Trump announces U.S. Forces have sunk nine Iranian Naval Vessels

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

U.S. President Donald Trump declared late Sunday that American military forces have “destroyed and sunk” nine Iranian naval ships, describing some as “relatively large and important,” as part of the ongoing joint U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iranian military targets.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said “I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important. We are going after the rest.

“They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also! In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters. Other than that, their Navy is doing very well!”

The announcement comes amid the third day of Operation Epic Fury, the large-scale military operation launched Saturday that has already resulted in the confirmed death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, multiple senior commanders, and significant strikes on Iranian command, missile, and air defense infrastructure.

Trump’s claim positions the U.S. Navy and allied assets, likely including carrier strike groups such as the USS Abraham Lincoln, which remains fully operational despite earlier unsubstantiated Iranian claims of strikes, as having achieved rapid dominance in maritime engagements, particularly in or near the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian Navy, comprising a mix of aging conventional vessels, missile boats, submarines, and asymmetric warfare assets, has long been viewed as vulnerable to superior U.S. naval firepower, especially in open-water or sustained engagements.

Prior confirmed actions in the operation included the sinking of at least one Iranian Jamaran-class corvette in the Gulf of Oman, as reported by CENTCOM.