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We surrender! The moment Royal Navy captured Somali pirate gang - and then blew up their boat
Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 4th June 2009 | Matthew Hickley

Posted on 06/03/2009 10:44:46 PM PDT by naturalman1975

This was the moment a group of heavily-armed pirates learned it isn't wise to tangle with the Royal Navy.

The gang - carrying machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades - were found prowling for victims in the seas off the Somali coast.

But as these dramatic pictures show they won't be doing much terrorising for a while.

After their arrest, the pirates found the crew of frigate HMS Portland blasting one of their boats to pieces.

The drama began when a Spanish patrol aircraft spotted two suspicious skiffs in the Gulf of Aden.

The area is plagued by highly-organised pirates operating out of Somalia who seize merchant ships and hold them to ransom.

HMS Portland gave chase and used its Lynx helicopter - equipped with machine guns and snipers - and inflatable launches to corner the vessels.

Faced with superior firepower and a boarding party of sailors and Royal Marines, the pirates quickly surrendered.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: maritime; royalnavy; somalipirates
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1 posted on 06/03/2009 10:44:46 PM PDT by naturalman1975
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To: naturalman1975

Save the ammo, just pull the stern plug and watch it sink...


2 posted on 06/03/2009 10:53:46 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (FreeRepublic. Monthly Donors Wanted.)
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To: naturalman1975
However, in a sign of the legal difficulties which hamper the battle against piracy, the Royal Navy had to release the men.

Just how stupid is that?

3 posted on 06/03/2009 10:55:29 PM PDT by NonValueAdded ("Tyranny is always whimsical." Mark Steyn 3/9/2009)
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Right on. Love it!


4 posted on 06/03/2009 11:02:39 PM PDT by NoRedTape
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To: naturalman1975

Wrong move, don’t arrest them, blow up their boat with them in it and leave the debris for the sharks.


5 posted on 06/03/2009 11:05:13 PM PDT by dalereed
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To: NonValueAdded

You have only men in a boat with nothing but weaponry. Were you:
Fishing? No, M80s will kill fish in a lake, but RPGs in the Indian ocean are useless for that.
Pilgrims seeking a better life? That works better with chicks in the group.
Astronomical reasearch group? The scope on an RPG wont see a damn thing in space.

Seems they were second rate predators looking for prey. The RN is a first rate predator in those waters and should have behaved as such.


6 posted on 06/03/2009 11:05:37 PM PDT by When do we get liberated?
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To: NonValueAdded

Didn’t crimes on the highseas almost always end in death for the pirates?


7 posted on 06/03/2009 11:05:38 PM PDT by LukeL (Yasser Arafat: "I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize")
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To: naturalman1975

The Royal Navy captured some outstanding somali citizens and than blew up their boat and sold their weapons??

This is nonsense. The outstanding somail citizens should sue the Royal Navy and the British Government.

These outstanding citizens were just in the water with weapons to protect them from real pirates while they fished to feed their little poor families.

Please send these wonderful outstanding citizens who have been victimized by the bad tyrant Brits millions of US tax dollars so they can buy better boats and weapons to continue fishing to feed their little families.

Shame on the Royal Navy. Shame on you for not blowing them up along with their boats.


8 posted on 06/03/2009 11:14:26 PM PDT by VicVega (what silliness is "side show obama" going to do for us today?)
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To: ButThreeLeftsDo
I think they wanted to give them a little lesson in “fire power” and just what they would be up against. There must not be any enviro nuts over there as a friend of mine’s boat about that size sunk here in Maui and he got fined $500,000 dollars for damaging the coral on the bottom. This is a true story.
9 posted on 06/03/2009 11:20:33 PM PDT by fish hawk (The trouble with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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To: naturalman1975

Should have sunk both boats and made them swim for home.

I think there are some real sharks in the Gulf of Aden.

Bon Appetit!


10 posted on 06/03/2009 11:33:19 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: dalereed

No. That’s not humane.

Toss all but two into the water and make those two watch the sharks eat them. Cut off the right ears of the last two and free them on shore.

Soon their villages will be full of fools with one ear who hate getting anywhere near the beach, let alone on the water.... and we would have been humane.


11 posted on 06/03/2009 11:44:52 PM PDT by Gator113 (Weak-coward-racist-white hating-lying-traitor= Surrender Monkey in Chief-B. Hussein Obama...)
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To: naturalman1975

The Empire formerly known as Britain finally found a ‘Country’ it could beat.

They blew up a raft. They will receive the highest honors.

Frankly, I’ve sunken bigger ships as a child in my bathtub.


12 posted on 06/04/2009 12:00:27 AM PDT by lmr (God punishes Conservatives by making them argue with fools.)
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To: ButThreeLeftsDo
Save the ammo, just pull the stern plug and watch it sink...

The crew needs the target practice and it's great for morale.

13 posted on 06/04/2009 12:18:20 AM PDT by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Democrats spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: AlaskaErik

How many rounds fell short before hitting on target . The ammo used cost more than the boat . They should’ve taken the engine off then sank the boat .


14 posted on 06/04/2009 2:49:17 AM PDT by Renegade (You go tell my buddies)
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To: naturalman1975

Nelson would be proud. /sarc


15 posted on 06/04/2009 2:57:00 AM PDT by Shellback Chuck
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To: naturalman1975

Too bad they did not shoot ‘em. We need to send a message that Piracy does not pay. There is too much legal tape, any pirates should be lined up and executed.


16 posted on 06/04/2009 4:10:36 AM PDT by Two-Face (Guns don't kill terrorists, Jack Bauer does.)
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To: LukeL

Yeah it did. Hanging I believe.


17 posted on 06/04/2009 4:10:37 AM PDT by Two-Face (Guns don't kill terrorists, Jack Bauer does.)
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To: Renegade
How many rounds fell short before hitting on target .

My point, exactly. They need training targets and this boat was perfect for that.

18 posted on 06/04/2009 9:49:13 AM PDT by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Democrats spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; george76; ...
After their arrest, the pirates found the crew of frigate HMS Portland blasting one of their boats to pieces.
Step one, complete. Step two, keelhauling. Step three, attract sharks by dribbling blood in the water for a number of miles. Step four...
19 posted on 06/05/2009 8:07:56 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: naturalman1975
I like this photo:


20 posted on 06/05/2009 8:25:06 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Support Geert Wilders)
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