It was the USS Minnesota

Three Aussie submariners are confirmed by PM Albanese to have been aboard the US submarine that sank an Iranian Navy vessel off Sri Lanka on Wednesday

While the Pentagon has not identified which submarine torpedoed and sunk the Iranian Navy vessel off Sri Lanka on Wednesday, apparently the first such torpedo action by a US sub since the end of World War 2, Defence trade media in the US are reporting that the submarine that launched the torpedo was the USS Minnesota, a Virginia Class fast-attack submarine that most recently arrived at HMAS Stirling, Garden Island for a scheduled port visit last year as part of the AUKUS arrangements.

While we don’t have a file picture of the Minnesota here’s one of the quite similar USS Mississippi docking at HMAS Stirling in November 2022.

USS Mississippi. Credit Chief Petty Officer Yuri Ramsay.

And here’s a pic of USS Vermont, another Virginia class nuclear powered sub on its recent visit to HMAS Stirling last November.

Supplied by Royal Australian Navy

And just for AUKUS balance, here’s a pic of HMS Anson, a British nuclear powered sub that visited Stirling just last month, February.

Supplied by Royal Australian Navy

Here’s more of our coverage of Virginia Class submarine visits to HMAS Stirling.

By Michael Barker, Editor, Fremantle Shipping News.

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