By Rootsalert Global Desk- 04-March-2026
A US nuclear submarine targeted the IRIS Dena in international waters, leaving 140 sailors missing and marking the first American torpedo strike in 80 years.
An American nuclear submarine sent an Iranian frigate to the bottom of the Indian Ocean last night, executing the first US torpedo attack on an enemy vessel since World War II.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike Wednesday, describing the sinking of the IRIS Dena as a “quiet death.” The vessel was intercepted in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka.
“The Iranian navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean,” Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon. “It is ineffective, decimated, destroyed—pick your adjective, it is no more.”
The IRIS Dena, a Moudge-class frigate, was returning from the Milan 2026 naval exercises in India when the Mark 48 torpedo struck. It didn’t stand a chance.
Sri Lankan rescue teams scrambled to the site, roughly 25 miles south of Galle, only to find oil slicks and debris. They’ve pulled 32 survivors from the water so far. Most are being treated for critical injuries at Karapitiya Hospital.
But where are the rest?
The ship’s manifest listed 180 personnel. That leaves over 100 sailors unaccounted for in a search area plagued by rising swells and darkening skies. Sri Lankan Navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath was blunt about the grim reality: “We found people floating, but we also found bodies.”
This wasn’t an accident.
The strike is a cornerstone of “Operation Epic Fury,” a massive US and Israeli campaign to systematically dismantle Tehran’s military infrastructure. Just 48 hours ago, US Central Command boasted of sinking 17 other Iranian vessels, including the drone carrier Shahid Bagheri.
Pentagon officials say the Dena thought it was safe because it was in open, international water. They were wrong.
The use of a submarine-launched torpedo is a chilling escalation. It’s a weapon of stealth that offers no warning and leaves no room for surrender. Hegseth’s “quiet death” remark wasn’t just rhetoric; it was a warning to any remaining Iranian assets still afloat.
How does Tehran respond to a total naval wipeout?
Military analysts are baffled by the lack of Iranian electronic warfare interference during the hit. The Dena was supposedly equipped with modern radar-evading tech, yet it was found and fixed with surgical precision.
The diplomatic fallout is already hitting Colombo. Opposition legislators in the Sri Lankan parliament are demanding to know why their Navy is cleaning up the wreckage of a superpower’s shadow war.
Meanwhile, India is watching its backyard turn into a graveyard. The Dena had just received a “warm welcome” at Visakhapatnam days earlier. Now, it’s a twisted hunk of steel on the seabed.
The US isn’t backing down. Hegseth asserted today that American forces would have “complete control” of Iranian skies within a week. The message to China and Russia is unmistakable: the Indian Ocean is no longer a safe transit zone for adversaries.
Expect the death toll to climb as the search-and-rescue window slams shut. For Iran, the loss of the Dena isn’t just a blow to their fleet—it’s the end of their ability to project power beyond their own coastline.
The next few days will determine if this remains a maritime execution or sparks a full-scale regional conflagration.
