It was the first shot al-Qaeda fired, and we barely noticed. 17 sailors died, a Navy warship nearly sank, and somehow it got buried under bureaucratic shrugs—until now.
Renee Gordon from The Daily Wire recommended this one.
Trailer for “USS COLE”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- The bombers used a tiny fiberglass fishing boat loaded with 1,000 lbs of explosives to blow a 40-by-60-foot hole in the USS Cole while it was simply refueling in Yemen.
- Crew members fought off flooding and fire for 96 straight hours to keep the ship from sinking in hostile waters.
- It took over 2 decades for the accused mastermind, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, to even begin his trial at Guantánamo. The case is still unresolved today.
More Highlights from the Doc
- This is a boots-on-the-deck kind of doc: survivors, commanding officers, and intel officers walk us through the attack second-by-second.
- The documentary pins this as not just a terror act—but a missed moment of clarity. Intelligence reports before the bombing had warned of an al-Qaeda threat in Yemen. No action was taken.
- The attack occurred under the ship’s galley at lunchtime. Crew members in the chow line were killed instantly.
- The decision by the U.S. government to treat this as a criminal matter—not an act of war—meant no major retaliation. And Osama bin Laden took note.
- Several key voices appear, including former sailors, Navy commanders, and national security insiders who say this was 9/11’s dress rehearsal, and America ignored the signs.
- The visuals of the wrecked hull—lifted out of water and back into drydock—are haunting. So is the roll call of the 17 who died. Some were just 19 years old.
Watch “USS COLE”
You can watch “USS COLE” exclusively on DailyWire+.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 90/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: [Not listed yet]
Director’s Note
This is a DailyWire+ docuseries—sharp production values, tight scripting, and a focus on national security narratives from a conservative lens. The story is told chronologically, but with a deliberate eye on the dominoes that fell afterward, leading straight to 9/11. Renee Gordon from The Daily Wire recommended this one—and it’s clear why: it’s a case study in ignored warnings.
Release Date: October 10, 2025
My Review of “USS COLE”
The Setup
It’s October 2000. The USS Cole, a guided missile destroyer, docks in Aden, Yemen to refuel. A small boat approaches the ship. Then, a massive explosion. In seconds, 17 sailors are dead, and the ship is nearly lost. This doc covers the lead-up, the explosion, the heroic response, the investigations—and how Washington failed to treat it as a declaration of war.
The filmmakers argue that this wasn’t just an isolated terror incident. It was al-Qaeda testing the U.S. response. And we failed the test.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- The ship was in the middle of a “routine” fuel stop—a common operation, but one with virtually no nearby naval support in case of emergency.
- Al-Qaeda operatives had tested the harbor weeks before, doing dry runs with the same style of boat and cameras—none of which were flagged at the time.
- The galley—where the blast hit—was also one of the busiest areas on the ship during lunchtime. This is why the death toll was so high.
- Despite the chaos, the crew managed to keep the ship from capsizing, plugging holes, fighting fire, and stabilizing the vessel—some worked for four days straight on little sleep.
- One of the sailors memorialized was just weeks away from finishing his tour and heading back home to propose to his girlfriend.
Wrap Up:
This doc hits hard. It’s a brutal reminder that 9/11 didn’t come out of nowhere. There was a warning, and it exploded in Aden Harbor.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc