The last time the United States sank Iranian warships was April 18, 1988. Thirty-eight years later, American forces destroyed nine Iranian naval vessels in a single day and demolished the country's naval headquarters at Chabahar, on the Gulf of Oman. The strikes came after Iran attempted to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the 21-mile-wide passage through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply flows, broadcasting radio warnings that no commercial ship would be allowed to pass.
The last time the United States sank Iranian warships was April 18, 1988. Thirty-eight years later, American forces destroyed nine Iranian naval vessels in a single day and demolished the country's naval headquarters at Chabahar, on the Gulf of Oman. The strikes came after Iran attempted to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the 21-mile-wide passage through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply flows, broadcasting radio warnings that no commercial ship would be allowed to pass.
The naval destruction is one piece of Operation Epic Fury, a joint US-Israeli campaign launched on February 28 that has killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, eliminated dozens of senior military commanders, and struck nuclear and military targets across 24 of Iran's 31 provinces. But the Hormuz dimension carries its own global weight: approximately 150 tankers have halted near the strait, oil prices have jumped 10 percent, and the world's most critical energy chokepoint is now an active combat zone. Iran's conventional surface fleet is effectively gone. What remains is an asymmetric arsenal of mines, fast attack boats, coastal missiles, and submarines that can still threaten shipping for weeks or months.
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People Involved
Donald Trump
President of the United States (Directing Operation Epic Fury)
Pete Hegseth
US Secretary of Defense (Overseeing Operation Epic Fury)
Brad Cooper
Commander, US Central Command (CENTCOM) (Commanding military operations against Iran)
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Supreme Leader of Iran (1989-2026) (Killed in Israeli airstrike, February 28, 2026)
Masoud Pezeshkian
President of Iran (Leading interim three-person leadership council)
Organizations Involved
U.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)
Military Command
Status: Conducting Operation Epic Fury
The US military command responsible for operations across the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of South Asia, currently directing the largest American combat operation in the region since 2003.
Iran's conventional navy, responsible for blue-water operations in the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, and Caspian Sea, now effectively stripped of its surface combatant fleet.
IS
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN)
Military Service
Status: Asymmetric capabilities largely intact
Iran's parallel revolutionary naval force, which controls the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz with hundreds of fast attack boats, thousands of naval mines, coastal missile batteries, and explosive-laden drone boats.
OP
OPEC+
International Organization
Status: Increasing production to offset Hormuz disruption
The expanded cartel of oil-producing nations, which agreed on March 1 to add 206,000 barrels per day in April — a larger increase than planned — though analysts note this falls far short of replacing the 20 million barrels per day that normally transit Hormuz.
Timeline
US sinks nine Iranian warships, destroys naval headquarters
Military
CENTCOM confirms sinking a Jamaran-class corvette at Chabahar and Trump announces a total of nine Iranian naval vessels destroyed along with Iran's naval headquarters. The strikes target Iran's ability to enforce its Hormuz blockade. CENTCOM calls on Iranian forces to lay down their arms.
IRGC strikes three oil tankers near Hormuz
Military
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy attacks three tankers near the strait, injuring crew members aboard the tanker Skylight. The attacks demonstrate that Iran retains asymmetric capability to threaten shipping despite the loss of its conventional fleet.
Oil prices surge as Hormuz traffic halts
Economic
Brent crude jumps roughly 10 percent to $80 per barrel. Maersk suspends all Hormuz crossings. Goldman Sachs forecasts prices could reach $110; JP Morgan predicts $120-$130 if the disruption persists.
Operation Epic Fury begins; Khamenei killed
Military
US and Israeli forces launch coordinated strikes across Iran, hitting military, nuclear, and leadership targets in 24 of 31 provinces. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is killed in a strike on his Tehran compound alongside several senior military commanders.
Iran broadcasts Strait of Hormuz closure to shipping
Military
Iranian naval vessels transmit warnings on emergency radio channels that the Strait of Hormuz is closed and no commercial vessel is allowed to pass. Approximately 150 tankers halt near the strait.
Iran retaliates against US bases across the Gulf
Military
Iran fires missiles and drones at US and allied military facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE, and strikes Israel. Three US service members are killed in Kuwait. The UAE intercepts most of 165 ballistic missiles and 541 drones.
Third round of nuclear talks ends without a deal
Diplomatic
After three rounds of negotiations in Muscat and Geneva, the US and Iran remain deadlocked on core demands. Iran's foreign minister calls the talks 'the most serious and longest' but no agreement is reached.
Indirect US-Iran nuclear talks begin in Muscat
Diplomatic
The first post-war negotiations are held in Oman, with the US demanding zero enrichment and full dismantlement and Iran insisting on its right to enrich uranium. Talks are indirect, mediated by Oman's foreign minister.
Trump warns 'massive Armada is heading to Iran'
Statement
Trump demands Iran come to the negotiating table or face consequences worse than Operation Midnight Hammer, as the US begins assembling its largest Middle East military presence since 2003.
Largest Iranian protests since 1979 erupt
Domestic
Nationwide protests break out across more than 100 Iranian cities, driven by the collapse of the rial and economic devastation following the war and sanctions. The regime responds with lethal force, killing thousands.
Ceasefire ends the Twelve-Day War
Diplomatic
Israel and Iran agree to a US-brokered ceasefire after 12 days of strikes and counterstrikes.
US bombs Iran's nuclear sites in Operation Midnight Hammer
Military
Seven B-2 stealth bombers fly 18-hour missions from Missouri, dropping bunker-buster bombs on the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities. A Pentagon assessment later concludes Iran's nuclear program is set back two years.
Israel launches surprise strikes on Iran
Military
Israel hits nuclear facilities, military bases, and senior commanders across Iran, killing IRGC Commander Hossein Salami and Armed Forces Chief Mohammad Bagheri in the opening hours of the Twelve-Day War.
Trump reinstates maximum pressure on Iran
Policy
Trump signs a presidential memorandum reimposing sanctions aimed at reducing Iranian oil exports to zero and demanding full dismantlement of Iran's nuclear program.
Operation Praying Mantis: last US-Iran naval battle
Military
After USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine, the US Navy sank Iranian frigate Sahand, crippled frigate Sabalan, and destroyed two oil platforms — the largest American surface naval engagement since World War II.
Scenarios
1
US secures the Strait, shipping resumes within days
Discussed by: Goldman Sachs analysts, CENTCOM background briefings, and former US Navy officials interviewed by Naval News
With Iran's surface fleet destroyed and its command structure decapitated by Khamenei's death, the remaining IRGCN forces prove unable to sustain a blockade against two US carrier strike groups. Minesweeping operations clear the shipping lanes within a week. Tanker traffic resumes under US naval escort, oil prices stabilize below $90, and the Hormuz crisis becomes a contained chapter within the broader conflict. This outcome depends on Iran's submarines and mine-laying capacity being neutralized quickly and on the IRGCN's command chain collapsing without Khamenei.
2
Asymmetric warfare keeps the Strait disrupted for weeks
Discussed by: Middle East Institute naval analysts, Lloyd's List maritime intelligence, and the International Energy Agency
Iran's conventional navy is gone, but its Revolutionary Guard retains hundreds of fast attack boats, an estimated 5,000-6,000 naval mines, coastal anti-ship missile batteries, and explosive drone boats. Even a few successful mine-laying sorties or tanker attacks force insurers to suspend coverage for Hormuz transit, effectively closing the strait to commercial shipping regardless of military outcomes. Oil prices climb toward $120 or higher. Asian economies dependent on Gulf crude — China, India, Japan, South Korea — face supply shortages. This scenario is the one most maritime risk analysts consider probable in the near term.
3
Hormuz crisis triggers global recession as disruption persists
Discussed by: JP Morgan commodities research, International Monetary Fund scenario modeling, and energy security analysts at the Atlantic Council
If Iran sustains Hormuz disruption for more than two to three weeks through mines, submarine attacks, and drone boat swarms, global oil markets face a shortfall that cannot be offset by OPEC+ spare capacity or strategic petroleum reserves. Brent crude exceeds $130. Asian manufacturing slows as refineries cut throughput. Global supply chains, still fragile from pandemic-era disruptions, face a new shock. Central banks are forced to choose between fighting inflation and preventing recession. The pipeline alternatives — the Trans-Arabian Pipeline and Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline — can replace at most 5 million of the 20 million barrels per day normally transiting Hormuz.
4
Iran's interim leadership seeks ceasefire to preserve the regime
Discussed by: Brookings Institution Iran scholars, European diplomatic sources cited by Reuters, and Oman's foreign ministry
With Khamenei dead, dozens of senior commanders killed, the nuclear program struck again, and the conventional military shattered, Iran's surviving leadership — led by President Pezeshkian and the interim council — faces a choice between continued escalation and regime survival. Oman, which mediated the failed February talks, offers a channel. If hardliners in the IRGC lose their institutional patron (Khamenei) and face the prospect of total military destruction, pragmatists may prevail. A ceasefire would likely require Iran to accept nuclear disarmament terms far harsher than anything previously discussed.
Historical Context
Operation Praying Mantis (1988)
April 1988
What Happened
After the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf, injuring 10 sailors, the US Navy retaliated four days later. American forces sank the Iranian frigate Sahand, crippled the frigate Sabalan, destroyed two oil platforms, and sank several smaller combatants. It was the US Navy's largest surface engagement since World War II and effectively halved Iran's operational fleet.
Outcome
Short Term
Iran's navy was severely weakened and could no longer contest the Gulf militarily. The Tanker War wound down within months, and a UN-brokered ceasefire ended the Iran-Iraq War in August 1988.
Long Term
Iran shifted its naval doctrine away from conventional surface warfare toward asymmetric capabilities — fast boats, mines, coastal missiles — designed to make any future confrontation costly for a superior navy. That doctrinal shift directly shapes the threat Iran poses today even after losing its surface fleet again.
Why It's Relevant Today
The March 2026 strikes echo Praying Mantis almost exactly: US forces destroying Iranian warships at pier and at sea in response to Iranian threats to Gulf shipping. The critical difference is scale — nine ships versus two in 1988 — and the simultaneous decapitation of Iran's political and military leadership, which 1988 did not attempt.
The Tanker War (1984-1988)
1984-1988
What Happened
During the Iran-Iraq War, both sides attacked commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf to damage each other's oil revenue. Iraq struck 283 vessels and Iran struck 168, for a total of roughly 411 merchant ships hit over four years. The United States intervened in 1987 with Operation Earnest Will, reflagging Kuwaiti tankers under the American flag and escorting them through the Gulf — the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.
Outcome
Short Term
Despite hundreds of ships being attacked, the Strait of Hormuz never fully closed. Oil prices spiked during individual incidents but the sustained flow of crude continued, partly because both Iran and Iraq needed oil revenue to fund their war.
Long Term
The Tanker War established the precedent that the US would use military force to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. It also demonstrated that even sustained attacks on shipping could not fully close the strait — but that disruption alone could roil global energy markets.
Why It's Relevant Today
The current crisis tests whether Iran can succeed where it failed in the 1980s: actually closing the Strait. Iran's asymmetric arsenal is far more sophisticated than in 1988, but it faces a US Navy that has spent decades preparing for exactly this scenario. The economic stakes are higher — global oil dependency on the Gulf has not declined since the 1980s despite decades of rhetoric about energy independence.
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and Gulf War oil shock (1990-1991)
August 1990 - February 1991
What Happened
When Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, roughly 4.3 million barrels per day of oil production was suddenly removed from global markets. Oil prices doubled from $21 to $46 per barrel within weeks. The US assembled a 35-nation coalition and launched Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, which included the rapid destruction of Iraq's navy in the Persian Gulf.
Outcome
Short Term
Saudi Arabia increased production to offset most of the lost supply, and strategic petroleum reserves were released for the first time. Prices retreated after the coalition's quick victory.
Long Term
The crisis demonstrated that Gulf oil supply disruptions transmit instantly to global economies and that Saudi spare capacity is the world's primary shock absorber — a dynamic that remains unchanged in 2026.
Why It's Relevant Today
The 1990 shock removed 4.3 million barrels per day from markets. A sustained Hormuz closure would remove up to 20 million — nearly five times as much. Saudi Arabia's spare capacity, then and now, cannot come close to replacing that volume. OPEC+'s March 1 production increase of 206,000 barrels per day underscores the gap between available spare capacity and the scale of potential disruption.
