[Red State] Iran's navy does not have a very good track record. The Islamic Republic makes a lot of noise about its abilities, but in the end, it has stayed out of a hot war. Unmanned drones and their proxies like the Houthis are Iran’s best bet for keeping its navy from ending up on the ocean floor. Sometimes, Iran’s ships don’t need an enemy to end up sinking. In the past few years, Iran has seen three vessels sink due to accidents.
In January 2018, an Iranian destroyer named the Damavand (apparently, Iran names its destroyers after mountains) struck a breakwater in the Caspian Sea, rolled to starboard, and sank. The Damavand was launched in 2015.
In June 2021, another Iranian Naval warship named the Kharg caught fire and, 20 hours later, sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Oman.
On Monday, Iran’s most "advanced" warship, the destroyer Sahand (named, yes, for a mountain), was in dock for "repairs." Someone must have left a door open because the ship took on water and, according to Iranian news mouthpieces, "lost its balance." It slowly filled with seawater and rolled. The Sahand lost its balance and rolled to port, sinking into the silty muck.
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