U.S. Submarine Sunk Iranian Warships With 180 Sailors Near Sri Lanka, Another Was Hit In Gulf (Videos)

Illustrative image. (U.S. Navy)

An American nuclear-powered submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on March 4.

“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” Hegseth told reporters at a press briefing.

He called the attack “quiet death.” He also noted it was the first U.S. sinking of an enemy vessel by torpedo since World War II, adding: “Like in that war, we are fighting to win.”

The Department of Defense shared footage of the torpedo attack against the warship, which was identified as the IRIS Dena. The torpedo struck the stern of the warship. The explosion was so powerful that it shredded the engine room, and lifted most of the warship in the air.

IRIS Dena was described as both destroyer and frigate by the English media. In Persian, however, it is known as ناوشکن (nâvšekan), which translates to “destroyer”.

With a displacement up to 1,500 tons and a length of 94 meters, it was one of the largest warships in service with Islamic Republic of Iran Navy. The 180-crew warship was also armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes and could carry a helicopter.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath confirmed that the country had rescued 32 “critically wounded” sailors aboard the IRIS Dena, which sank just outside the island nation’s territorial waters.

Herath said that two Sri Lankan navy vessels and an aircraft were deployed for the rescue operation, but did not say what caused the Iranian warship to sink.

Sri Lanka’s defense ministry later said that it was searching for over some 100 other members of the crew of the IRIS Dena.

“We are keeping up a search, but we don’t know yet what happened to the rest of the crew,” an official told AFP, dimming prospects for finding any more survivors.

Later, AFP reported, citing police and defense officials from Sri Lanka, that the country’s navy had recovered 87 bodies of sailors from the Iranian warship

Click to see full-size image. (U.S. Navy)

Click to see full-size image. (U.S. Navy)

Speaking at the same Department of Defense press briefing with Hegseth, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine revealed that over 20 Iranian naval vessels have been destroyed, largely neutralizing the Islamic Republic’s main naval presence in the theater.

Earlier in the day, Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, said in a video statement that 17 Iranian ships, including the Islamic Republic’s “most operational submarine,” had been destroyed.

In addition to IRIS Dena, video footage posted online on March 4 revealed that IRIS Shahid Sayyad Shirazi, a Shahid Soleimani-class corvette of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, was also hit near the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. CENTCOM confirmed that it struck the warship and released its own footage.

The warship, which features a unique catamaran (twin hull) design, was armed with surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, land-attack missiles and could carry a helicopter.

Since the start of the American-Israeli war on Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump set the destruction of Iranian naval forces as one of the main goals.

While the U.S. military has been very successful against the Iranian fleet, the Islamic Republic maintains a large arsenal of anti-ship weapons. At least ten tankers and cargo vessels have been reportedly targeted by the country near the strategic Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war.

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