US politicians mistakenly use Indian, Russian warship images for Navy's birthday posts

America’s Navy turned 251 on Tuesday (Oct 13), and some US politicians, eager to join the birthday celebrations, committed a big blunder. The wishes were meant for US Navy fleet, but the ships in the posts that several prominent Republican lawmakers and state governors shared were from India and Russia instead. While the US Navy Day is observed annually on October 27, a separate commemoration from the official US Navy Birthday is celebrated on October 13.

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The incident came to limelight when Dave Brown, a journalist with The Wall Street Journal pointed out on X that Georgia Governor Brian P Kemp, a Republican, had shared Indian warships in his post wishing US Navy. He wrote on X, "From the early days of our nation's founding, the Navy has stood watch over our country and defended freedom across the seas. On its birthday, we salute the sailors whose service, sacrifice, and courage carry that legacy forward." The image shared by Kemp had three warships sailing in line astern, emblazoned with the words "Happy Birthday US Navy" and the seal of the state of Georgia. Brown reshared the post and wrote on X: "Those are Indian warships". The three warships were Indian Navy frigates, INS Godavari, INS Brahmaputra and INS Beas. A Community Note on Kemp's X post also identified the vessels as Kolkata-class guided-missile destroyers.

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Jeffrey J Dinise, an official with the US Border Patrol, used an image of a Russian Kirov-class battlecruiser.

US Congressman Tim Moore of North Carolina, meanwhile, used the same image of the three Indian Navy frigates shared by Kemp.

Ohio State Representative Mike Dovilla, a Republican and, a former US Navy lieutenant commander, was seen wishing the US Navy a happy birthday with an image of warships that Brown identified as belonging to the Russian Navy.

Democratic politician and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, whose city is home to one of the US Navy's largest naval bases, used an image of the Soviet-era cruiser Mikhail Kutuzov, which is now a museum ship in Novorossiysk, Russia.

Additionally, the social media account of the Freedom Caucus Foundation, a Republican-aligned think tank, also joined in, using an image of the Indian Navy frigate INS Trikand.