Posted on 06/08/2007 2:43:46 AM PDT by GATOR NAVY
The Norfolk-based amphibious ship Carter Hall fired on pirates off the coast of Somalia as they overtook a Danish cargo ship, a Navy official said Wednesday.
The Carter Hall fired several warning shots over the Danish vessel Danica White on Saturday and then destroyed three skiffs used by the pirates, said the Navy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter.
The hijackers took the ship from international seas and slipped into Somali territorial waters, where the United States does not have jurisdiction, The Associated Press reported.
The Carter Hall is part of a multinational naval task force assigned to patrol off the Horn of Africa. The dock landing ship, which supports amphibious assaults through landing craft and helicopters, deployed from Norfolk Naval Station.
Cmdr. James E. McGovern, a Virginia Beach native and 1988 graduate of Norfolk State University, is the ship's captain, according to the ship's W eb site.
The ship is equipped with two 25 mm machine guns, two 20 mm close-in weapons and six 50-caliber machine guns.
Lars Thuesen, head of the Danish Foreign Ministry's consular department, told a Danish news agency that authorities have been unable to contact the cargo ship and the situation could take weeks to resolve, according to the A P.
A spokesman for the ship's owner, H. Folmer & Co., said Saturday that the Danish crew was on its way to the Kenyan port of Mombasa from Dubai when it was seized by pirates Saturday or late Friday.
International law obliges countries to combat piracy in international waters. Several locally based ships in the 5th Fleet have engaged pirates as part of an international task force.
The destroyer Gonzalez and cruiser Cape St. George engaged and captured 12 Somalis in March 2006 when the foreign seamen fired on U.S. sailors aboard small boats.
And CARTER HALL is based at NAB Little Creek, not Norfolk.
The ship is equipped with two 25 mm machine guns, two 20 mm close-in weapons and six 50-caliber machine guns.Now, if the Danish cargo ship had been similarly equipped, then we wouldn't even be talking about this.
Thanks for the post GATOR NAVY.
Related thread - fyi:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1843894/posts
Actually I had I quite a few few posts on that thread regarding CTF 150 from my experience off Somalia on CARTER HALL last year.
I appreciate your service, GATOR NAVY.
So, we watched the pirates take the ship in international waters, and did not follow them because of “territorial waters”? What nice etiquette. What is this? Is Somalia suddenly no longer a lawless nothing, but a real country? Can Somalia handle this problem?
This is stupid. We should have gone right after that ship, and the pirates should have been left to explain things to Davy Jones.
Ever hear of the Barbary pirates? If a weak little back-woods country composed of thirteen former colonies (populated mainly by dirt farmers) could fight and defeat pirates, why can’t we today?
I shake my head in amazement, that we’re paying any attention at all to Somalia’s “territorial waters”. Why!?
There’s a lot of discussion on that at this thread. Note I’m not defending the policy. I’m only telling you what was explained to us.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1843894/posts
The big question is: What religion did the pirates profess? [LOL]
More proof that gun control does exactly what you'd expect - makes victims more helpless. But this is good, because according to Brady, Schemer, Feinswein, Kennedy, et al the more helpless you are the safer you are. After all you can't shoot yourself if you're disarmed (of course anyone else who is armed can do it to you, but they don't care about that.
THANKS for posting the photos.
I want one. do you think it would be too heavy for a kayak?
Somebody needs to police their brass.
Not if you get the General Dynamics Periwinkle Mk3 Assault Kayak.
So why wasn't the Dutch ship similarly equipped? Strikes me as foolish to get close to any point on the African continent without suitable armament.
Good shooting! Congrats to the Navy for a job well done.
Imagine this: Sailing off Somalia disguised as a small unarmed passenger ship, We have deck chairs shuffleboard and even a great buffet. We see the pirates approach, we drop the false facade and guns appear everywhere and we set about blazing away at pirates in their boats sinking them and sending their Islamic butts to Allah.
Hell: I would even volunteer for that job myself. We could make it a cruise and even charge for the privilege. No bag limit ,no plugs in the guns,no license required.
according to Brady, Schemer, Feinswein, Kennedy, et al the more helpless you are the safer you are. After all you can't shoot yourself if you're disarmedThat's what dictators want. To take care of you. To protect you from YOURSELF.
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