Posted on 12/31/2008 5:52:41 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
"Operation Atalanta" is the name of the EU's first combat mission against pirates. At a naval base in Djibouti, the German frigate Karlsruhe is standing ready to join the fight. ....
It is 3,680 tons of gray-painted German steel, and its armaments include guided missile launchers midship, a 76-mm cannon at the bow and two steel-helmeted men on the machine-gun platform. Red Christmas decorations hang in the windows and glitter in the African sun.
The vessel is the flagship of the fight against international piracy being waged by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. But the question remains: Can a single German warship -- supported by just five other frigates and reconnaissance aircraft drawn from Great Britain, Greece, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain -- really manage to accomplish much of anything in the region?
The territory covered by Atalanta encompasses some 3 million square kilometers (1.16 million square miles) -- or roughly the surface area of Western Europe. It stretches from the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean through the Red Sea, to the Somali coast and out to the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. "The area is so large (that) we could have hundreds of ships and still there would be gaps in our surveillance," warns Admiral Philip Jones, the rear admiral in the Royal Navy who has been put in charge of the joint EU operation.
These days, if you're standing where the German ship is moored in Djibouti, it's easy to make out the freighters making their way through the so-called "Gate of Tears," the narrow straight separating Djibouti and Yemen, Africa and Asia. Nearly one-tenth of the entire world's oil that is traded passes through these waters.
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
Operation Atalanta” is the name of the EU’s first combat mission against pirates.
I presume they brought a large supply of white flags?
They are equipped with welfare checks and passports for any pirates that want them.
“No one wants a ‘Guantanamo on the sea’,” German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said.”
That’s right Frankie, just blow them out of the water and let the sharks take care of the scraps left over.
I still think the only reason it has come to this point is that the whole world was waiting, expecting us to pick up the check and do the dirty work, AGAIN .
We need to do less, let these petty tyrants cause havoc, and when they mess with our ships .....decimate them.
I agree. Pirates need to walk the walk since they want to talk the talk, and the walk is off the plank. No Pirate captured should ever make it back to the shore under any circumstances. When these outlaws and terrorists are conditioned to understand that point, perhaps they will cease and desist.
lol...
funny how guided missile cruisers are not as useful as a gun boat would be be.
Holy Shite...shoot first...
These buggers or their relatives will get the message.
How about “blow them out of the water, and let the sharks deal with the leftovers.”
Get back to FR when this ship sinks its first pirate vessel.
If they actually hunt for and sink pirate boats, yes.
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