I guess I can sort-of see where you’re coming from. Presumably when they’re bombing an airbase they’re trying to hit planes, destroy runways, etc. If you’re in the break room at the time there’s a decent chance you don’t die. If you’re working on a plane, you’re probably dead. But, when you sink a ship, everyone goes into the water and there’s a good chance they’ll die.

To me, the fact that it happened nowhere near Iran is the bigger deal. It means that parts of the world that aren’t aligned with either side in the war now have to wonder what might explode in their own territory.

OTOH, at least when you sink a military ship there won’t be civilian casualties. If the US had actually declared war on Iran, which of course never happened, but if… then another warship is actually a valid target. This isn’t like blowing up an apartment building because a guy on your kill list is in one of the apartments.