Ryder said he was "not aware of any attacks" on the Abraham Lincoln vessel. "We will continue to make clear to the Houthis there will be consequences for their illegal and reckless attacks," he said.

For more than a year, U.S. warships have shot down Houthi drones and missiles, but the rebels continue to menace shipping in the Red Sea.

Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted two U.S. Navy warships with multiple drones and missiles as they were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but the attacks were not successful, the Defense Department said Tuesday.