US Navy Achieves First Enemy Ship Kill via Submarine in Over 75 Years

By
Steve Schneider
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Source: Department of War

The US Navy has torpedoed and sunk an Iranian frigate — the IRIS Dena — in the Indian Ocean, marking the first time a US submarine has sunk an enemy surface warship since World War II.

The attack occurred off the coast of Sri Lanka, where Sri Lankan authorities later rescued survivors after the ship issued a distress call, reports Howard Altman and Joseph Trevithick of The War Zone. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the submarine strike, saying the Iranian warship “thought it was safe in international waters” before being hit.

The incident comes amid broader hostilities involving the US, Israel, and Iran and reflects a significant escalation of naval operations beyond the Persian Gulf. TWZ writes:

U.S. Navy attack submarine has sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, the Pentagon has confirmed. Authorities in Sri Lanka had earlier announced they had rescued Iranian sailors from the Moudge class frigate IRIS Dena after what they said appeared to be a submarine attack. This is the first known attack by an American submarine on a surface warship since World War II and the first such action anywhere since the Churchill class HMS Conqueror sank the Argentine Navy cruiser ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War in 1982. […]

At the same briefing, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine said the same attack had been carried out by an unspecified “fast attack submarine” using a single Mk 48 torpedo. […]

Modern heavyweight anti-ship torpedoes like the Mk 48 are designed to cause maximum damage after striking the target ship well below the waterline. The Mk 48 torpedo’s roughly 650-pound warhead is powerful enough to ‘lift’ a warship and cause its hull to buckle, if not break entirely, as is regularly seen in U.S. Navy sinking exercises.

U.S. forces have struck or sunk to the bottom of the ocean more than 20 ships from the Iranian regime. Last night, CENTCOM added a Soleimani-class warship to the list.

Read more here.

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