25 was the fourth.
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 ...
The only fair thing to do now is to hand them the keys to the destroyer and ask forgiveness. Let’s hope the destroyer crew remembers to bow.
Personally, I'd also leave—unannounced—a basket of fruit on the deck. :)
Wait everybody! Have we considered the feelings of the pirates? What drove them to this? Was it Bush? Was it the US? What did the Americans do wrong to cause this kidnapping? Those cargo ships passing back and forth must have done something to instigate this “crisis”! We must compensate the pirates for the hardship we have caused them./s
There are people who will have this as an immediate and reflexive reaction, unfortunately.
For all the Hollywood idiocy glamorizing them, high-seas pirates are one of the few classes of people that ought to be immediately killed on positive identification that they are, in fact, pirates. They’re NOT happy-go-lucky, lovable scamps.
>>>> Why not just position snipers on one of the ships and “take out” the pirates “simulutaneously” <<<<<<<
I’ve been wondering the same thing since yesterday, and yes, a ship the size of the Bainbridge is large enough to provide stable firing platform for snipers.
I will say that unless a Marine unit with snipers was aboard the Bainbridge they would have to be transported in from elsewhere.
Perhaps that’s what’s being done?
There really is no other solution, and it should be easy with only 4 criminal pirates to dispatch.
Hollywood could afford to do that because no pirate has dared tangle with a US vessel for over 200 years. Well yo ho ho and a bottle of hopenchange, they’re back.
Trouble is the boat has a cover and all are beneath it. No way to see where the pirates are.
Actually, rescuing the captain while at the same time shooting and killing all the pirates would be the ideal. IMHO.
>>>>>> Also, the sea isn’t a flat stable surface. Even our snipers would be challenged. <<<<<<
We don’t know what the sea conditions are where this is taking place.
Ah. I did not know that.
And why would you call them during hostage negotiations? Scumbags
Unless the hostage team WANTED them to. Ruse to distract the pirates?
American leadership has truly become passive.
As far as using snipers, the target is moving too much to take a clean shot. The lighter boat is moving on the swells very rapidly to the point of gyration. Any attempt would guarantee the death of the Captain.
What is needed is, for the Destroyer to order them to surrender if they want to live. (no conditions) If they kill the Captain, then they carpet the boat's location with 105 and 30 mm cannon fire, until all that is left is flotation foam. Then inform the Somali Government to curb their little games or else expect more of the same, and sink all Pirate boats on sight.
Good info on the lifeboat. This could go on for weeks but it sounds like the captain may have disabled the boat to keep it from going far.
http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/maersk-alabama-lifeboat-faq/
Was it OK when George W. Bush bowed to the Saudi King?
I think that, as soon as enough USN power is on the scene and the TV helicopters are in place, they will kill this poor guy in front of the world and laugh in Obama’s face.
25 was the fourth.
One SEAL in the water. Approach from below. Poke a small hole in the lifeboat and leave. Ten minutes later the hostage and the pirates will all be swimming and the hostage can be plucked out of the water and the pirates safely left behind.
The current USS Bainsbridge is an Arleigh Burke AEGIS Destroyer, and while it may not have a powerplant like the prior Bainsbridge had, in terms of weapons and systems and overall capability it is much better.
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