HAS THE CAPABILITY OF FIRING HARPOONS 
Posted on 04/10/2009 2:06:02 AM PDT by Liz
A US Navy destroyer stranded a hapless group of Somali pirates on the high seas. "We are surrounded by warships and don't have time to talk," one terrified pirate told Reuters via satellite phone.....the four blubbering buccaneers refused to release Capt. Richard Phillips, as the 510-foot destroyer USS Bainbridge, spy planes and drones kept tabs on the pirates' stranded, covered lifeboat, which had run out of fuel, with 10 days of emergency rations aboard. Capt. Richard Phillips offered himself as a hostage after his crew locked themselves in a room containing the ship's controls when the pirates boarded the vessel 250 miles off the Somali coast. US Central Command boss Gen. David Petraeus said the military will increase its presence near the Horn of Africa..... Capt Phillips, 53, had a radio and had additional batteries and provisions, Maersk said. The Maersk Alabama was ordered to sail for Mombasa, Kenya, with its cargo of food relief.....An 18-man, armed security detail from the Bainbridge was aboard the Alabama. "No one is coming to the pirates' rescue, that's for sure," said retired US Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold. "It's a waiting game and time is on the Navy's side. The pirates are in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. The only card they have to play is the captain."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I know nothing about the military, but I’ve watched a few movies in my time, and I thought the military had snipers with long range capability. Why not just position snipers on one of the ships and “take out” the pirates “simulutaneously”...am I being naive, is that not an option at sea because of the movement of the boats?
Yet in the end Obama will Payoff the pirates...Blame the US ship...or Surrender. After he gets out of the White House bathroom chain smoking KOOL’S!! LOL
HAS THE CAPABILITY OF FIRING HARPOONS
I don’t think Obama’s master, King Abdullah would approve of killing these pirates — they’re fellow Muslims.
Rescuing the Captain without a shot being fired is the ideal. If that fails, other options will be considered.
I, too, was thinking, surround the boat, have two or three snipers per pirate, all with ear pieces and have one order sound “fire”. Wipe out pirates, save the captain.
But the lifeboat is a pod. It is covered and the pirates are not exposed.
Also, the sea isn’t a flat stable surface. Even our snipers would be challenged.
I believe it’s a “covered” lifeboat.
They are in a covered lifeboat, so, no targets.
That would be great, but not if they pay these guys ransom (like the other countries have been doing.)
Maybe he'll call Biden's daughter to get a stash to really chill out. LOL.
Somebody on an earlier thread pointed out that it’s a hard-bulkhead covered lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama, not an open one. The pirates and the captain are inside, out of sight.
I wondered the same thing; any Marine fresh out of Sea School on the deck of the Destroyer could make the shot easily, over open sights-if we were talking about the open boat that the pirates arrived in. (Do destroyers have Marine detachments? Probably not.)
It’s all about orders from Washington at this point. If I had to guess, the White House will trade the captain’s life for their lives, and they’ll walk.
The 3 pirates have to sleep in shifts, I presume. Sooner or later they’ll be simultaneously zonked and then gotcha.
What would it take to make that lifeboat slowly sink?
I hadn’t realized it was an enclosed lifeboat. I don’t watch much TV, and what I have seen has shown an open dinghy like boat, guess that was old footage or what they storm the ships in.
Just saying, betcha if the captain was Israeli, Israel would have figured out a way to rescue him.
My guess is that would make them Martyrs, heroes at home to die at the merciless American snipers hand. I think a siege, while it takes time, is a more humiliating thing to carry home. Pray for the Captain’s strength and wisdom. Could you hear the discussion back home.. “So, Frank, I heard your son tried to seize a ship full of Americans. Umm, What was he thinking? That boy has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer.”
A SEAL with a brace and bit, Warner Brothers cartoon style? That’s not a bad idea. :-)
Covered lifeboat---type pirates are holding the Captain in.
Might look like this inside.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think these guys are Jihadis. They’re more straight up criminal scumbags, who may or may not be nominally Muslim, given that they’re Somali.
I can’t imagine being in that, unable to see the horizon in an extended spell of heavy weather. It might beat drowning with your ship, but just barely. (shudder)
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