Several Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress handles had a faux pass moment when they shared a photo of a United States Navy Ship to commemorate Indian Navy Day on December 4, 2021.
BJP State handles like BJP Jammu and Kashmir, BJP Maharashtra, and Congress handles like Maanmohan Singh Pahujaa and P. C. Sharma shared the photo while wishing Indian Navy Day.
BJP Jammu & Kashmir shared the photo with the caption, "Greetings on Indian Navy Day. A Grand Salute to The Guardians of the Sea."
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Maharashtra BJP unit also tweeted the same picture with the caption: "Three salutes to the incomparable bravery of the soldiers on the occasion of Indian Naval Day!"
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Congress Leader P.C Sharma tweeted the photo with the caption,"Indian #NavyDay salute to the bravehearts of the Indian Navy, who defend the country's maritime borders and strengthen our strategic interests away from the country's border, and wish all the countrymen a very Happy Navy Day... #NavyDay #NavyDay2021"
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FACT-CHECK
A Google reverse image search on the photo showed that the ship in the viral photo is US Navy's Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
An article in the Naval Post describes LCS as "LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions."
US Navy's official website describes the LCS as, "The Littoral Combat Ship would be designed as a focused-mission, modular, surface combatant smaller than a FFG but larger and more capable than a PC or MCM ship. LCS was envisioned to be an independently deployable, theater-based ship, capable of changing primary missions through modular Mission Package."
This isn't the first time the same photo has gone viral on Indian Navy Day. The same photo was used by the official Congress handle in 2019 and BJP handle in 2017. Alt News had previously debunked the false claim in 2019.
