Sinking Of IRIS Dena: US Navy warned crew before torpedo strike; over 80 killed in Indian Ocean

Sri Lankan Navy sailors rescue Iranian sailors from IRIS Dena warship after their ship sank outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, near Galle, Sri Lanka

A sailor aboard an Iranian warship that was sunk by the US Navy in the Indian Ocean earlier this week had called his father, saying American forces had issued two warnings for the crew to abandon the frigate, Iran International reported.The ship, IRIS Dena, was struck by a torpedo shortly afterward, killing more than 80 sailors, including the one who had called his father. Thirty-two crew members were rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy after responding to the vessel’s distress call.

The frigate was attacked on Wednesday about 19 nautical miles off the southern Sri Lankan port of Galle.The sinking of the IRIS Dena, described by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth as a “quiet death,” marked the first time since World War II that the United States had torpedoed an enemy warship.

The vessel was returning to Iran from India, where it had participated in the MILAN-2026 naval exercise in Visakhapatnam.A day later, Sri Lanka evacuated more than 200 crew members from a second Iranian warship, IRIS Bushehr.Meanwhile, another Iranian frigate, IRIS Lavan, remains docked at Kochi port in India.Iran is currently engaged in military hostilities with the United States and Israel, following their joint strikes on the Islamic Republic on February 28 that marked the beginning of the current Middle East conflict. In response, Tehran has launched attacks on US bases in Gulf states, as well as on civilian infrastructure in these countries and in Israel.