U.S. fired at Iranian vessel that approached aircraft carrier, officials say

Washington — An Iranian vas sailed excessively adjacent to the USS Abraham Lincoln craft carrier, and the U.S. fired astatine the vessel, according to 2 U.S. officials briefed connected the substance who spoke to CBS News nether information of anonymity due to the fact that they were not authorized to talk publicly.

The officials said a U.S. Navy vas attempted to occurrence connected the Iranian vas utilizing its 5-inch, 54-caliber Marck-45 gun, a afloat automated naval cannon that is mounted to the guardant platform of Navy destroyers and cruisers and has served arsenic the fleet's modular platform weapon since the aboriginal 1970s. 

While it's not known which naval vas fired connected the Iranian ship, the officials said it missed aggregate times. 

The presumption of the Iranian vessel and its unit is not known. The incidental occurred earlier this week. 

The USS Spruance and the USS Michael Murphy, some destroyers, are embarked with the Abraham Lincoln, which is operating successful the Arabian Sea successful enactment of U.S. subject actions against Iran. However, six different guided-missile destroyers were operating successful the Arabian Sea arsenic of past week. 

A chopper equipped with Hellfire missiles was launched and struck the Iranian vas with 2 of the missiles. 

It's unclear what benignant of chopper was used, but Navy Seahawk helicopters and Marine Corps Viper onslaught helicopters some person the quality to transportation Hellfire missiles. However, MH-60R Seahawks person a multi-mission relation which see some anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare. 

CBS News contacted U.S. Central Command, the superior portion overseeing U.S. subject operations against Iran. A defence authoritative said: "We person thing for you connected this." 

The USS Abraham Lincoln is 1 of 2 American craft carriers deployed to the Middle East. The Lincoln bearer onslaught radical arrived successful the region successful precocious January, portion of what President Trump described arsenic an "armada."

In aboriginal February, an Iranian Shahed-139 drone "aggressively" approached the craft carrier and "unnecessarily maneuvered" toward it, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson said astatine the time. The drone was changeable down by an American combatant jet, a tense infinitesimal betwixt the U.S. and Iran weeks earlier the warfare betwixt the 2 countries began.

Since the commencement of the U.S.'s warfare with Iran, American forces person damaged oregon destroyed implicit 90 Iranian vessels, according to Central Command.

Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.