❓WHAT HAPPENED: A U.S. submarine launched a torpedo strike, sinking an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, killing at least 80 Iranians onboard.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The U.S. Navy, the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, Sri Lankan officials, and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The attack occurred late Tuesday night in international waters, approximately 44 nautical miles off the southern coast of Sri Lanka.
💬KEY QUOTE: “An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. It was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death—the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.” – Pete Hegseth
🎯IMPACT: The strike marks the first U.S. attack on Iranian military assets outside the Middle East since the conflict began.
The United States Department of War (DOW) has confirmed it carried out a submarine torpedo strike that sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth noted that the attack marked the first U.S. sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Sec. Hegseth said on Wednesday, continuing, “It was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death—the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.”
“Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department, we are fighting to win,” Hegseth added.
According to Hegseth, the Iranian frigate was targeted late Tuesday night while sailing in international waters. The vessel, described as the newest in Iran’s naval fleet, was equipped with surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, and torpedo launchers. At least 80 crew members were reported dead, with 32 survivors rescued and hospitalized in Galle, Sri Lanka.
BREAKING: U.S. Navy submarine torpedoing the Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka – VIDEO pic.twitter.com/jK8d17ZNLz
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) March 4, 2026
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Vijitha Herath, confirmed that the Sri Lankan coastguard responded to a distress call from the Iranian ship early Wednesday morning. Herath stated that Sri Lanka, as a signatory to the international convention on maritime search and rescue, dispatched two vessels to assist in rescue operations.
Representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran have yet to officially comment on the incident. However, Sri Lankan officials reported that Iranian sources believe the ship’s defense systems were disabled by electromagnetic means prior to the torpedo strike. The attack occurred 44 nautical miles off the coastal city of Galle, within Sri Lanka’s economic zone but outside its territorial waters.
This strike follows days of joint U.S.-Israel operations against Iranian leadership and military targets in the Middle East, including the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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