US submarine makes use of torpedo to SINK Iranian warship in worldwide waters for first time since WWII
The US submarine sank an Iranian vessel using a torpedo, a first for a US submarine since WWII, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday.
‘An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,’ the secretary said at a morning press conference at the Pentagon.
‘Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo, quiet death, the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.’
Hegseth said the torpedo attack occurred on Monday in the Indian Ocean. The secretary did not name the ship, but earlier an Iranian warship sank off the coast of Sri Lanka.
Video of the incident, taken from a US submarine, shows the Iranian warship jolt violently upwards before exploding in a giant plume of smoke.
The back part of the vessel, which was the area that appeared to be hit with the torpedo, seems to be lifted out of the water momentarily after impact.
Sri Lankan foreign affairs minister Vijitha Herath announced that the strike occurred around 5 am local time.
He told parliament 180 people were on board the Iranian vessel, which he identified as the IRIS Dena.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that a US submarine sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo, the first attack of its kind since WWII
Video released by the Department of War shows the US submarine’s view of the exploding Iranian warship
‘By 6am we dispatched a naval vessel and by 7am the second naval vessel,’ Herath said. Sri Lankan officials announced at least 80 people were killed in the torpedo attack.
Sri Lankan officials also noted how 32 of the crew were rescued and brought to a local hospital.
The Iranian Iris Dena was one of its newest warships. It was reportedly equipped with surface-to-air missiles, a cannon, machine guns, torpedo launchers and anti-ship missiles.
The vessel took part in a naval drill in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to 25, according to the exercise’s website.
‘The Iranian Navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf,’ Hegseth said.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine celebrated the feat alongside Hegseth at the Pentagon, noting that the US has struck over 2,000 targets.
‘We’ve destroyed more than 20 Iranian naval vessels,’ Caine said.
‘Iran’s major naval presence in theater out there, as the Secretary showed the video, for the first time since 1945, a United States Navy fast attack submarine has sunk an enemy combatant ship using a single Mark 48 torpedo to achieve immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea.’
The Iranian vessel before the torpedo impact
The force from the torpedo sent a towering plume of what appears to be smoke and water into the air
Entering day five of the conflict, over a thousand are confirmed dead.
At least 1,045 people have been killed in Iran, the country’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday.
In Israel, 11 people have been killed. More than 50 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. At least six US troops have been killed.
