Gulf of Oman — A tense predawn patrol turned into a watershed clash at sea when an Iranian Kilo‑class submarine fired two heavyweight torpedoes at the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, forcing the supercarrier into violent evasive maneuvers and triggering a devastating US counter‑offensive that left much of Iran’s frontline fleet in ruins.

According to US defence sources, the Kilo had been stalking the carrier group at low speed beneath dense commercial traffic before suddenly surging into attack position. At 04:12 a.m., sonar operators on an escorting destroyer heard the unmistakable roar of dual torpedo launches racing toward the Ford. Alarms blared as the 100,000‑ton carrier heeled hard, deployed acoustic decoys and pushed its escorts between the incoming tracks and its vulnerable hull. One torpedo detonated in the carrier’s wake, rocking the ship and injuring several sailors; the second was seduced by decoys and exploded harmlessly at a distance.

Within minutes, the US response began. MH‑60R Seahawks dropped hunting torpedoes along the Kilo’s track while a P‑8 Poseidon saturated the area with sonobuoys. A violent underwater explosion soon marked the sub’s destruction. Almost simultaneously, Tomahawk cruise missiles and carrier‑launched strike jets slammed into Iranian naval bases at Bandar Abbas, Jask and Konarak, shredding fast‑attack craft, missile corvettes and pier‑side support ships in synchronized fireballs. Satellite images later showed smoking docks, capsized hulls and fuel slicks spreading along the coast.

Pentagon officials say Iran “gambled its fleet on a single ambush and lost,” calling the operation a textbook example of how any attempt to kill a US carrier will be met by an effort to erase the attacker’s navy. Tehran, while forced to admit “serious losses,” insists the torpedo attack proved that American carriers “can be reached and rattled” — but naval analysts warn the price Iran just paid may have set its sea power back a generation.