'Quiet Death': US Sub Sinks Iranian Frigate, First Torpedo Kill Since WWII

[Wonder Why]

The above was the Title of an issue of an email newsletter I receive form military.com. Different types of newsletters cover different issues. There's DoD Insider, Deals and Discounts, Military Report and others.

This issue really disturbed me because of the Title. Yes, the Submarines were always called the "Silent Service" but that's not because the deaths were silent. Those sailors, enemy or not, did not die silently. They died screaming and crying, most probably by drowning, many probably calling to their mothers or their Allah to save them. Deaths in war are not silent. Doesn't matter if you are shot with a bullet, blown up by a shell, hit by a bomb blast or drown as your ship sinks around you and you can't get out. You die in violence.

The submarines may be silent, but the deaths are not. They are never silent, whether they be Americans or any enemy no matter how cruel they individually were, or, more likely, what they believed they were doing was for the right cause and without personal liability for the cruelty of their fellow fighters. Most likely, they were just human beings doing what they believed in, whether it was misguided, wrong or just because they were caught up in the Hell of War.

The article was just factual as most good reporting is. The words "Silent Death" belong to the monster Hegseth who deserves to be tried by a tribunal for war crimes.

[Blues Heron]

1. State terrorism by the good old USA

[Submariner]

2. When the crew find out they sunk an

unarmed ship that was not a threat to anyone’s safety, returning from a Naval exposition with other unarmed Navies meeting in India, many will likely feel they are in the same situation as the Aegis cruiser that shot down the Iranian Airbus decades ago, and will be pissed for being used as political pawns.

You volunteer for the submarine service because you want to go against the best China and Russia can throw at you. Not wasting an unarmed ship returning to home port, just as the last three FBI 302 reports regarding the 13 year old trump rape victim emerge.

[Renew Deal]

3. I'm pretty sure they did it just to brag about doing it

There wasn't really any other valid rationale.

[ForgedCrank]

5. That's what

it appears to be in my view. I can't think of a good reason to reveal the position of an SSN just to eliminate such a target. Of course, I don't know what other equipment was on station in that area either, could be that it was the only asset in that area at the time.

[Melon]

6. The rationale that it's a warship of Iran....

They don’t know where it’s headed and back to Iran is our fleet. Just sayin.

[Skittles]

4. courtesy of the "pro-life Christian" party

[Emrys]

7. It's NOT the first torpedo kill of a surface vessel since World War Two

Not something to brag about, but the UK hunter-killer submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano with the loss of 323 lives on May 2 1982 during the Falklands War.

[Wonder Why]

8. I think a lot of people misunderstood my post. I was trying to point out that there is no such things as

Silent Deaths in War. War deaths are horrifying deaths on a mass scale.

Unlike some other on the various D.U. postings about the sinking, I take no position on the morality or legality of the submarine attack. International Law and/or history will determine the legality and morality of the war but I believe that:
1) We do not know whether the Captain and/or sailors on the sub knew that the Iranian ship was armed or not at the time. If they did not, any blame belongs on those that ordered the attack.
2) Any warship in times of a legitimate war are legitimate targets, whether ready to fight or just empty. You don't wait until they load the ship with ammunition before attacking.
3) Ships carrying war supplies such as tankers, ammo ships, etc. are also legitimate targets whether armed or not.
4) Combatants, whether sitting on the front lines "loaded for bear" or at their bases sleeping are legitimate targets.
5) Combatants surrendering or, in good faith, negotiating surrender are not legitimate targets.
6) Bombing cities and civilian targets become a gray area but obvious ones like schools and hospitals are off limits.
7) Gloating over enemy deaths is not legitimate. Those Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine are largely ignorant of the real reasons for the attack. Most fighters do so for their fellow fighters or to protect "those left behind" rather than for glory or for country, whether they are there because of an insane government or a legitimate right of people to protect themselves from another country.
8) Mitigating the cost in human lives by saying it is a "silent death" or some will die for our country without remorse is not legitimate. Those Iranian sailors were human beings like the rest of us (excluding some top leaders on both sides).

This is the reason why War is Hell as General Sherman stated. Innocents die. Bombs go awry. Targeters make mistakes. Mass casualties are the result as even fighters come back maimed and disabled. Families suffer.