Posted on 03/20/2005 4:22:16 AM PST by SLB
"We are safe in port of Aden. It‚s been 3 days repairing the damage. 30 bullets holes in deck, cabin house, dodger, and alas, newly varnished mast. Our bow shows evidence of a satisfying crunch. Our new paint job was not meant to be. Dinghy on deck was seriously wounded but in stable condition, much repatched. No wine was hurt.
This is the „official‰ report filed with the Yemen Coast Guard, Yemen Navy, Aden Port Control, US Coalition 5th Fleet, US Embassy and State Department? but not Carol‚s mother. Unfortunately, the poor guy that shoots has to write up the paper work. The one that rams does not engender any paper-work, except sand paper work.
March 11, 2005, written by Rodney J. Nowlin, USN Retired Pirate Attack off Yemen Coast
On Tuesday, March 8, 2005 at position 13 Degrees 28 North / 49 Degrees 07 East, in the infamous Pirate Alley of the Gulf of Aden, two sailing yachts, Madhi and Gandalf, were moving SW 30 miles off the coast of Yemen proceeding to the port of Aden from Salalah, Oman.
At about 0900 local, two outboard powered fiberglass longboats, about 20 feet long, each containing 3 men, passed off our sterns moving south at about 25 knots into the open Gulf between Yemen and Somalia. An hour later they returned, one coming quite close and looking us over carefully. The second boat passed off our bows but quite a ways away. These boats were obviously not engaged in a normal activity like fishing. At that time we were south of Al Mukalla, Yemen. The area around Al Mukalla is well documented as being a piracy, drug & people smuggling problem area and we maintained a careful watch for anything out of the ordinary.
At about 1600 we observed two different boats approaching us head on from the west with the glare of the sunset in our eyes. These were 25-30 feet long, had inboard diesel engines and higher freeboard. We immediately motored closer together. As soon as they saw us close ranks they started coming very fast directly at us. There were 4 men in each boat. They separated at about 200 yards with one boat coming down Madhi‚s port side, shouting and firing into the cockpit. The other boat, firing automatic weapons came at Gandalf. There were no warning shots. Carol on Gandalf began sending Maydays on every frequency.
The first boat swung around behind Mahdi‚s stern to come up and board us. At that point, I , Rod Nowlin aboard Mahdi and armed with a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 00 buckshot, started shooting into their boat. I forced them to keep their heads down so they could not shoot at us. I am not sure I hit anyone at that point. I could see the driver of the boat crouched down behind the steering console. After firing three shots at them, their engine started to smoke and I swung around to try to shoot at the second boat ahead. At that point I saw Jay Barry on Gandalf ram the second boat amidships almost cutting it in two and turning it almost completely over. I turned back around to shoot at the boat still behind Mahdi. That was when they turned away from Mahdi and headed toward the stern of Gandalf. Gandalf was beside us about 100 feet away. The bow of the pirate boat came right up against Gandalf‚s stern and two men stood up on the bow with guns to board Gandalf. That was a serious and probably fateful error on their part. I shot both of them. That boat then veered away and I shot the driver, although I am not sure of the outcome because they were farther away and I didn‚t knock him down like the other two trying to board Gandalf.
Mahdi & Gandalf kept going at full speed to put as much distance between the pirates and us as possible. As soon as we were out of rifle range, we looked back and both attack boats were drifting and seemed to be disabled.
A merchant ship nearby finally answered our Mayday and diverted course to position itself between the floundering pirates and the fleeing yachts. They said they would contact the authorities‚ by Sat phone and then sailed alongside us for 4 hours after dark to make sure we would be all right. Best speed was made to the Port of Aden 180 miles away.
If Jay on Gandalf had not had the presence of mind to veer over into one boat and ram it, the outcome of this attack would have been totally different. All the guys needed to do was stand off a ways and shoot us to pieces with automatic weapons. We were extremely lucky. We broadcast Mayday calls on VHF 16 and all HF radio frequencies, including two HF frequencies that were supplied by the US Coast Guard near Oman only a few days before. Frequencies which the Coalition Forces Warships in this area were supposed to be monitoring. There was no response. The pirates were well organized and well armed. There were at least 4 boats involved. They had set up a picket line out from the Yemen coast probably covering 75 miles out, so if you transited the area during the day they would not miss seeing you. The two attack boats appeared to have come from the south before positioning themselves ahead of us in the sunset.
There has been speculation in the past that this ongoing piracy problem off Yemen‚s coast was being carried out by Somali pirates. Given the number, the types of boats involved, and the direction the supposed spotter boats were coming from, this does not appear to be the case. The men in the attack boats looked both African and Arab.
There was no evidence that this was a people smuggling operation. There were no men, women or children cowering in the boats. These were not fishing boats with nets or overhead sun protection. They appeared to be purpose-built boats, 25-30 feet long, with wooden splines or poles fashioned above the gunwales to which a plastic tarp or shield was hung chest high for the men to hide behind after shooting. The problem is getting worse and the pirate attacks are getting deadly. One could only expect that the Yemen Government will take more direct action At very least, allow yachts to group in Salalah, Oman and at some point along the NW Yemen coast request an escort until Aden or the Straits.
Rodney J. Nowlin, USN Retire March 11, 2005
I like the idea of a rig with ammo and light attached, albeit hopefully never needing the light except after the fact to make sure I don't get bloody bunny slippers per se....
Whe ya have to grab a firearm I really don't want to go looking for a light and spare ammo. Some merits for the 40 Glock with an extended ammo mag (like the glock 18 style mag cept for 40S&W) and a surefire light attached as well as the rigs we're discussing now. Save the lights for last as ya don't ever want to telegraph your location to the bad guys who get past yer puppies. I have one scattergun without a stock and that's a AOW classed Serbu with a pistol grip. It's a good walk the doggy rig for late night crap trap evasion. Slings under a light jacket nicely w/ 6 spare rounds on the belt slide.
A stock is a good fighting tool IMHO as when mechanicals go south yer left with a club.......choices.
I am also partial to the EAA Bounty Hunter II 12 ga Double Barrel. Very nice simple little dwelling defender when a small cheap stock sock with six spare rounds is added. Nice !
Unless the weapon is gyro mounted, no target can be fixed in rolling sea.....rifle, shotgun or any other.
As said...the shotgun is superb up close...But as the people said, they would have been boarded having nothing but 12 ga.shotguns if the second craft wasn't rammed.
The fact you don't understand is that a shotgun (ex single ball) is hopeless as a defensive weapon beyond a few hundred yards (but the best there within that distance).....and in any even, it is certainly no more accurate using a slug than a rifle for long range.
No...sorry Lad, the high calibre rifle, perhaps with scope, is the best toy to have (machine gun excepted) for distance beyond two hundred yards.....unless, of course, the rifle is banned and it is necessary to make port.
My experience boating in foreign waters is limited to the Bahamas, although it is fairly extensive in those islands.
The Bahamas do, unlike many foreign countries, allow you to have firearms aboard your vessel while in their waters. Firearms are considered by them to be legitimate ship's equipment. You just can't bring your guns ashore and they have to be under lock and key. Also, you may not possess "military" weapons. I did openly declare and take an AR-15 into the country for years with no problem. Perhaps a Freeper will know if they are still OK with us doing that.
Anyhow, when you clear Customs inbound to the Bahamas, you merely list your firearms plus an exact count of ammo on one of the several forms you are required to fill out - simple as that. Most of the time, the officers never come to the boat and you go to their office to do the paperwork - end of story, takes about 20 minutes. I have at times had them come to the boat, even then they never looked around really.
My understanding is that other countries are much stricter on the subject of shipboard weapons, there has been some discussion of it on the thread. Some countries will hold your firearms while you are there, releasing them to you on your departure, I believe.
To make matters worse, I have the impression that in 3rd world countries, and even the US for that matter, different offices and agencies of the same governments have different interpretations of what is or isn't allowed.
considering the difficulty, Lad, in firing from one bobbing platform at another bobbing platform at any serious range, a rifle is no better than a firecracker as an implement of dealing death. Conjuring fantasies of sniping on the sea with a 30-06 or a .50BMG is just plain silly.
hold on a shake - gotta see what all that screaming is about
rugrats. no problem.
It's true that the rule is that it's rarely calm on the ocean, but there are areas where it happens surprisingly often. Summertime calm and glassy conditions are pretty regular in the sub tropics and high latitude tropics for instance, and close in to land, anywhere there's a lee. Lots of islands are very isolated in 3rd world countries, so being close in to the beach doesn't guarantee protection. The contrary probably.
I think a rifle a good thing to have aboard, especially one that can get off a lot of shots.
I'd rather have a 12ga. minigun firing interspersed buck and slug.
What's a 12 ga minigun?
I used to take a 12 ga Mossberg pump/8 round mag, plus an AR-15.
I dunno if a 12ga. minigun has ever been built, but it would be a fully automatic 12ga. lead-hose having a revolving motor-driven multi-barrel assembly and an absurd rate of fire.
check this place out: http://www.montysminiguns.com/
turn your speakers down or off, first, unless you REALLY enjoy hearing electronic versions of the Mission Impossible theme
It sure is nice to see the good guys win one.
I think Gandalf did have a website, which is where a lot of the great early Tsunami stuff came from. They survived the waves intact, and were involved in all kinds of hairy rescue and aftermath work.
If you survive all of that, I guess you must be lucky!
Yep, 40mm would be a nice thing to have. Even launches big flares and smokes etc.
that's one way o' lookin' at it :)
Mk19........
oooo... the memories...
Yep, they were lucky, and they were good. Plus, the pirates "telegraphed" their intentions earlier in the day, so the sailors were totally ready. Typically, they would make a fast run up the wake at night and board before a sailor could react.
In the Red Sea, sailors must be ready for attack 24/7, and these were. If it had been a Canadian, Aussie or Euro yacht, they'd be dead, due to sailing with only good karma to protect them.
Nothing like a nice 40MM MP round for making glass boats ass boats !
They are (or were) very reasonable.
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