A midnight strike in international waters has left behind a disturbing survivor account. Hamed Momeneh, a sailor who lived through the sinking of the Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena, has shared a gripping account of the night the warship went down in the Indian Ocean after an attack by the United States that he says came ‘suddenly, silently, and without any prior signal’.
The frigate had just completed a naval exercise in India at the port of Visakhapatnam and was on its return journey home. It was moving through international waters of the Indian Ocean, far from any declared conflict zone, when the strike hit.
His testimony, shared in a video released by the Iranian Embassy in India, offers one of the first personal glimpses into the final hours of the IRIS Dena – a survivor’s account marked by shock, endurance, and tells a lot about a crew that refused to abandon their post until the very end.
WATCH: A narrative of the attack on the IRIS Dena warship in the Indian Ocean
A narrative of an unjust attack by the United States on the IRIS Dena warship in the Indian Ocean
“Hamed Momeneh,” one of the sailors on the Dena warship:
This vessel had been sent to the port of Visakhapatnam in India to take part in a naval exercise. While returning home, and… pic.twitter.com/yFmk8Hwf1N
— Iran in India (@Iran_in_India) April 19, 2026
Midnight Torpedo Horror
“It was around 3 to 3:30 in the morning,” Momeneh recalled. “There was no alert, no message — nothing to suggest danger. Then, without warning, we were hit. We were suddenly attacked, an attack that was completely against international maritime laws. It was not a war zone, and we had received no warning.”
According to his account, the attack was launched from beneath the surface. A submarine fired the first torpedo, tearing into the vessel in the stillness of the night. Despite the impact, the crew, 104 sailors in total, held their positions.
“At that moment, no one panicked. No one ran,” he said. “We stayed where we were. We did our duty. Everyone stood their ground until the end.”
Momeneh insisted the strike did not appear to be a warning shot or an attempt to disable the ship. “If they only wanted to damage the vessel, they could have hit other sections,” he said. “It felt like the main goal was to kill the crew.”
What followed was a long, drawn-out struggle against a dying ship and an unforgiving sea.
For hours, the crew refused to abandon the frigate. Momeneh expressed that the vessel was not just a warship, but something far more significant. He said, “For us, the Dena was like the soil of Iran, and leaving it had no meaning.”
They remained on board until late into the night, nearly twenty hours after the first strike, fighting to keep control as the situation worsened.
By around 11 pm, reality set in. The ship could no longer be saved. With no other option, the sailors entered the water.
“We had to leave,” Momeneh said. “We swam in the dark, in open sea, not knowing how far the shore was.”
The survivors eventually reached waters near Sri Lanka after an exhausting and uncertain escape.