U.S. Torpedo ‘Obliterates’ Iranian Warship (Video)

A powerful U.S. Navy torpedo ripped apart an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean early Wednesday, marking the first time since World War II that an American submarine has sunk an enemy vessel in combat.

Pentagon officials confirmed the strike during a briefing led by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who described the attack as swift, decisive, and designed to send a clear message to Tehran.

“An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that believed it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “It was a quiet death.”

The targeted vessel, identified as the IRIS Dena, was one of the newest frigates in Iran’s naval fleet. The ship carried surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship weapons, torpedo systems, and other heavy armaments. Within minutes of the explosion, the warship reportedly slipped beneath the water.

According to officials, the attack occurred overnight off the southern coast of Sri Lanka.

The weapon responsible for the sinking was a Mark 48 Advanced Capability torpedo, one of the most lethal anti-ship weapons in the U.S. Navy arsenal. Each torpedo costs roughly $4.2 million and carries a massive 650-pound warhead.

But the weapon’s real power lies in how it destroys ships.

Instead of striking a vessel directly, the torpedo detonates underneath the hull. The explosion creates a huge vapor bubble that violently lifts the ship out of the water before collapsing, snapping the vessel’s keel and breaking it apart.

Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. submarine commander and senior defense analyst, said the physics of the weapon make survival nearly impossible.

“This torpedo detonated beneath the stern and lifted the ship up out of the water,” Shugart explained. “When that bubble collapses, the ship basically breaks its own back. It sinks very quickly.”

He said the Iranian vessel went down in a matter of minutes.

Submarine sinkings like this are extremely rare in modern naval history.

Shugart noted that the last time a nuclear-powered submarine sank a warship using a torpedo was during the 1982 Falklands War. In that conflict, the British submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano.

“That’s the only other time we’ve seen something like this from a nuclear submarine,” Shugart said.

The strike required extensive surveillance and positioning, including intelligence monitoring, submarine tracking, and coordinated naval deployments in the region.

But experts say once the submarine had the target locked, the attack itself was straightforward.

“To hunt down and sink an Iranian ship like that is not a challenging task for a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine,” Shugart said. “Our submarines are incredibly quiet, incredibly fast, and extremely well-armed.”

Defense analysts believe the attack was intended to send a powerful strategic message.

President Donald Trump has recently said the U.S. military campaign involving Iran is “ahead of schedule” and promised that the United States would “easily prevail” over the regime if conflict escalates.

The sinking of the IRIS Dena may be part of that pressure campaign.

Iran’s navy has long struggled with aging equipment and limited submarine capability. Many of its submarines are decades-old diesel-electric models originally sourced from Russia.

By contrast, American submarines operate on nuclear power and can stay underwater for months at a time.

“They can travel at high speed for as long as they want,” Shugart said. “Their endurance is basically limited only by food supplies.”

“They also carry the most advanced sensors and the most advanced weapons in the world.”

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath confirmed that the country’s coast guard received a distress call from the Iranian vessel at approximately 5:08 a.m. local time reporting a massive onboard explosion.

The sinking occurred outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters in international waters of the Indian Ocean.

Images from the Sri Lankan port city of Galle later showed vehicles unloading the bodies of Iranian sailors recovered from the wreck.

The exact number of casualties has not yet been publicly confirmed.

But defense analysts say the implications are clear.

“This strike sends a message,” Shugart said. “If any Iranian warships are still operating out there, they should understand something.”

“The gloves really are off.”