The sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean is the first time a US submarine has sunk a vessel on the surface since World War II.
The IRIS Dena was a Moudge-class frigate from Iran’s Southern Fleet and had a crew of about 180. It was armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes, and could carry a helicopter.
The ship was thought to be heading back to Iran from a joint military exercise off India’s eastern coast. According to the London Telegraph, the ship’s commanders had attended a naval conference in India along with US naval chiefs before it was torpedoed on its return journey.
Earlier, the US military said it had already destroyed 17 Iranian vessels and that its goal was to sink “the entire navy”.
Iranian warship IRIS Dena.AP
Sri Lanka’s foreign minister said its navy had responded to a distress call from the IRIS Dena and launched a rescue operation at 6am (12pm Wednesday, AEDT). Some 87 bodies have been recovered, he said, and 32 people have been taken to hospital.
The sinking is the first time in almost 50 years that a submarine has destroyed a major warship.
In May 1982, the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror destroyed the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War, killing 323 sailors.
A smaller South Korean navy ship, the Cheonan, sank in March 2010 after a North Korean submarine attack, resulting in the loss of 45 lives.