Iranian Navy Destroyer in Caspian Sea ‘Sinks’

Iranian media outlets are reporting that a destroyer belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Navy, which had collided with a breakwater 18 days ago, sank in the Caspian Sea on Sunday, Bahman 8th.

This comes as the spokesman for Iran’s Army has denied the sinking of this destroyer, stating that “connected sections will be separated and transferred to the shipyard for major repairs and reconstruction”.

The Damavand destroyer, which is only three years old, collided with a breakwater on December 20th of this year while entering its port in Anzali due to increased wind speeds and severe storms in the Caspian Sea, resulting in an incident.

Since then, officials of Iran’s Navy have repeatedly emphasized that the damage to this destroyer was minor and that it would be transferred to the shipyard for repairs.

However, several Iranian media outlets, including the website “Tabnak” and “Khabar Online,” reported on Sunday that the destroyer had sunk. Mezan News Agency, affiliated with the judiciary, also released a short video of its sinking.

The Damavand destroyer, which was Iran’s second “Wave-class” warship after the Jamaran, entered service on March 20th, 2015 with the northern fleet and the fourth region of Iran’s Navy.

The destroyer, which was built at “Shahid Tamjidi Maritime Industries” in Anzali port, was 100 meters long and had a tonnage of 1,300 tons.

The Tabnak website described the sinking incident of the Damavand as “the worst end for this expensive ship, before even completing its third year of service.”

These reports came as Major General Shahin Taghi-Khani, spokesman for Iran’s Army, said on Sunday in response that “given the shallow water depth at the incident location, which is approximately four to five meters, there is no possibility of the Damavand destroyer sinking.”

According to Mehr News Agency, he added: “Over the past 24 hours, due to severe storms and rising sea levels, the aluminum superstructure section, which had been completely emptied and prepared for relocation, fell into the water and the remaining hull body has rested on its right side.”

Taghi-Khani claimed that “only the hull of the destroyer has suffered serious damage,” and emphasized: “There are no limitations for the revival” of the Damavand destroyer and “due to its indigenous nature,” with the transfer of separated components, revival operations of this destroyer and its return to operational cycle will begin shortly.

The collision of the Damavand destroyer with the Anzali port breakwater was so severe that six crew members were thrown into the sea, of which four were rescued and two divers named “Bijan Zareh” and “Amir Basrah” were killed.

The Damavand destroyer was launched on March 19th, 2013 in the presence of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and senior military commanders in Anzali port, and after conducting test phases, joined Iran’s Navy northern fleet and fourth region on March 20th, 2015.

Iranian media at that time praised the construction of this destroyer and evaluated it as having very important features, including that “in terms of structure it has a different design, such that it possesses the latest computational technology and construction power and structure.”

“Speed and maneuverability power,” “equipped with modern technology and all of its systems being digital… in such a way that it has higher stability, range, and target detection and recognition capability” and “equipped with a battle management system” were among other features attributed to this destroyer.

Reports indicate that the Damavand destroyer was “built by the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Support personnel in collaboration with approximately 400 universities, research centers, and Iranian manufacturers and industries.”

The first sample of this class of destroyer in southern Iran, known as the Jamaran corvette, joined the Persian Gulf Fleet.

Source: Radio Farda