US Sub Sinks Iranian Warship as US Says 20 Ships Destroyed in Effort To Wipe Out Iran’s Navy
US forces have destroyed more than 20 Iranian navy vessels and damaged Tehran’s most operational submarine while continuing a campaign aimed at dismantling Iran’s maritime capabilities, US officials said Wednesday, as a US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka.
The sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena came as US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iranian naval forces had effectively been pushed out of key waterways in the region. Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said in an update video posted earlier Wednesday on X that no Iranian vessels were underway as of Tuesday in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, or the Gulf of Oman.
Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO. The Iranian regime has harassed and attacked international shipping in the Gulf of Oman for decades. Those days are over. Freedom of maritime navigation has underpinned American and global… pic.twitter.com/nzdkMVMqZC
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 2, 2026
US officials said American forces have wiped out more than 20 Iranian ships and also struck Tehran’s most operational submarine, leaving a hole in its hull.
Give the gift of hope
We practice what we preach:
accurate, fearless journalism. But we can't do it alone.
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
- On the ground in Gaza, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, and more
- Our program trained more than 100 journalists
- Calling out fake news and reporting real facts
Join us.
Support The Media Line. Save democracy.
Cooper said US forces would continue targeting Iran’s naval assets as part of Operation Epic Fury. The campaign is intended to end Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and weaken its missile capabilities.
“We’re hunting Iran’s last remaining mobile ballistic missile launchers to eliminate, what I would characterize as their lingering launch capability,” Cooper said.
Iran maintains two naval organizations: the Islamic Republic of Iran navy, which focuses on conventional maritime operations, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, which concentrates on asymmetric warfare.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that an American submarine torpedoed and sank the IRIS Dena near Sri Lanka during the operation.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon news briefing. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo.”
Hegseth described the strike as a “quiet death,” adding that it was the first time since World War II that the United States had sunk an enemy ship using a torpedo.
“Their navy, not a factor. Pick your adjective; it is no more.”
Sri Lanka’s navy said Wednesday it had recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 survivors after responding to a distress call from the vessel. The ship had about 180 crew members on board when it went down, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, Vijitha Herath, told Parliament.
Sri Lankan authorities launched a search-and-rescue effort after receiving the distress signal, AP reported. Naval ships and aircraft were dispatched to the area.
Navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath said the survivors were taken to a hospital in the southern coastal city of Galle, while the bodies recovered from the sea were being brought ashore.
