US Submarine Sinks Iranian Ship: 87+ Sailors Dead

A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, significantly expanding Washington’s engagement with the Iranian navy. The vessel, identified as the frigate IRIS Dena, was en route back to Iran from an eastern Indian port, according to Sri Lanka’s deputy foreign minister, Arun Hemachandra.

U.S. Confirms Attack

“An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Wednesday. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.”

Hospital authorities in the Sri Lankan port city of Galle reported 87 bodies were brought in by military rescuers responding to an early morning distress call. Another 32 individuals were rescued and are receiving treatment, while approximately 60 people remain unaccounted for from an estimated 180 people on board, according to Sri Lankan authorities.

A Pentagon video shared on social media, purportedly showing the attack, depicted a large explosion hitting the warship, causing it to lift from the water and begin sinking stern-first. The exact date of the video and the warship type could not be independently verified, but the vessel’s deck shape and mast matched imagery of the IRIS Dena.

The IRINS Dena was listed as participating in a naval drill held in the Bay of Bengal from Feb. 18 to Feb. 25, according to the exercise’s website. IRIS — or Islamic Republic of Iran Ship — is the commonly used prefix for Iranian naval vessels, while IRINS, for Islamic Republic of Iran Naval Ship, is sometimes used.

“I want to remind everyone that this is an incredible demonstration of America’s global reach to hunt, find and kill an out-of-area destroyer [and] is something that only the United States can do at this type of scale,” said Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Caine stated the torpedo sent the ship “to the bottom of the sea.” Central Command said Wednesday that American forces have struck or sunk more than 20 Iranian ships since the conflict with Tehran began last week.

Just Outside Sri Lankan Waters

Sri Lanka launched a search-and-rescue operation after receiving a distress call. Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said that boats reaching the location observed only an oil slick, adding that Colombo remains committed to providing support despite the incident occurring outside Sri Lankan waters.

“We found people floating in the water and rescued them,” Sampath told reporters. “Later on, we found upon inquiring that they belonged to the Iranian ship.”

Rescuers transported bodies, covered in white sheets, in batches to the Karapitiya hospital in Galle, where they were moved to the morgue. The commander of the warship and some senior officers were among the survivors and informed the Sri Lankan navy that they were hit by a submarine attack, two Sri Lankan sources reported.

The website of the “Milan” biennial multilateral naval exercise organized by India listed the IRINS Dena as having taken part in the drill, which was held in the Bay of Bengal off India’s eastern coast. The Indian navy welcomed IRIS Dena “of the Iranian navy” upon its arrival in a Feb. 17 post on social media platform X. An Indian navy spokesperson did not respond to Reuters for a request for comment after the Dena was sunk.