Posted on 11/05/2005 9:29:46 AM PST by Pokey78
MIAMI (AP) - Pirates fired a rocket-propelled grenade and machine guns Saturday in an attack on a luxury cruise liner off the east African coast, the vessel's owners said.
Two armed boats approached the Seabourn Spirit about 100 miles off the coast of Somalia and fired as the boats' occupants attempted to get onboard, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corp.
The crew initiated a trained response and avoided being boarded, Good said. The ship outran them and changed its course.
"Our suspicion at this time is that the motive was theft," Good said.
One member of the 161-person crew was slightly injured before the attackers were repelled, according to a London-based Seabourn Cruises spokesman.
Press Association, the British news agency, said passengers awoke to the sound of gunfire as two 25-foot inflatable boats approached the liner. The injured crew member was reportedly hit by flying debris.
The vessel's 151 passengers, mostly Americans with some Australians and Europeans, were gathered in a lounge for their safety, Good said. None were injured.
The Spirit had been bound for Mombasa, Kenya, at the end of a 16-day voyage from Alexandria, Egypt. It was expected to reach the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean later Saturday, and then continue on its previous schedule to Singapore, Good said.
The 10,000-ton cruise ship, registered in the Bahamas, sustained minor damage, Good said. "They took some fire, but it's safe to sail," he said.
A Q ship is a regular tramp steamer or merchant cargo ship flying a neutral flag and with false decking and deck houses behind which are mounted 5-inch guns and machine guns. At the sight of the pirates the false sides are droped and the pirates are blasted out of the water.
The Germans used them very effectively during WWII.
Tony, did you pick up on this thread on the Seabourn Spirit pirates on FR before the Fox News Alert ran today?
Oops, having a little posting trouble this morning?
Have you ever tried to shinny up the side of a wet ship?
Dirty Sam Flint
Maybe the pirants got it confused with Tim Cruise's ship . . . The Flagship in Clearwater, Florida.
Repetition is not our friend. Others here have said the ship was used against German U-boats. Which is it?
Lets put a platoon of Marines on the ship and sail it deliberately close to Somalia.
BTW, I think we got it the first time, but it was the Brits, not the Germans, and it was more effective in WW1 than WW2...
IOW: run away, run away, run away, run awaaaaay.
Not that they should fight, (my understanding is that most cruise ships do not even have trap shooting weapons because of environwacko concerns over the teeny tiny shot gun shot falling into the vast oceans)
This makes it sound like some kind of "fighting happened".
I doubt even a margarita was disturbed.
I believe that the Marines handled this type of bullsh#t awhile back... something about the shores of Tripoli or other...
The germans did not call them Q-ships, and they did not use them against submarines. Theirs were commerce raiders. They would fly whatever flag would get them closest to the enemy merchant ship, then drop the false sides, and order the victim to heave to. If they did not heave to, or if they used their radio, the raider would open fire.
The crews of these ships were well trained and highly efficient. The men were hand-picked, and the ships were modified for combat in extreme secrecy.
These ships were used very effectively in both WWI and WWII. In WWI, Raider Wolf carried a folding seaplane for recon, which was the first use of this kind of technology. The seaplane was named "Wolfchen", or Wolf Cub.
Bloody Tom Cash
My husband says he reads constantly about these pirates boarding boats. Obviously the ships are not as vunarable when sailing as they are docked. I can't imagine how a couple of inflatable boats could overcome a huge ship while its sailing.
Hang the code, and hang the rules. They're more like guidelines anyway.
Maybe cruise ships should have silverware-shooting cannons on deck! Or use bottles of rum as Molotov cocktails!
161 crew members and 151 passengers. These cruises are 8-10 grand per passenger. What a vacation...
Remember The Cole. God rest their souls.
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