NEW DELHI: An Iranian Navy frigate that had participated in the Indian Navy’s International Fleet Review (IFR) and the multinational Exercise Milan in Visakhapatnam in mid-February was struck by a torpedo fired by a United States Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) in the Indian Ocean Region early Wednesday, amid the escalating conflict involving the US-Israel and Iran.
The Sri Lankan navy recovered the bodies of 87 sailors from waters near the southern city of Galle, but 61 remained missing, police and defence officials said.
“Yesterday, in the Indian Ocean, an American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo, quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said while addressing a press briefing Wednesday.
The vessel, IRIS Dena, issued a distress call south of Sri Lanka soon after the strike, triggering a search and rescue operation in which around 30 sailors were injured and evacuated ashore out of a crew of about 180, according to Sri Lankan authorities.
The frigate was on its return voyage to Iran after participating in the naval engagements hosted by India when it reported the emergency at sea around dawn.
It is also learnt the vessel was scheduled to halt at Kochi for refuelling before beginning its onward passage westward towards the Persian Gulf.
Sri Lankan authorities, quoted by news agency AFP, said the vessel, carrying around 180 crew members, issued the distress call while sailing about 40 nautical miles south of Galle, just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. Responding to the alert, the Sri Lanka Navy dispatched ships and aircraft, while the Sri Lanka Air Force joined the rescue effort to evacuate sailors from the vessel.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that the injured sailors were being transported to hospitals in southern Sri Lanka. Authorities placed the main hospital in Galle, about 115 km south of Colombo, on alert to receive them.
Sri Lankan Navy spokesperson, Buddhika Sampath further said the response was carried out under the country’s international maritime obligations. “We responded to the distress call under our international obligations as this falls within Sri Lanka’s Search and Rescue Area in the Indian Ocean,” he said.
Responding to a query from The New Indian Express earlier, the U.S. Embassy spokesperson in New Delhi had said the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Pinckney, an Arleigh Burke-class warship slated to participate in the Visakhapatnam International Fleet Review and Exercise Milan, did not attend the events due to emergent operational requirements. The U.S. Navy instead deployed a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft for the engagements.
The destroyer had departed Singapore on February 11 after undergoing repairs.
The Chief of the Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, had also travelled to Visakhapatnam for the engagements, attending the IFR, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs and Exercise Milan hosted by the Indian Navy.