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March 18, 2006

Piracy

File this under Stupid.

Two U.S. Navy ships exchanged gunfire with suspected pirates Saturday off the coast of Somalia, and one suspect was killed and five others were wounded, the navy said.


The early morning gunbattle ensued after sailors spotted 30-foot fishing boat towing smaller skiffs and prepared for a routine boarding, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Passengers on the fishing boat then began shooting, and U.S. naval gunners returned fire with mounted machine guns.

Okay, tip for people of all nationalities and intentions: Don't shoot at an American warship. You will lose.

The USS Cape St George is a 570 foot long Ticonderoga class cruiser. Aside from its impressive armament and a pair of SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters, U.S. ships in general are fairly impervious to small arms fire. Shooting at it with your AK-47 is little better than putting rocks in your pockets and jumping overboard.

View image of USS Cape St George.


The USS Gonzalez is a 500 foot long Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. Aside from its impressive armament, it is another one of those crazy modern U.S. ships made out of steel, meaning it is also pretty impervious to the weapon you are likely toting.

View image of USS Gonzalez.

So, what was the plan? Sink the two USN ships? I guess that's why these guys are pirates in the Indian Ocean instead of brain surgeons. Of course, I am sure there are a lot of Americans who don't realize piracy still exists. It definitely does, and the Somali coast is only one hotbed of modern piracy - Indonesia and the Malacca Strait are in the news quite a bit. I'm glad to see it getting some attention courtesy of the business end of some U.S. guns - it's like the Barbary Wars all over again!

Wulf Posted by Wulf on March 18, 2006 at 01:41 PM

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Comments

Why, exactly, were our sailors planning to board their ships?

Posted by: Jon Henke at March 18, 2006 2:50 PM

USN ships patrol the area as a part of an international anti-piracy task force. The U.N. actually announced earlier this week that they are asking nations to engage in anti-piracy patrols there, because drought-relief ships have been targeted, and the donations carted off.

Under the new plan, the drought-relief donations make it all the way to land before being carted off by raiders and warlords.

Posted by: Wulf [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 18, 2006 4:17 PM

Ah, ok. So we weren't just showing up in their waters, and boarding people's property simply because we had bigger guns. There was actually some process. That makes me feel somewhat better.

The process, not the UN plan. That's about as much as I'd expect from them.

Posted by: Jon Henke at March 19, 2006 8:03 AM

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