The U.S. Navy struck and sank an Iranian warship in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka on Tuesday, marking the first time a U.S. submarine has sunk an enemy ship with a torpedo since World War II.
The Sri Lankan navy said Wednesday that it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people from the sunken ship, the IRIS Dena.
A single Mark 48 torpedo sank the ship, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said during a press briefing Wednesday alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The IRIS Dena, one of Iran’s newest warships, was a Moudge-class frigate that conducted ocean patrols. It was armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. It also carries one helicopter.
Sri Lankan reports early Wednesday local time said rescue operations were underway about 40 miles from the coast of Galle.
Sri Lankan navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath, as cited by The Associated Press, said by the time navy ships reached the location, there was no sign of the ship in distress and “there were only some oil patches and life rafts. We found people floating on the water.”
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned IRIS Dena in February 2023 along with eight executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer that supplied weapons to Russia for use against civilian targets in Ukraine.
Hegseth on Wednesday also said that U.S. forces sank Iran’s “prize ship,” which U.S. Central Command later told Stars and Stripes was a Soleimani-class warship struck off Iranian shores near the Strait of Hormuz. In 2020, U.S. forces killed senior Iranian military leader Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
“Looks like POTUS got him twice,” Hegseth said.
At least 17 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk during the ongoing war, said CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper.
“We are also sinking the Iranian navy — the entire navy,” he said in a video message.
Hegseth and Caine briefed reporters as the U.S. entered the fifth day of Operation Epic Fury against Iran. Both emphasized that the conflict is still in early stages and touted the U.S.’s early successes, including the killing of an unnamed Iranian military leader who had attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump.
“Over the next 24 to 48 hours, CENTCOM will continue to strike infrastructure and naval capability, and we will continue to assess our progress against the military objectives,” Caine said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An Iranian warship in international waters appears in flames after being struck by a torpedo launched from a U.S. submarine on March 3, 2026. The strike marks the first time a U.S. submarine has sunk an enemy ship by torpedo since World War II. (Defense Department/X)
