The Captian is free and safe!

I did not find an article that said much about exactly how the pirates were slain. I think the Navy should be doing target practice on all the pirate vessels as long as they don't have hostages.
 
matt_unique":1oj5sgci said:
I did not find an article that said much about exactly how the pirates were slain. I think the Navy should be doing target practice on all the pirate vessels as long as they don't have hostages.
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Apparently they are difficult to pick out from all the other traffic until it is too late.

Warren
 
matt_unique":1wukhkpm said:
I did not find an article that said much about exactly how the pirates were slain. I think the Navy should be doing target practice on all the pirate vessels as long as they don't have hostages.
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They (3) were taken out by sharpshooters from the Bainbridge, not sure if they had help from the Seals in the water but a submarine inserted them from from an underwater shelter just about under the lifeboat without coming to the surface. A great job, very risky but apparently the On Scene Commander felt the time was right to do it and that the Merchant Captain's life was in jeopardy. Apparently the 4th pirate was on the Bainbridge "negotiating" Hopefully he'll either go to GITMO or meet his 100 Virgins in his Heaven.

Our rules of engagement do not permit us to fire on another vessel unless it is firing at us or if an innocent persons life is in danger.

Interesting to note that Israeli merchant ships transit with no interference, their crews are armed and trained to repel boarders. I iunderstand that other nations prefer to let their insurance companies bear the risk since the pirates have not, to date, harmed any captives. That time will come though, I personally think it's time to take some much more agressive action.

Go Navy!!
 
Captains Cat":dmzb5ghc said:
...not sure if they had help from the Seals in the water but a submarine inserted them from from an underwater shelter just about under the lifeboat without coming to the surface. A great job, very risky...
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I've trained with one former Navy SEAL in our dept. He was very serious and very knowledgable about tactics, weapons and training. They are the best at what they do.

Apparently the 4th pirate was on the Bainbridge "negotiating" Hopefully he'll either go to GITMO or meet his 100 Virgins in his Heaven.
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Yes. But Gitmo is being closed. Hmmm. I agree with your "quoting" the word negotiating. It's amazing to me that the U.S. gov't could even trust a terrorist enough to negotiate, but I suppose it did buy time and I would not question their intel etc. I also don't think the word "pirates" accurately describes these individuals. They are terrorists. Period.

Interesting to note that Israeli merchant ships transit with no interference, their crews are armed and trained to repel boarders.
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Indeed. Now what do the Israelis know that a majority of U.S. citizens haven't learned or accepted yet? [Rhetorical question]
 
Mark, I'm sure the Navy was, in no way, negotiating with the 4th pirate/terrorist. They were using the "divide and conquor" tactic. I'm pretty sure, that once he was on board the Bainbridge, they also offered to trade him back to the other 3 in exchange for Capt Phillips....

Those were very tricky shots, whether they came from the fantail of the Bainbridge or from the Seals in the water. The pirate/terrorists are now threatening to retaliate.... As Dirty Harry said, "Go ahead, make my day" or, "How lucky do you punks feel today!"

The French apparently rescued some of their citizens from a captured sailboat on Friday, killed the terrorists but also lost one of the captives while freeing 4. Didn't make much of a wave in the press in this country though.

Too bad the place they are operating in is so darn big. Very difficult to cover. Sure would help if we had John Lehman's "600 Ship Navy" instead of the 283 or so that we now have.

Charlie
 
Where do we get such men?

Charlie I have every reason to believe your sub insertion comment but can't find corroboration anywhere. Predicted that same scenario because I've seen similar insertions. Must have been a major effort to kill that part of the story....

Don
 
Aha, now I know.... You mean submarine!! :oops:

Saw that on TV last evening, they even had a picture, not sure if it was from this event or not, of a Seal in the water next to a lifeboat that looked very much like this one. Had some video of Seals exiting a submarine shelter underwater though that was just file footage I'm sure. Not sure what channel, may have been ABC which I usually watch..

Charlie
 
New today said that the seals jump from a plane and where picked up by boat. Not that you can trust the news, they are in so much of a hurry that they often get the story wrong. Its a hard job as I am sure the military does not want some things released. Every time I have be involved in something that made the new or local paper they have gotten it wrong to the point that I wonder if they were at the same event.
 
Trust the news? You gotta be kidding..... Last night on the evening ABC National News, Martha Raddich (sp?) stated that the snipers used gyrostabilized rifles to shoot the bad guys. If so, it's a new developement....I don't think so..

Charlie
 
This has me fired up. I don't understand why merchant ships are still cruising past Somalia without arms and 24 hour watches on deck and on radar. I mean, after the first 100 or so attacks over the course of two weeks, one would think that every merchant ship should EXPECT an attack by pirates. There should be no surprises as this point. To sail past Somalia at this point without arms is a "fool me twice shame on me" scenario unless the business of shipping really considers this a budgeted expense. I don't get it....turn the skiffs and their crews into swiss cheese when they get in range of a ship and maintain course and speed. What am I missing?
 
Matt, I don't disagree with you. It's not that simple though. READ THIS Read the links too....

They don't sail "by Somalia". These guys are hundreds of miles (even ~a thousand) off shore. It's moved out into the Indian Ocean now. I'm sure the bad guys are having as hard a time finding targets as we are in finding them. The idea of a "Blackwater" like team on each inbound ship, transferring when they are outbound to another inbound ship sounds workable. Those guys are paid/trained and would be a deterrent. The pirates wouldn't try it many times. They could even fly a code flag that the pirates understood meant "armed protection on board". Then, after a few tries, each ship could fly it whether they had the protection on board or not. Sort of like a plain clothes Sky Marshal. Call them Sea Marshals

Charlie
 
Captains Cat":18y2r7mh said:
Trust the news? You gotta be kidding..... Last night on the evening ABC National News, Martha Raddich (sp?) stated that the snipers used gyrostabilized rifles to shoot the bad guys. If so, it's a new developement....I don't think so..

Charlie
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They probably meant gyro stabilized rifle scopes.

Harper
 
Probably Harper, thanks. A google on that brings this blog to the front, never had read it before but apparently a bunch of Marines felt the same way...

Can't visualize the connection with stabilizing the scope and where the bore is pointed however....You gotta move the scope onto the target, and it's locked to the bore... I'm not sure even how the stabilized binoculars work either.... I'm an EE, not a magician!

Charlie
 
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