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| Africa Horn |
| Somali pirates mistakenly attack Dutch warship |
| 2010-03-28 |
| MARINES have disarmed 12 Somali pirates who mistakenly attacked a Dutch warship thinking it was a merchant vessel. The Dutch frigate Hr Ms Tromp, responding to a sighting from a German patrol plane, encountered the pirates' "mother boat" and two smaller motorised attack boats off the Somali coast. "When the Tromp came within eight nautical miles of the pirates, two attack boats stormed the Tromp on the assumption that the frigate was a merchant vessel," said statement from the Dutch Government. "When they realised they were trying to storm a warship, they abandoned the attack and made haste trying to get away", throwing overboard a number of weapons and ladders normally used for boarding hijacked vessels. Warning shots fired from the frigate forced the three pirate boats to come to a halt, and marines found 12 people on board, the statement said. "The marine frigate destroyed the two attack boats, and all the pirates were put on board the mother boat with sufficient food, water and fuel and sent back to Somalia." The marines did not arrest the group because of a lack of physical evidence. "After they threw overboard the weapons and ladders, they could not be linked to a specific pirate attack," the Dutch Government said. The Tromp has found and disarmed 32 pirates in the past week. In total, it has disarmed 44 pirates while participating in a European Union anti-piracy mission in the lawless waters off the Horn of Africa nation. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #19 Yeah, I saw the Phalanx, but they'd probably think it was a friggin disco ball... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-03-28 23:31 |
| #18 The Signaal Goalkeeper supposedly does have anti-surface capability. I'm not sure if the Dutch systems have that configuration. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-03-28 23:26 |
| #17 You mean none besides the antimissile gun on top of the helicopter hanger. (It's the dutch version, but I think it fires bullets of the same caliber as the one the Indian ship used earlier to bisect a mothership last year). |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-03-28 23:10 |
| #16 No gun aft. I suppose it's possible. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-03-28 22:55 |
| #15 I see a front gun, is there a rear gun? If not anyone coming from astern wouldn't catch on so fast. No mention of fog, I know that paint is named "Haze Grey for a reason. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-03-28 22:38 |
| #14 Maybe in a few years a lot of merchant ships will start to look like that - at least with the gun mounts. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2010-03-28 20:36 |
| #13 Nice pic! That answers that question. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-03-28 20:20 |
| #12 She don't look like a merchy to me. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-03-28 20:02 |
| #11 I'm not sure who the goat is here - the pirates for not being able to tell a frigate from a freighter or the Dutch for having a warship that could be mistaken for a merchant. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-03-28 19:57 |
| #10 I take it this means none of the Pirate Boyz noticed the ship's weapons = big ship thingys that go boom-boom, etc. before they launched their attack??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-03-28 19:56 |
| #9 A shochet? We're going to make this a matter for a trained kosher butcher then, are we? Personally, I have no problem with summary execution, so long as there are witnesses to the actual attack who are willing to swear that those executed were attempting piracy. It's rather silly to say, "We saw them use the tools, we saw them throw the tools overboard, but now that they don't have the tools in their possession we cannot prove they weren't simply, unarmed pleasure cruisers all along." I don't personally care what method is used -- rope from the yardarm, shochet's knife, firing squad, or a single bullet behind the ear, just so long as it's not drawn out. Nor dwellt on, either. Piracy is supposed to be a risky business, not a protected one. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-03-28 19:40 |
| #8 An eight man Boarding Party could handle the execution and disposal of all the Pirates with no further assistance. You board their largest Vessel( assuming the "Mother ship" to be that vessel.) You bring your Pirates aboard and bind them. Nylon tie-ties will be adequate ( in lieu of handcuffs ) and maybe a little communications wire. Blindfold them and gather them in one place. Take them one at a time down below deck where the work can be most conveniently done. Someplace where you can close the metal door and make things relatively quiet. then...."A shochet( the senior NCO) uses a chalef knife ( no nicks in the blade, clean it in a bucket of water after each job and resharpen the edge on a barber's strap ) to cut the throat. A chalet is not a big knife, its about the size of an average File, superior steel very like a straight razor but with no sharp knife tip, very like a straight Razor, as I say....Rinse it in the bucket after each use, strop it a couple of turns on the Barbers belt and then bring down the next man. Get two NCOs to hold the Pirate ( detail two men with JUST bringing the men down..keep their shoes clean that way, no stains) and make each Pirate bend the knee. He's blindfolded, he wont have any warning at all except if he smells the volume of blood and recognized the smell.But chances are he wont recognize the smell and you arent going to give him any "long moment". Do the work quickly. Drag the body aft and secure the hatch. Everyone doesnt want to actually DO killing. You all seem to want to "distance" yourself from the actual getting the job done. Take their boat away from them ( yeah?)...let the Sea do the work? Comfy with that, are we? You dont have to watch their bowels relax and actually handle them while the body does a post death sweat?( ever wonder why a corpse just killed is so wet?) Of course you dont. Put a Limpet mine and let that do the work... you wont even have to watch. Then too, maybe there isnt a single man on board your "warship" who CAN slit a throat. That's very likely. Do you know how hard it is to get good killers? Even the Marine Corp doesnt have all that many. Button pushers and good little boys are far more common. But "nasty" stuff...stuff that has a unique smell to it....men who CAN... and look you right in the eye on Tuesday...that's more rare. It HARD to kill people. Most individuals have a natural aversion to it. No one finds it polite to be THAT guy. Everybody is ASHAMED to be regarded as that "dirty" individual who actually doesnt find it all that difficult. There is always that one man ( you just have to find him is all) who smiles and knows EXACTLY how to make the slice and then rinse the knife and nod. "Bring the next one down." Sink the boat after the pirates are all ...done up... and the hatch secured when you blow a hole in the hull. Do it after dark and dont explain it to the rest of the warship's crew. Tell the rest of the crew you left them with enough fuel and rations to reach the coast. Sink the "Mother Ship" with a timed charge...nothing big...just adequate. Set it to detonate after you are over the Horizon. Nobody will know. I certainly wont tell. |
| Posted by: BlackBart 2010-03-28 19:24 |
| #7 Those boats are not all that mechanically reliable, being as they are old fishing boats, prone to engineering problems, ya know? Limpet mine and a timer. Just sayin. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-03-28 17:16 |
| #6 Point them to Mecca and tell them to start swimming... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-03-28 16:48 |
| #5 Sink the mother ship and the rest of their boats. Allah will guide them |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-03-28 16:46 |
| #4 Sink the mother ship & leave them in the whale boats. |
| Posted by: tipover 2010-03-28 16:41 |
| #3 A better solution would have been to disable the mother ship's engines and radio and let her drift wherever Allah would take her. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2010-03-28 16:26 |
| #2 Catch, feed, medicate and release. An assortment of parting gifts is optional. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-03-28 15:58 |
| #1 Catch and release |
| Posted by: john frum 2010-03-28 15:43 |
