A video posted by Filipino TikTok and Facebook (FB) users erroneously claims that American aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford has sunk. This is not true. The ship remains operational and actively commissioned by the United States (U.S.) Navy.
First uploaded on TikTok on Jan. 7 and later reposted by a Facebook user on March 28, the video had a superimposed text that read:
“[M]ay lumubog nanamang aircraft carrier ng America. [P]aalam us gerald pord (sic) nabawasan nanamn ang [U.S.] navy.
Another aircraft carrier of America sank. Goodbye US Gerald Pord (sic) the U.S. Navy decreased in number again.”
According to the ship’s official website, USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, returned to its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia on Jan. 17 in good condition after an eight-month deployment in the Mediterranean Sea where it docked in the ports of five North Atlantic Treaty Organization members – Croatia, Greece, Italy, Norway and Türkiye.
The warship also supported Israeli forces in their ongoing war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The photo of a sinking ship shown in the video was not of the USS Gerald Ford, but of USS Oriskany which was deliberately sunk by the U.S. Navy in May 2006 to create an artificial reef.
Originally uploaded by TikTok user @armforces_idits, the untrue video garnered over 407,000 interactions. An FB user reposted the clip which drew 12,339 interactions.
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