Arghhhh.... yes matey, never sail the Red Sea without at least one good swivel gun charged with grapeshot on yer rail...
Posted on 06/06/2005 6:45:33 AM PDT by ToveL
An American couple who fought off Yemenite pirates during a Red Sea crossing in March swaggered into Ashkelon this weekend bearing the story of their daring escape on the high seas.
Joseph L. Barry III's and Carol Martini's journey on their private yacht began in 1999 from their quiet, north Boston suburb. But the couple's swashbuckling skills were put to the test when they and another American couple found themselves the victims of modern-day pirates.
Over the past seven years, the Red Sea crossing has become dangerous for private boats. Yemenite pirates found they could loot and pillage the luxury yachts to their hearts content, due to a lax Coast Guard presence in the area, say Israeli authorities.
According to what the couple told Israeli authorities on their arrival here, Barry and Martini had teamed up with another American couple to make the trip across the Red Sea. On the evening of March 6, the couples were making their way toward the coast of Yemen. It was sunset when they approached two small, wooden fishing ships commonly used in the area. Suddenly men with guns sprung up from the boats and began firing at them.
Martini immediately ran below deck and began dialing SOS codes to nearby ships, while Barry and the couple aboard the second yacht began to plan their defense. As the man aboard the second boat fired his handgun at their attackers, Barry decided to take a desperate move to save his yacht.
Turning toward his attackers, he gathered speed and rammed into the small wooden boats at nearly 7 knots. The move devastated the wooden boats and knocked several of the men overboard. Barry shot at least two of the attackers, wounding them enough to deter the others.
The pirates quickly retreated, leaving the couples to patch up their boats and sail to port of Aden. However, the couples found the Aden authorities to be largely indifferent and watched as their complaint was added to a thick pile of similar reports on the local secretary's desk. The couples stayed in Aden long enough to have basic repairs made to their yachts, and then set off for what they found to be the nearest "modern world" port – Ashkelon.
Hillel Reshef, head of the Ashkelon Port Authority, received an e-mail from the couple explaining the situation and requesting to dock at Ashkelon.
"I was not at all surprised," he said. "We have had several of these reports over the past two years."
Reshef said there had been increasing criminal activity in that area and many Western tourists had been targeted.
But almost ending up in "Davy Jones's locker" apparently did not deter Barry and Martini, who set sail for Turkey on Sunday.
Not enough firepower, obviously.
Shotguns and a long rifle needed.
This one will make a good "made-for-TV" thriller...
Cannon. Definitely needed a cannon!
History is repeating itself.
The Barbary pirates were muslim terrorists based out of Libya-- hence the "shores of Tripoli" phrase in the Marine Corps Hymn.
Aren't there issues with that, when arriving in the many "personal ownership of firearms unfriendly" countries?
A deck mounted twin .50 would be nice...
Agreed. A friend recently came to me. He's planning on sailing through the Sulu Archipelago in the Phillipines off the coast of Malaysia.
I reccommended a Barrett .50 caliber M107 and an old style WW II trench shotgun that you can get with a stainless steel action. Although both are expensive (as such weapons go) they are reliable and would be immensely effective in a situation like that.
Arghhhh.... yes matey, never sail the Red Sea without at least one good swivel gun charged with grapeshot on yer rail...
Unfortunately, one is subject to arrest for possessing weapons in most ports near where these weapons are most needed. Catch 22.
Yes. However the combination though offering huge close range firepower lack any effective ranging capabilities. One of the tactics of these pirates is to stay out of range and wear down the boaters or attack at night. A Barret can reach out nearly 2 miles and when coupled with even cheap nightvision equipment makes a deadly combination.
Because of the problem with salt water corrosion, I would suggest the DSA all stainless steel version of the FN-FAL. A bit pricy, but worth every nickel when you need it.
I'd recommend a couple of Remington 870 Marine Magnum shotguns.
These are 8 shot 12 ga. magnum shotguns. They are corrosion resistant and loaded with slugs would make short work of wooden boats.
Along with that add a high capacity auto pistol like a Glock 17 and you are good to go.
Add some old tracer rounds to start the fires too.
But practically ...
AR-15s and a rotary mag 12 guage, although the min RUger would be a nice back up.
The civilians are likely to be bad shots at moving targets, so you need high capacity mags ;-) ( or more range time)
The DSA stainless steel FAL in 7.62 NATO offers a good compromise between the .50 Barrett and the puny .223 cal Mini-14.
I always thought it would be good practice for our Special Ops shooters to sail into known pirate havens disguised as civilians.
I thought this sounded familiar. This current write-up is nowhere near as good as the original post that you link.
In the interest of saving time make that "Quad-Fifties".
Sounds like the Aden authorities are getting a piece of the action.
Some bakhsheesh might have helped.
I'm thinking if I were in the area we'd have the AK-47 and PLENTY of ammo along. Fire one clip while filling the other. If more folks like these fight back maybe it'll quit happening.
Unfortunately, many countries have such strict anti-gun rules that merely sailing into their waters with any type of firearm can put you into a third-world legal crisis and the local slammer.
Piracy is a growing problems for these sailing cruisers, not all of whom are sailing monster luxury yachts, but have all their savings invested in their dream circumnavigation in older models of modest size.
A few years ago, drug smugglers in the Caribbean were attacking boats, killing the owners and using the boats for drug smuggling. Although this has slowed down somewhat, at one time there were over 5,000 missing boats in the Caribbean alone.
A Barrett 50-cal would be nice.
Cannon.
Well, if there's no room for a 12 Pounder a swivel gun or two would work nicely.
I want one. That is just pure classy.
WARNING: This is a high volume ping list
Make that a Mini-30 with taped double banana clips, but you have the right idea. 3" mag 00-buck does the real close in damage.
I guess the Aden authorities consider Red Sea pirates the same way our government considers illegal aliens. Maybe they call them "Undocumented Entepreneurs"?
It's not too awfully bad at 100 yards ether.
I'm waiting for the UN condemnation.
Agreed. Its certainly a hellava lot cheaper and it'd be easier to use for someone of smaller stature. Further the 7.62 is a fair round. However in this environment for the tactics involving a situation like fast priate boats a Barret or even a South African Truvelo is the desired weapon. Both have good range, are reliable weapons that are easy to use, and most importantly deliver a powerful punch. Imagine being on a wooden or fiberglass boat and having a .50 caliber trained on you 1700 yds beyond the range of your weapon. You'd go home in short order and or look for easier prey.
Agreed. When cruising the bahamas in the early 80's we had a few shotguns and Ar-15's to deter any pirates. Better safe than sorry.
Agreed on both counts. That's why I like the old fashioned Trench Gun but I like to keep my enemies at a distance, say 2500 yds or better.
This is at least the third time this has been posted.
Heck, if you have a $150,000 blue water boat, what is a few thousand for a pintle mounted M2 .50 BMG? In the U.S it is completely legal if it is semi-auto only. A few rounds across the bow sould make them think twice about getting too close.
Maintainence would be a big issue for a steel gun, though.
Crew-served firepower can't be beat. ;)
A .50 Barret is fine, but you aren't going to be effective at any range due to the movements of the boat/ship. 2500 yards MAY be possible in perfect conditions, but they just aren't going to happen in open water.
Fully automatic fire is the solution, but somewhat difficult to implement. ;)
I like these folks. The didn't run and used the boat as a weapon to supplement their weak firearm situation. Maybe a good solution is a a bit of armor plate attached to the bow to facilitate ramming without major damage to yourself.
Then you may have one. God Bless America.
I sent him to a gunsmith I know in Manilla who reworked the sear on the Barret and added a box magazine. It about doubled the load performance. It'd take a mighty brave, or foolish, man to approach anyone so armed.
The other downside to crewed weapons is the weight and recoil of most such heavy weapons. Most pleasure crafty just aren't sturdy enough to withstand the stresses involved.
And you'll have to trust that a former US Marine Master Gunny might have a handle on the tools of the trade.
The Remington 870 Marine Magnum wiuld also be a good choice in a salty environment.
I'm sure some research before hand is a good idea. My nearest large body of water is the Mississippi, which in my area is very firearms friendly and pretty well cleared of pirates, but my brother-in-law takes his boat from Florida to several islands. He says that at least where he goes as long as you have a complete inventory of arms and ammo on board and declare it to the authorities you're OK.
Arrgh! Avast, me hearties!
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