Damn. Smack on the waterline, a clean hit. Looks like they may have been lucky to save it. I'm not so sure about the CIWS being able to engage it, though. If it came from the rear quarter, it might not have been able to turn back and down far enough. I do agree that it sounds like the crew, somehow, got caught unawares. Maybe they were too close to shore, not paying attention, distracted by the first missile, or some combination.
There was something mentioned in one article about the fire continuously reigniting after the crew put it out. Seems to me I remember hearing similar stories from the Falklands war, regarding the aluminum and magnesium and similar light alloys used in modern ships where older vessels used steel. It's worth remembering that these modern ships aren't the armored juggernauts we tend to think about from World War II. They're comparatively light and fragile, emphasizing their technology, speed, and firepower over armor.
}:-)4
The British frigates burned easily due to large amounts of plastic insulated wiring and electronic cables, plus aluminum superstructures. They also had just about all of the wiring and plumbing running down the centerline of the ship, so that a hit or a fire in the central passageway would pretty much doom the ship. Modern frigates aren't nearly as surviveable as our WW2 destroyers, some of which took up to a dozen kamikazi hits without sinking or burning up.