U.S. Strikes Iranian Frigate in Indian Ocean: First Submarine Torpedo Sinking Since WWII
In a dramatic escalation of the U.S.-led campaign against Iran, a U.S. Navy submarine has torpedoed and sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, marking the first such submarine-launched torpedo destruction of an enemy vessel by American forces since the end of World War II. The targeted ship, identified by the Pentagon as the IRIS Dena—a Moudge-class frigate and one of the Iranian Navy's more advanced surface combatants—was struck late Tuesday in international waters approximately off Sri Lanka's southern coast. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the incident during a Wednesday briefing at the Pentagon, releasing declassified video footage captured from the attacking submarine's periscope. "An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters," Hegseth stated. "Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II." Chairman of the Joint Chi...