Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that three Royal Australian Navy personnel were aboard a United States fast-attack submarine that struck and sank an Iranian frigate earlier this week, and that those Australians did not take part in any offensive action. Albanese made the disclosure after National Security Committee briefings and told Sky News the service members “did not participate in any offensive action,” ABC News reported.
The Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was reportedly sunk in waters off Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan authorities say 87 bodies have been recovered and 32 people rescued. The United States has not publicly identified the submarine involved; analysts have pointed to the USS Minnesota, a Virginia-class attack boat that has previously rotated through HMAS Stirling near Perth.
Under the AUKUS partnership, Australian personnel are embedded with US fast-attack submarine crews based at Pearl Harbor to gain operational experience before Australia fields its own nuclear-powered submarines. Albanese emphasized that existing third-country arrangements require Australian defence members operating with allied forces to do so under Australian law and policy.
Defence officials have previously told parliamentary hearings that “more than 50” Australian Defence Force members are serving on American fast-attack submarines, and that figure is expected to rise. ABC reported that roughly one in ten sailors on active US nuclear-powered attack submarines are Australian. In addition to military placements, Australian civilian staff are being trained in nuclear-submarine maintenance to support future Australian capabilities.
Following the sinking of the Dena, Sri Lanka gave refuge to another Iranian vessel, the replenishment ship IRINS Bushehr, moving it to Trincomalee and transferring 208 crew members to a naval facility near Colombo.
