Takin' Care of Business
Just found an AP release, (via the WaPo) the USS Cape St. George, and USS Gonzalez engaged a suspected pirate ship off the coast of Somalia early this morning. 
I'm quite sure that the photo at the left isn't what the fire fight looked like, a standard missile would be just a little bit of overkill (and over budget). But it's a cool picture anyway.
According to the AP they evidently ran across the pirates towing some folks skifs away in the area around Somalia, and when they were going to board them started taking small arms and machine gun fire.
The Navy fired back with their own machine guns, which could be anything from a standard .50 caliber mount, an M-60 or something similar to this 25mm Bushmaster.Three of the suspects were seriously wounded and being treated on one of the Navy ships. No US sailors were injured in the attack.
One other thing struck me about the press release, the spokesman for 5th Fleet is Cmd. Charlie Brown. I wonder if anyone pulls his podium away just before a press conference?
Technorati Tags: Navy, Pirates, Somalia, USS Cape St. George, USS Gonzalez
posted by Crazy Politico at 12:38 PM
9Comments:
Uff-da, the pirates fired back?
That's pretty much forfeiting any restraint the Navy was willing to employ.
I hope we have real interrogators ready to talk to these people. I am sure they have a story worth listening to.
Crazy:
Very cool find. Neat post!! It is amazing to think we still are dealing with pirates in 2006.
Actually Robo, the article said they fired first. Guess their balls were bigger than their brains.
Shoprat, I'm sure they'll be taken somewhere via secret cia flights :)
LMC- This is actually the second time I've blogged about pirates in Somalia in the last 6 months. Weird.
Yeah, that's what I meant to say, but hit that "publish" button before I realized. When we're doing Counter Drug Interdiction in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, the drug runner know better than to engage the Navy. If they just dump the cargo and scuttle the boat or set it on fire, they'll get a free ride and a comfy jail cell. They're just in it for the cash, not to get shot up.
Personally, I'd like to see the U.S. Government start issuing Letters of Marque and letting adventurous Americans try their hand at privateering as a solution to the piracy/drug problem in that region. Might work of the Horn of Africa, too. I'd get a boat and a crew and go catch me some pirates.
I am all for fireworks but I would agree with you that a $600,000 missile might be overkill.
Still a nice photo. :)
I've shot 23 of those missiles, they are SOOOOO cool to hear leave the ship.
Missile over gun, obviously. But it does sadden me that I never got to see a battleship firing en masse.
I prefer today’s technology, but I do love to see the old WW II footage of the battleships firing ashore.
My first ship was the USS New Jersey, I was on it just over 2 years, hoisted over 400 shells that were fired, and until the last month I was there had never seen it fire.
Was definitely more impressive watching from the bridge than "feeling" from inside the turret.
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