Trump’s ally snubs UK’s Falklands War heroes with submarine claim | World | News
Pete Hegseth’s claim that the United States was the first country to sink an enemy ship with a torpedo since World War II is false. The US Secretary of War held a press briefing Tuesday night to announce that the sinking of an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka was carried out by the US.
During the briefing, Mr. Hegseth said the Iranian ship was sunk by a torpedo, adding: “This is the first time an enemy ship has been sunk by a torpedo since World War II. Just like in that war… we are fighting to win.” However, the sinking of the frigate Iris Dena, which is thought to have killed at least 80 people, is not the first successful torpedo attack on an enemy ship since 1945.
In fact, forty years earlier, at a decisive moment in British history, another warship had been sunk by a torpedo. During the Falklands War in 1982, a nuclear-powered British submarine sank Argentina’s only cruiser, General Belgrano, by hitting it with two torpedoes.
Initial reports at the time said Tigerfish missiles were used, but it was actually older Mark 8 torpedoes that sank the Argentinian ship. Argentina sank HMS Sheffield in retaliation, killing 20 people. Great Britain had a task force of 127 ships and 25,948 British soldiers. A total of 255 British Armed Forces personnel were killed and 777 injured during the conflict.
The war lasted 74 days and ended with the surrender of Argentine Forces on June 14, 1982.
Hegseth’s statement was also proven false by the torpedo-induced sinking of the Indian frigate INS Khukri in 1971, when it was hit by a Pakistani submarine. The ship fell victim to three torpedoes and sank 40 nautical miles off the coast of Diu. However, going back to his words, it is true that the sinking of the Iranian warship would be the first time the USA has sunk an enemy ship with a submarine since 1945.
The Daily Express contacted the US War Department for comment.
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