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Report: Eight U.S. Marines Were Injured in Iranian Strike on a Ship

IRGC launch drone
File image courtesy IRGC

Published Sep 27, 2026 10:53 PM by The Maritime Executive

Earlier this month, a Fox News correspondent reported that a "U.S.-contracted" vessel had been hit by an Iranian munition somewhere near the Strait of Hormuz, injuring U.S. personnel. NBC News has since obtained more details about the incident, and has confirmed that U.S. Marines were among those on board. 

Three U.S. officials told MSC that eight Marines were injured in an Iranian cruise missile strike on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The Marines sustained smoke inhalation injuries, along with possible traumatic brain injury symptoms (concussion and headaches). All eight have since returned to duty, the officials said. According to the Pentagon's internal database, more than 800 American servicemembers have been injured during the conflict with Iran over the course of the year to date.

The strike occurred on the 14th, the officials told NBC. They declined to identify the name or the type of the vessel, except that it was not a U.S. Navy ship. Private maritime security sources have previously identified a Western-operated vessel that was hit in the same region on the same day. 

U.S. forces are engaged in a concerted effort to maintain the flow of commercial marine traffic through the southern end of the Strait of Hormuz, and have achieved a high degree of success in moving supertankers through the waterway. At this point, more than 10 million barrels per day of crude are moving through the Strait, a meaningful degree of recovery after months of low traffic. U.S. Central Command has declined to comment in detail on its methods, but they do not appear to involve direct U.S. Navy convoy escorts. 

In addition to attacks on American assets in the region, Iran has also proven intent on capturing U.S. Navy drones in the vicinity of Hormuz. The latest claim, released Sunday, appeared to show the seizure of a Remus 600 drone, a standard U.S. Navy intelligence-gathering drone. 

Iran previously seized an Anduril Dive-LD, a larger and more capable unmanned submersible. U.S. Central Command said at the time that it was disabled and adrift, and claimed that was an outdated model.