The Virginia-class fast attack submarine (the class is my speculation) USS Charlotte (SSN-776), a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine sank an Iranian warship about 40 miles off Galle in southern Sri Lanka, killing at least 87 of the 200-plus crew. The ship was the IRIS Dena, a1,500-ton Moudge-class frigate. This class of ship was armed with surface-to-air missiles, a quick-firing 76mm cannon, torpedoes, and surface attack missiles housed in vertical launch cells.
IRIS Dena had been on the subcontinent since February 18, first participating in the International Fleet Review 2026 held at the Indian port of Visakhapatnam. This event was followed by participation in the annual Indian-sponsored Milan naval exercise. My colleague, Rusty Weiss, covered the sinking in a previous post; see Watch: US Submarine Sinks Iranian Warship by Torpedo, a First Since World War II – RedState.
This represents the first time a U.S. ship has sunk another ship by torpedo since USS Torsk, a Tench-class submarine captained by Commander Bafford E. Lewellen, dropped a Japanese anti-submarine patrol vessel on August 14, 1945, the day before hostilities ceased.Since then, there have been two known sinkings by torpedo. In 1971, the Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor sank the Indian frigate INS Khukri. A decade later, HMS Conqueror torpedoed the Argentine light cruiser ARA General Belgrano, formerly the USS Phoenix.
This was a stinging blow to an Iranian navy that had already been reduced to nothingness by the U.S. air campaign. It was a sign that Iranian ships were not safe even outside the Persian Gulf and Straits of Hormuz. It was a warning that Iranian military assets anywhere in the world were fair game, and the Department of War was not going to play the sad old game we've practiced since the Korean War of granting our enemies sanctuaries where we refuse to attack them.
But, as predictable as night following day, was the left claiming the attack was a "war crime." Since Trump came into office, every military action has been declared a "war crime." Operation Midnight Hammer was a war crime. Snatching Maduro was a war crime. Chastising Iran was a war crime. And so, of course, sinking an enemy warship also had to be a war crime.
This tweet on X by the Soros-sponsored "DropSiteNews" is probably the most succinct roundup of all the allegations.
An unarmed Iranian ship was invited, along with the U.S., to be part of an Indian Naval exercise, and its sailors paraded on land before the president.
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) March 5, 2026
The U.S. at the last minute pulled out of the exercise and instead attacked the Iranian ship with a torpedo.
Breaking with… https://t.co/OD6RPnT8vz
An unarmed Iranian ship was invited, along with the U.S., to be part of an Indian Naval exercise, and its sailors paraded on land before the president.
The U.S. at the last minute pulled out of the exercise and instead attacked the Iranian ship with a torpedo.
Breaking with all norms of civilization and warfare, we then refused to rescue the drowning survivors. The Sri Lanka Navy was left to pull the dead bodies from the water.
I am hard pressed to think of any other nation throughout history that would do something so cowardly and despicable. We are genuinely in a league of our own, and American media — mostly shrugging off the bombing of a girls school and acting as if carpet bombing Tehran is a normal military tactic — is deeply complicit.
Let's take this item by item as though we were not dealing with a lunatic.
1. There is no evidence that the ship was unarmed, and a lot of evidence that it was. This image of Dena during Milan 2026 shows its SAM launchers loaded.
DISCLAIMER: This person is a former Huffington Post editor and does this shit all the time - just look up the Kavanaugh smear - here’s the actual photo of that “unarmed Iranian ship”: pic.twitter.com/0JOMDgVVAk
— CornPop (@RealC0rnP0p) March 5, 2026
Unarmed? This a photo of the Iranian frigate decked out for the visit.
— The Sarcasticat (@TheSarcasticist) March 5, 2026
The closeup shows the launch canister of a C-802 (or the Noor knockoff), a Chinese subsonic anti-ship cruise missile with a range of 120 km and a 165 kg high-explosive warhead.
The canister is loaded and… pic.twitter.com/OS9Rr66saX
This promotional site for Milan 2026 also shows Dena with loaded SAM tubes. Plus, it says, "During the sea phase, exercises such as aircraft carrier operations, anti-submarine warfare, air defense, naval gunnery, search and rescue operations, and multinational tactical maneuvers will be conducted." This implies shooting at stuff.
None of that matters because being out of ammo doesn't get you a "get-out-of-jail-free" card, and any country stupid enough to send a warship to sea without ammo deserves whatever befalls it.
“I am told that as per protocol for this exercise ships cannot carry any ammunition. It was defenceless.”
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) March 5, 2026
I’ve been sailing the oceans for thirty years and never once heard of a navy ship, any navy ship, unloading all their ammo for an exercise.
Canada doesn’t even do that. https://t.co/lHdTCl76ar
2. Yes, the USS Pinckney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, was scheduled to participate in Milan 2026, but found urgent employment supporting the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, arriving on station around February 16. Sixteen days elapsed between the Pinckney leaving the exercise area and a completely different ship sinking the Dena.
3. The most pathetic claim is that the attacking submarine was under some sort of obligation to surface, pick up some 120 enemy sailors, and deliver them safely somewhere. This is hogwash.
So, let me get this straight, @SecWar .
— Tuomas Malinen (@mtmalinen) March 4, 2026
You just sank an Iranian frigate, which was returning from an international naval exercise in India, near Sri Lanka. In other words, you attacked an unsuspecting "enemy ship" in international waters, thousands of nautical miles from the…
Since the left likes Nazi metaphors so much, consider this. When Admiral Karl Doenitz was tried for war crimes at Nuremberg, one of the specifications was that he ordered U-boats not to pick up survivors of armed ships that were sunk. He was found not guilty because it was declared not to be a breach of international law. In fact, exiting an engagement area without looking for survivors was standard submarine tactics during World War II, and I can't imagine things have changed much. This is from The Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations.
Enemy warships and military aircraft, including naval and military auxiliaries, are subject to attack, destruction, or capture anywhere beyond neutral territory. It is forbidden to target an enemy warship or military aircraft that in good faith unambiguously and effectively conveys a timely offer of surrender. Once an enemy warship has clearly indicated a readiness to surrender (e.g., by hauling down her flag, by hoisting a white flag, by surfacing (in the case of submarines), by stopping engines and responding to the attacker’s signals, or by taking to lifeboats) the attack must be discontinued. Disabled or damaged enemy aircraft in air combat are frequently pursued to destruction because of the impossibility of verifying their true status and inability to enforce surrender. Although disabled or damaged, the aircraft may or may not have lost its means of combat. It may still represent a valuable military asset. Surrender in air combat is not generally offered. If surrender is offered in good faith so that circumstances do not preclude enforcement, it must be respected. Officers and crews of captured or destroyed enemy warships and military aircraft should be detained. As far as military exigencies permit, after each engagement all possible measures should be taken without delay to search for and collect the shipwrecked, wounded, and sick and recover the dead.
Neutral has a very specific meaning, the ports and territorial waters of nations not a party to the conflict. In this case, Dena was 40 miles from shore when torpedoed, well outside territorial waters. It was in the Exclusive Economic Zone of someone, but warships of any nation can pass through those, and they are not "neutral" territory. The commander of the vessel ultimately decides whether to render assistance. The Belgrano sinking has some very similar facts, and no one but Argentine partisans thought it was a bad shoot.
This is another angle added by the guy whose lack of diplomatic skills caused the war, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi; see Steve Witkoff's Description of Negotiations With Iran Is Like a Scene From the Movie 'The Big Short' – RedState.
🚨 BIG BREAKING 🚨
— gulvinder (@rebelliousdogra) March 4, 2026
The Iranian Naval Ship Iris Dena which was shot by US was UNARMED as the WEAPON SYSTEMS were kept in a SECURED & NON-OPERATIONAL mode!
"We believed we were in friendly waters, most of the men on the ship were non combat/ ceremonial staff"- Iran's FM Araghchi. pic.twitter.com/oE0b5GGYWp
It's sort of reminiscent of Ben Stiller's character on "Friends."
Let's take a look at the moving goal posts here. First, "unarmed" becomes "were kept in a SECURED & NON-OPERATIONAL mode!" Here, the captain of the Dena is three days into a very hot shooting war between Iran and the U.S. The Dena is subject to U.S. Treasury sanctions. He has to know about it because we've been told how great the IT stuff is in India; I mean, they have so many IT guys they are sending thousands to the U.S. His route back home takes him through the area controlled by the USS Abraham Lincoln CSG. Yet, he has his weaponry on safe. Dena's was probably cooked no matter what, but if blame is to be had, the commander of Dena bears it. However, there is no evidence to support this, or that the captain is stupid.
Once Dena left Indian/Sri Lankan territorial waters, not their EEZ, she was fair game. I'm sure the captain of the Belgano thought he was in friendly waters, too. They were both wrong.
This isn't how armed conflicts work Ryan. 👇 pic.twitter.com/VVwZxeVLnU
— Leftism (@LeftismForU) March 5, 2026
This is the spittle-flecked summary:
So, let me get this straight, @SecWar .
— Tuomas Malinen (@mtmalinen) March 4, 2026
You just sank an Iranian frigate, which was returning from an international naval exercise in India, near Sri Lanka. In other words, you attacked an unsuspecting "enemy ship" in international waters, thousands of nautical miles from the…
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And Yes.
Unsuspicious is the preferred way to catch your enemies. International waters are not off limits; they are "anything goes" territory. Being far away from the combat zone has no meaning in warfare. War is not MMA. The purpose is to kill the other guy and not get hurt. Playing fair is for people with a death wish.
The bottom line is that the course of action selected by Dena's captain was mathematically certain to result in her destruction. It was impossible for that frigate to ever reach Iranian waters. A suicide attack could very well have been the intent. If not, the captain had another option. Have his ship interned in an Indian port and wait it out. Another captain did exactly that today.
Sri Lanka has decided to formally take charge of the Iranian vessel IRIS Bushehr (422) and its 208 crew, following days of discussions with relevant authorities, diplomatic missions and the ship’s captain.
— Intelschizo (@Schizointel) March 5, 2026
SLNS Sagara (P622) and SLNS Gajabahu (P626) and several tugs are… pic.twitter.com/cJlyF9VdqH
Let's look at another possibility. Perhaps the Dena was not out of action.
I don't pretend to be an OSINT account. But I can read a map.
— Donald Ward (@WardoftheStates) March 4, 2026
Sri Lanka is 1,100 miles away from Diego Garcia. At a speed of 35 knots, the IRIS Dena could have reached it 31 hours.
One of Iran’s newest warships, it was armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship… https://t.co/ifBvPswrrg pic.twitter.com/LmNw5PCdWr
I'm not saying this was the plan, but it makes a lot more sense than the notion that Dena was headed home.
There is a second agenda afoot. The outcry is designed to tie military JAG lawyers around the necks of commanders prosecuting this military operation. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth noted that he had instituted rules of engagement that are "bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it."
Hegseth: Flying over their capital. Death and destruction from the sky all day long. We're playing for keeps. Our warfighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly. Our rules of engagement are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American… pic.twitter.com/tD2R9E7A3J
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 4, 2026
Creating this faux-crisis where none exists is nothing more than an attempt to stampede President Trump into reining Hegseth in. Let's hope it doesn't work.
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