Posted on 04/01/2010 11:37:40 AM PDT by politicalmerc
NAIROBI, Kenya – The small gang of Somali pirates fired on an approaching ship, hoping their midnight attack would bring them millions in ransom. The ragtag bandits, though, had taken on far more than they could handle: a U.S. warship.
The USS Nicholas, a guided missile frigate, was tracking the pirates when they opened fire early Thursday in Indian Ocean waters, the U.S. military said. The Nicholas, which saw combat in the first Gulf War, returned fire and disabled the skiff.
Navy personnel later boarded and detained three suspects. The Americans found two more bandits on a nearby mothership and later sank the skiff.
It was not the first attack against a Navy ship, but it underscored the fact that most pirates aren't terribly sophisticated, said Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at the British think tank Chatham House.
"If you think of the kind of young men who are doing this, they go out into the middle of the ocean in a tiny boat. They might not always make rational decisions, and they often attack things that are bigger than they should (attack)," said Middleton.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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Definitely proves that latter-day Q-ships would solve the pirate problem!
With Obama as CIC, there was a more than 50% chance that the rules of engagement would require the US Navy to surrender.
So not as stupid as one thinks.
Probably right but this is the best laugh I’ve had in a long time.
The image just makes me giggle.
One of the pirates must’ve been dyslexic and mistook the ship’s number 47 for a vessel carrying their 74 virgins...
I've been recommending that for some time now....plus it'd be fun. Mount a vulcan and vaporize pirates.
Is the Navy sure this isn’t an extension of the dem party? When stupid is mentioned they’re the first bunch I think of.
I’m amazed they didn’t just sink the ship. They surely had to shoot carefully not to really do damage.
What a waste. They should have just destroyed them both, and then filled an incident report. Left the corpses to the sharks.
A few dozen pirates never coming home again would stop the movement dead.WORD.
Que Southpark: "It's coming right for us!!!"
LOL
I expect they were taking their lead from the commander in chief and decided to read them their "rights" as pirates instead of removing a blight from the world.
What do you bet they're getting fed better than they ever were in their normal life.
Either that or maybe they should have let the pirates, “board” the Navy ship. That would have been interesting....
Looking up...
The ship has:
One OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm caliber naval gun
Two Mk 32 triple-tube launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes
One Vulcan Phalanx CIWS
Four .50-cal machine guns.
My bet is they had to use the .50 cals so as not to vaporize the boat.
‘Love that Phalanx- verrrrrrrrrng.
I’m wondering if this is a Mouse that Roared strategy.
Just the image of a Phalanx opening up on them makes me laugh.
Hey, for all these jihadists knew, Hussein might have issued orders to not return fire on his fellow Muslim pirates.
Why are they taking prisoners? Set some examples out there FCS! Get some Marines!
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