U.S. forces issued two warnings to an Iranian warship, urging its crew to abandon the vessel before striking it with a torpedo. The incident occurred in the Indian Ocean, approximately 19 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern port of Galle.
An Iranian sailor reportedly informed his father shortly before the strike about the U.S. warnings. The IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship that had just departed Indian waters after participating in a multinational naval exercise hosted by New Delhi, was sunk by a U.S. Navy submarine.
This marks the first time since World War II that a U.S. submarine has torpedoed and sank an enemy vessel. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth described the incident as a “quiet death,” emphasizing that the Iranian ship believed it was safe in international waters.
Sri Lanka’s navy recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 survivors from the sinking. The Iranian warship’s commander reportedly refused to allow the crew to abandon the vessel despite the imminent threat, according to an official report. Survivors described arguing with their commander before escaping on lifeboats.
A U.S. State Department cable dated March 6 detailed that Washington urged Sri Lankan authorities not to return the 32 surviving sailors and the 208 rescued from Iranian naval auxiliary ship IRIS Booshehr. The cable also indicated no plans for repatriating the crew to Iran, with a request that the Israeli embassy in New Delhi be informed of this stance.
The incident occurred on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, as reported by Sri Lanka’s navy, which noted the distress call was received at 04:00 local time. The vessel was operating about 20 nautical miles west of Galle when it was struck.
