Think only of yourself....
Posted on 11/08/2005 9:49:17 AM PST by linkinpunk
Ship Blasted Pirates With Sonic Weapon
By JOHN PAIN, AP Business Writer Mon Nov 7, 7:20 PM ET
MIAMI - The crew of a luxury cruise ship used a sonic weapon that blasts earsplitting noise in a directed beam while being attacked by a gang of pirates off Africa this weekend, the cruise line said Monday.
The Seabourn Spirit had a Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, installed as a part of its defense systems, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line. The Spirit was about 100 miles off Somalia when pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns as they tried to get onboard.
The subsidiary of Carnival Corp. was investigating whether the weapon was successful in warding off the pirates, he said. The ship's captain also changed its course, shifted into high speed and headed out into the open sea to elude the pirates, who were in two small boats, he said. He had no further details.
Device maker American Technology Corp. said earsplitting "bangs" were directed by trained security personnel toward the pirates. That, combined with ship maneuvers, caused the attackers to leave the area, the company said.
The LRAD is a so-called "non-lethal weapon" developed for the U.S. military after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole off Yemen as a way to keep operators of small boats from approaching U.S. warships.
The military version is a 45-pound, dish-shaped device that can direct a high-pitched, piercing tone with a tight beam. Neither the LRAD's operators or others in the immediate area are affected.
American Technology, based in San Diego, compares its shrill tone to that of smoke detectors, only much louder. It can be as loud as about 150 decibels, while smoke alarms are about 80 to 90 decibels.
The devices have been deployed on commercial and naval vessels worldwide since summer 2003, the company said.
They could have put a Yoko Ono record and gotten the same effect.
The navy should be able to blast 2,3,10 of these bastards out of the water. Send a message and clean up the mess in a matter of weeks. Don't know what's stopping us.
Lip synching wouldn't work.
Hehehe. Yahoo made a funny.
Can you imagine his expression changing when the crew pulls the canvas cover off of its 50-caliber machine gun?
I can dream, can't I?
Nice!
"Allah Arrrr-kbar matey!"
Talk lika a Muslem pirate day?
Are they not permitted to engage someone that is shooting at them?
On my last cruise I shot a lot of skeet off of the back of the boat, and the Dr. on board was the skeet shooting coordinator so I got to know him after a while. I asked him what the had for defense of the ship if something major was to ever happen. He told me that they had buckshot for the shotguns, and after I joking told him that wasn't much he just winked and said they had more than enough down below to handle just about any contingency. It was a Norwegian Cruise Line cruise, and most of the crew that actually took care of the ship are retired military, not the waiters or anything, but I think that on the bigger boats the pirates would have found more resistance than they did with the UN boat they got awhile ago.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball...
In international waters the captain can do anything he wants in protection of his ship. He could have turned the ship and ran them through the screws and all that would have been said by anyone was if he bent one while turning them to fish food, cost of oil being what it is that would have cut the profit margin down on the rest of the voyage.
Why not learn from the C-130:
AC-130H SOF Gunship, 1 105mm howitzer, 1 40mm cannon, and 2 20mm cannon. Equipped with interial guidance and GPS navigation equipment, low-light-level TV.
I thought this thread was about pirates?
Not a parrot, eyepatch or a good Aaaaargh in the whole story!
They could use the old Q boat trick the Brits developed in WW I. Charter a particularly vulnerable and juicy looking civilian vessel, equip it with camouflaged guns, run it in, and wait for the terrorists to attack. Once they take the bait, give them a surprise. Along with making a few subhumans dead, it would send a great message to the others.
Again, what are we waiting for?
Here ya go. Arrrrrr:
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