87 Killed As US Sinks Iran Ship Headed Back From India After Naval Exercise

The Indian Navy in a statement on February 16 had said that as one of the largest multilateral naval exercises in the Indo-Pacific, MILAN 2026 would bring together navies from across the globe to strengthen interoperability, maritime domain awareness, and collective response capabilities.

The harbour and sea phases of the exercise focussed on complex maritime operations including anti-submarine warfare, air defence, search and rescue, etc.

Nothing is known whether the US submarine had been tailing or observing the Iranian warship as it came to India to participate in MILAN 2026. Defence analysts have theorised that the US submarine may have been tracking the Iranian warship throughout its journey from Iran to India to participate in the exercise. It is common for navies to passively track others for intelligence gathering.

A Sri Lankan Navy official said they have collected 87 bodies, and a search is still on for the others who are still missing. Sri Lanka is already dealing with some 32 survivors and 61 sailors are still missing, according to the police and navy, after the frigate IRIS Dena sank off Sri Lanka’s coast.

Hegseth called the attack “quiet death” and the first US sinking of an enemy ship by torpedo since World War II. “Like in that war,” he said, “we are fighting to win.”

The Pentagon says one of the main aims of the US-Israeli war against Iran, launched Saturday, is to wipe out the country’s navy.