. Up to 18 crew mem­bers were onboard when the ves­sel was tak­en by the alleged pirates, per the out­let.

Social media users are claim­ing to show a Soma­li pirate boat being destroyed by gun­fire. One user wrote, “Soma­li pirate boat is no more.” (RELATED: Did British Prime Min­is­ter Keir Starmer Claim To Make Pork For His Jew­ish Wife?)

This claim is false. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the video is from March 2017 and was post­ed to YouTube. The video’s title reads, “CIWS Gatling Gun & Mk-38 Chain Gun Open Fire On Tar­get Boats.”

“US Navy Sailors aboard the Amphibi­ous Assault Ship USS Amer­i­ca (LHA 6) load ammu­ni­tion into the Close-in Weapon Sys­tem (CIWS) and Mk-38 25mm chain gun for Oper­a­tional Test­ing,” reads the video descrip­tion.

We rate this claim false.