Politics
Sri Lanka Reveals Chilling Discovery At Site Of Sunken Iranian Warship
Sri Lanka’s navy rushed into the Indian Ocean after receiving a distress call from an Iranian warship, but what it found looked like a scene from a disaster film: oil slicks, empty life rafts and bodies in the water after the vessel was sunk by a U.S. torpedo strike.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament on Wednesday that Sri Lanka launched a rescue effort after a distress signal from Iran’s IRIS Dena, which had 180 people on board. Navy ships and aircraft were sent to the area.
When Sri Lankan forces arrived, the ship was gone.
“There was no sign of the ship, only some oil patches and life rafts,” navy spokesman Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said. “We found people floating on the water.”
Sri Lanka’s navy said crews recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people.
Survivors were taken to a hospital in Galle, a coastal city on Sri Lanka’s southern shore, Sampath said. Health officials said one of those rescued is in critical condition, seven were receiving emergency treatment and others were treated for minor injuries. Recovery operations for additional bodies continued.
The grim discovery came just hours after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed that the U.S. Navy had sunk the IRIS Dena, calling it a “prize ship” for Iran as Operation Epic Fury expands beyond the Middle East.
Periscope footage of a US Navy Submarine torpedoing the Iranian Frigate Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka.
The Mk. 48 Torpedo’s 650 pound warhead can be seen detonating under the Iranian Frigate’s stern. pic.twitter.com/DypnxA1Whd
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 4, 2026
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department. We are fighting to win.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said a single Mark 48 torpedo was used in a Navy “fast attack,” delivering what he described as immediate effect and sending the warship to the bottom.
RELATED: WATCH: US Sinks Key Iranian Warship In Jaw-Dropping Footage
The sinking is a major escalation at sea, and it underscores how the campaign is now reaching well beyond Iran’s borders. U.S. officials have argued that Tehran’s naval assets and missile capabilities are central to its ability to threaten Americans, choke global shipping lanes and project power through proxies.
Hegseth said the U.S. also struck another Iranian warship in a separate incident closer to Iran, saying the Navy sank the Soleimani, a missile ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Iranian navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, defeated. Pick your adjective,” Hegseth said. “In fact, last night we sunk their prize ship, the Soleimani. Looks like POTUS got him twice. Their navy, not a factor. Pick your adjective. It is no more.”
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