USS Carney sailors recall historic night of combat in Red Sea

The crew of the USS Carney thought they were headed for a normal deployment, and by “normal,” at least some of the crew was thinking about fun off the boat. At least that’s what Fire Controlman 2nd Class Kameron Miller, a Mk. 160 gun console technician on his first deployment, was thinking.

“I’ve only heard stories, but I expected to pull into ports and party a little bit,” said Miller. “That was not quite the case.”
It was not.

Miller and the Carney left Naval Station Mayport, Florida on Sept. 27. On Oct. 7, just as the crew was arriving in the Red Sea for duty with the 5th Fleet, Hamas fighters invaded Israel in a massive terror attack, killing over 1,000. Within days, the Carney was on the front line of a rapidly escalating combat.

“The XO told us flat out what the situation was, and what we could be facing,” said Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Charles Currie, a Mk. 45 gun technician. “At that point the crew just started to get ready.”