U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegeseth stated that a US Navy submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena (75) off the coast of Sri Lanka.
Submarine periscope footage released by the Department of War showed a Mk 48 torpedo striking beneath the stern of IRIS Dena, raising the vessel off the water. Sri Lanka’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arun Hemachandra said 80 Iranian sailors have died.
The Iranian vessel was returning from an international fleet review and MILAN exercise organized by the Indian Navy in the Bay of Bengal till February 25. The vessel sank 20 nautical miles south of Galle in Sri Lanka according to the Sri Lanka Navy.
Sri Lanka Navy was the first responder conducting search and rescue operations. Sri Lanka Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath said that the incident occurred beyond Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. The Sri Lanka Navy responded to a distress call by the vessel but did not find the vessel at the location. Traces of oil spills were found along with survivors and several bodies. 32 personnel were reportedly rescued out of a crew of 180. Sri Lanka will continue search and rescue operations. A Sri Lankan Navy vessel, likely SLNS Suranimala, was observed operating 25 nautical miles west of Galle.
This marks the first enemy warship sunk by the U.S. using a torpedo since World War II, the first ever SSN kill using a guided torpedo, and the second ship ever sunk by an SSN after HMS Conqueror sank ARA General Belgrano in 1982.
IRIS Dena is a Mowj class frigate utilized primarily for power projection. Armament includes 4 Qader anti-ship missiles, 2 x Sayyad air-defense missiles, various guns including a 76 mm main gun, a 40 mm gun and two 20 mm and 12.7 mm guns. The ship is equipped with lightweight torpedoes and a 3D phased array radar.
Under the ambit of Operation Epic Fury, US forces have targeted Iran’s naval strength significantly with Hegeseth stating that the Iranian Navy is “combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, defeated.” The vessels struck include Soleimani-class missile catamaran corvette IRIS Shahid Sayyad Shirazi, drone carrier Shahid Bagheri and forward base IRIS Makran.
“Yesterday, in the Indian Ocean an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War 2”
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegeseth
