It's hard to find good information on the simulation, but the reference appears to be to the following: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Challenge_2002

It's hard to find good information on the simulation, but the reference appears to be to the following: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Challenge_2002 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Challenge_2002 The NYT reported many years later: "In the simulation, General Van Riper sent wave after wave of relatively inexpensive speedboats to charge at the costlier, more advanced fleet approaching the Persian Gulf. His force of small boats attacked with machine guns and rockets, reinforced with missiles launched from land and air. Some of the small boats were loaded with explosives to detonate alongside American warships in suicide attacks. That core tactic of swarming ..." Thus, to answer your question, they did not go up the ship. The attack is generally reminiscent of the USS Cole bombing, which preceded the simulation by a couple years.