Iranian Frigate Sunk by US Submarine Torpedo in the Indian Ocean

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters. He praised the strike as evidence of America’s global reach in its war against Iran. ‘A US submarine sank an Iranian warship that believed itself secure in international waters. Instead, the ship was sunk by a torpedo,’ Hegseth told reporters, cited by AFP, on Wednesday, 4 March 2026. Sri Lanka authorities said they had rescued 32 crew members from the IRIS Dena frigate, but 148 sailors were missing, with little hope that more would be found. Hegseth described the attack as a ‘silent death’ and the first time an enemy vessel has been sunk by a US torpedo since World War II. ‘As in that war,’ he said, ‘we are fighting to win.’ The Pentagon said one of the main objectives of the US–Israel war against Iran is to eliminate its navy. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Vijitha Herath, told parliament that Iranian nationals rescued were immediately taken to a major hospital on the island’s south, while two naval ships and an aircraft were deployed to search for others. The frigate had sent an emergency call early on Wednesday morning and within less than an hour a rescue vessel reached the area about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the port of Galle, the minister said. The frigate had sunk completely and only an oil slick remained when the naval rescuers approached. ‘We continue to search, but we do not know what happened to the rest of the crew,’ a Sri Lankan defence official told AFP. Sri Lanka’s navy spokesman, Buddhika Sampath, said their operation complied with Sri Lanka’s maritime duties. ‘We responded to the emergency call in line with our international obligations, as this was within our search-and-rescue area in the Indian Ocean,’ Sampath told AFP. ‘We have found several bodies from the area where the ship sank,’ he added. Sri Lanka remains neutral and has repeatedly urged dialogue to resolve the Middle East conflict. More than one million Sri Lankan citizens work in the Middle East and are a key source of foreign exchange for a country coming back from the worst economic crisis in 2022. Neither the Royal Sri Lanka Navy nor the air force said they would release footage of the rescue, as it involves another country’s military. Police heightened security outside Galle hospital as Iranian casualties were taken there by the local navy. The Iranian Ambassador to Colombo, Alireza Delkhosh, could not be reached for comment.