The U.S. Navy’s 250th anniversary celebrations were marred by a series of online errors where officials and organizations posted images of foreign warships, including Russian vessels, mistaking them for American military assets. The incident, dubbed the "Hunt for Reds in October" by journalist Dave Brown, highlights growing concerns about professional oversight in public communications, particularly with the rise of social media and AI tools.
The Navy SEAL Museum in San Diego and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes were among the entities that shared the mistaken tributes, which were later removed after being identified as errors. Many of the photos hailed as symbols of U.S. naval might in fact showed Soviet or Russian vessels, including the Slava-class cruiser Marshal Ustinov and the Sverdlov-class cruiser Mikhail Kutuzov — preserved as a museum ship in Novorossiysk since 2002. Others featured Danish, Japanese, and Indian ships, as well as apparent AI-generated images.
Mistaken use of foreign or digitally fabricated military imagery has become increasingly common in official posts, particularly with the rise of social media and generative AI tools. Critics say such blunders highlight a growing lack of professionalism in public communications.