COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The U.S. Navy has sunk an Iranian ship in the Indian Ocean, extending its unilateral war on Iran into Southeast Asia. The ship was sunk by a U.S. Navy fast attack submarine. After sinking the ship, the sub departed the scene leaving the 180 sailors on board to their fate.

In the Sri Lankan port city of Galle, it was confirmed that the country's military had responded to a distress call and had mounted a search and rescue mission, which resulted in the rescue  of 32 sailors, and the recovery of eighty-seven bodies.

On arrival at the scene, the rescuers found only an oil slick, noting that although the 'incident' had taken place outside Sri Lankan waters, they were still committed to providing support. "We found people floating in the water and rescued them," Sri Lankan navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath told journalists. "Later on, we found upon inquiring that they belonged to the Iranian ship."

Those rescued and the bodies recovered were taken to hospitals in Galle. There were an estimated 180 people on board, the Sri Lankan military said. Sixty remain missing, believed dead.

The Iranian ship had been in the area at India's invitation to take part in the MILAN 2026 multilateral naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal, which concluded last week. The United States Navy also took part in the MILAN 2026 exercises, "Indian Navy welcomes IRIS Dena, of the Iranian Navy, on her arrival at #Visakhapatnam ... reflecting long-standing cultural links ⁠between the two ​nations," the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy posted on X ​on 17 February 2026, together with pictures of the ship and some of its officers.

According to U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, the sinking of the IRIS Dena was the first sinking of a ship by torpedo since World War II.

He said the ship's sinking resulted in a 'quiet death.' 

"In the Indian Ocean, an American submarine sank an Iranian warship - that thought it was safe in international waters," the secretary told a news briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

"Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death."

"The first sinking of an enemy ship since World War II," Hegseth said.

"Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department, we are fighting to win," he said.

Weighing in, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: "I want to remind everybody that this is an incredible demonstration of America's global reach. To hunt, find and kill an out-of-area deployer is something that only the United States can do at this type of scale"