U.S. Submarine Launches First Torpedo in Combat Since World War II

Since 1991, Navy subs have launched scores of cruise missiles in combat, but the torpedo attack off Sri Lanka is a return to form after 80 years.


Health care workers transporting the bodies of Iranian sailors who were killed on the Iris Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Ishara S. Kodikara/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images

By John Ismay
Reporting from Washington
March 4, 2026, 3:59 p.m. ET

For the first time since World War II, a torpedo launched from a U.S. Navy submarine struck a vessel in combat, sending the Iranian frigate Iris Dena to the bottom of the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka.

The submarine, which the Pentagon has yet to identify, carried out the attack on Wednesday. Later that morning, the Defense Department released a video of a single torpedo detonating under the Iris Dena�s stern, sending a large plume of water skyward. The frigate's hull can be seen tearing apart along its port quarter above the waterline.

At a Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the sinking "quiet death," while Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke about it more dispassionately, saying the torpedo achieved "immediate effect." ... Sri Lankan officials said they had rescued 32 Iranian sailors from the Iris Dena, which is believed to have had a crew of 180.

The Navy referred questions about the submarine attack to U.S. Central Command. ... According to the U.S. Navy's History and Heritage Command, the last American sub to fire a torpedo at an enemy vessel was the U.S.S. Torsk, which sank a 750-ton Japanese vessel on Aug. 14, 1945.

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John Ismay is a reporter covering the Pentagon for The Times. He served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Navy.