US submarine sinks
Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, in first
since WWII
The Times of Israel,
by
Agencies
&
Toi Staff
Original Article
Posted By: Hazymac,
3/4/2026 11:45:22 AM
An American submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Wednesday, the first US sinking of an enemy ship by torpedo since World War II.
The attack left at least 101 people missing, one dead and 78 injured, sources in Sri Lanka’s navy and defense ministry told Reuters.
The IRIS Dena frigate was armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes and could carry a helicopter.
The 180-crew frigate had issued a distress call at dawn.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,”
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
Hazymac 3/4/2026 11:54:21 AM (No. 2075952)
Run silent, run deep! This is so wonderful I almost can't stand it. First torpedoing of an enemy ship since 1945.
30 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Trump Won 3/4/2026 12:06:47 PM (No. 2075957)
Kelsey Grammer could have done it with the USS Stingray.
19 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
konocti95 3/4/2026 12:20:17 PM (No. 2075962)
The Brits sunk ARA Belgrano (formerly USS Phoenix) off the Falkland Islands in 1982. Any Chinese ships at sea will scurry home if Taiwan gets invaded.
14 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
jeffkinnh 3/4/2026 12:30:20 PM (No. 2075968)
Iran has used its Navy to intimidate the world by threatening shipping. They are fair targets and it's great to see our navy being so thorough. No Leaders, no Navy, no missiles, no Army, no IRGC, ...
24 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Hazymac 3/4/2026 12:30:20 PM (No. 2075969)
From Fox News article: Hegseth said that the U.S. Navy sank the Iranian warship, the Soleimani. The flagship was named for Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who the U.S. killed in a January 2020 drone strike during President Donald Trump's first term. The last we saw of Soleimani was a picture of his watch on his dead arm after being blown up. The rest we didn't see; it was probably gnarly. An American Mark 48 torpedo sent the "Soleimani" to the bottom of the sea. The b&w picture of the Iranian ship the moment before it disappeared forever, its bow sticking out of the water like a spear, is a keeper. Buh bye, Shiite sailors. Sux 2B U.
Here's the Fox News link: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-submarine-sinks-iranian-warship-torpedo-first-since-world-war-ii
13 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
udanja99 3/4/2026 12:47:29 PM (No. 2075975)
I just love that it was the Soleimani since the left lost their minds when Trump took him out a few years so.
Cry harder, lefties’
20 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
udanja99 3/4/2026 12:48:35 PM (No. 2075976)
A few years ago. ( typing on my phone.)
9 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
DVC 3/4/2026 12:53:18 PM (No. 2075980)
The Mark 48 torpedo is a very effective weapon, although until now, it had only sunk a number of target ships.
This was a very new ship, only four or five years old.
That old "Death to America" chant comes full circle for these folks.
18 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
DVC 3/4/2026 12:54:51 PM (No. 2075981)
Apparently the ship's actual name was IRIS Dena, but it had the nickname Soliemani to "honor" that vicious terrorist leader.
13 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
volksford 3/4/2026 1:09:37 PM (No. 2075984)
Remember the Cole . Paybacks are hell .
23 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
john56 3/4/2026 4:41:45 PM (No. 2076034)
The Iranian navy may be down to about six rowboats and a skiboat.
13 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
DVC 3/4/2026 4:55:23 PM (No. 2076042)
Re #11, I'm pretty sure we sunk those, too.
Grin.
13 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
czechlist 3/4/2026 5:54:32 PM (No. 2076058)
Fascinating. The torpedo detonated at the ship's stern. That is the least likely area for a crewman to be - maybe someone in aftersteering but unlikekly if they were not at GQ.
The sub skipper mercifully minimzed the casualties.
12 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
DVC 3/4/2026 6:01:52 PM (No. 2076063)
Here's a very short video of a Mk 48 torpedo sinking a target ship.
This is a US torpedo, fired by an Austrailian sub at a US target ship, in training. The torpedo explodes under the keel, the 'bubble' of expanding gasses lifts the ship, "breaks the back" structurally, and the ship settles down afterwards, the pieces separate and since the entire hull is now open to the sea for each end....sinks very quickly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRQNyDW15UA
8 people like this.
Sounds like they were waiting for it as it left port.
I wonder if it had attempted to maneuver and change paths out of harbor and this was just one of many hunters or if the Iranians just took a straight predictable path out of the port.
4 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
mifla 3/5/2026 6:39:38 AM (No. 2076230)
#2 - or by Lt Commander Quinton McHale's PT boat.
7 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Strike3 3/5/2026 7:51:50 AM (No. 2076266)
Hey Achmed, what's that thing in the water coming at our ship?
I dunno, a Dolphin?
7 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 3/5/2026 8:06:51 AM (No. 2076278)
Nice to know we finally worked out all the bugs from our torpedoes. /s
For those who don't know, American torpedoes, during damn near our entire our WWII Pacific Campaign, where most of our submarines operated, hid a glaringly bad manufacturing defect, which doomed them in operation. For every 10 torpedoes carried, perhaps only 2 would work correctly. There's nothing worse than launching a torpedo, thereby advertising your position to the enemy, only to have your "greeting card" miss its target, completely. Talk about a serious, "pucker factor," that's a huge one.
Nice shooting, Submariners!
11 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
crashnburn 3/5/2026 2:00:21 PM (No. 2076491)
The moment you take up arms for your country, you put your life on the line. I doubt we could have obtained any new intelligence from that warship.
2 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
MickTurn 3/5/2026 2:10:32 PM (No. 2076498)
Now Sponge Bob has somewhere new to Play!
1 person likes this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Omen55 3/5/2026 7:31:19 PM (No. 2076608)
Victory at Sea!
Great series.
1 person likes this.
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