During a press briefing on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that a U.S. Navy submarine had successfully sunk an Iranian warship using a single Mark 48 torpedo. According to Hegseth, the strike represents the first time since World War II that a U.S. submarine has destroyed an enemy vessel with a torpedo. The attack, he said, delivered what he described as a “quiet death” to the ship, which now rests on the ocean floor.
The Pentagon also released newly captured footage of the strike, highlighting the precision and effectiveness of the submarine’s attack.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth told reporters. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two. Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department. We are fighting to win.”
A short video clip shared on X by the Department of War appears to show the moment referenced by Hegseth, capturing the strike that sent the vessel beneath the waves. A follow-up post included an image of the damaged ship as it began its final descent, eventually becoming what some observers described as an unintended artificial reef.
Joining Hegseth at the briefing, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine confirmed that the Iranian vessel was “effectively neutralized” by a Navy fast-attack submarine using a single torpedo. The footage, he noted, illustrates the precision and striking power of modern U.S. naval capabilities.
Hegseth added that the destroyed vessel was the Iranian ship Soleimani, a name tied to a prominent figure in Iran’s military leadership. “The Iranian Navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf,” he said. “Combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, defeated. Pick your adjective. In fact, last night we sunk their prize ship, the Soleimani.”
The ship’s name echoes that of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of Iran’s Quds Force who was killed in a U.S. airstrike ordered by Donald Trump in 2020.
While debates continue about U.S. involvement in confronting Iran’s military and nuclear ambitions, Hegseth emphasized that the current mission remains clear.
“The mission is laser-focused,” he said. “Obliterate Iran’s missiles and drones, destroy the facilities that produce them, dismantle its navy and security infrastructure, and cut off its path to nuclear weapons. Iran will never possess a nuclear bomb—not on our watch.”
