A U.S. submarine sunk an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka’s coast in the Indian Ocean, War Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed during a Wednesday morning press conference.
Hegseth said the enemy ship “thought it was safe in international waters,” but it was ultimately “sunk by a torpedo.” The Cabinet secretary called the underwater attack the “first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.”
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, clarified to reporters that it was the first time a warship was sunk by a U.S. submarine since 1945.
“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,” Caine said.
“I want to remind everybody that this is an incredible demonstration of America’s global reach,” he added. “To hunt, find, and kill an out-of-area deployer is something that only the United States can do at this type of scale.”
After the press conference, the Department of War posted periscope footage of the moment the U.S. submarine dealt the final, devastating blow to the Iranian warship.
The naval attack left at least 101 people missing, one dead, and 78 injured, Sri Lankan officials told Reuters before the Pentagon press conference.
With 180 crew members, the IRIS Dena frigate issued a distress signal amid the submarine attack. The ship was armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, and torpedoes. It also provided a landing spot for one helicopter.
Caine confirmed the U.S. has destroyed more than 20 Iranian naval vessels, including the frigate sailing near Sri Lanka.
The U.S. started conducting “Operation Epic Fury” in coordination with Israel against Iran on Saturday, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior Iranian officials in joint airstrikes.
Hegseth reminded reporters that the operation has just started and will continue ramping up until the Islamic regime is obliterated.
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“When you add the Israeli Defense Forces, a devastatingly capable force, the combination is sheer destruction for our radical Islamist Iranian adversaries,” he said. “They are toast, and they know it. Or at least soon enough, they will know it. And we have only just begun to hunt, dismantle, demoralize, destroy, and defeat their capabilities just four days in.”
President Donald Trump said he expects the military campaign to last up to four or five weeks, although it’s likely the crackdown on Iran could last longer.
The sinking of the warship by the submarine is the first time since the 1982 Falklands War, when the ARA General Belgrano was sunk by the Royal Navy submarine Conqueror.
