Posted on 04/08/2009 8:26:16 AM PDT by Robe
Breaking. Per CBS radio news.. the crew has regained control of the ship throwing three pirates overboard and capturing one.. Will post more.. Breaking
(Excerpt) Read more at CBSNEWS.COM ...
nothing to blow it with. gunless ship.
Most if not all vessels are full of hundreds of compartments, they have bulkheads (walls) and watertight hatches that can be dogged (clamped shut)that make a honeycomb of air pockets, they usually have drains and fill pipes so in the case of flooding they can be isolated and pumped out, or in some areas of the ship can be flooded to correct list or the side angle so the ship won’t roll over if the other side has compartments broached to the sea (open to the sea)and its called counterflooding.
If the doors are motor driven they can be remotely secured and then seawater is pumped into that compartment.
Again if I was the COB I would set up some exposed high voltage cables on the railings and connect it to some high voltage transformers. Kinda like what Jules Vernes “Nautilus” had.
Heck a couple of guys with MAC-10s could stop 'em cold as they came up their boarding ropes or rope ladders. Be quite a sight it would. But fire hoses would work pretty well for that too. I think I have such manned at the stern and any other vulnerable points, 24/7 while in Pirate infested waters. (Off Somalia is not the only such place!)
BUT, it is the responsibly of the US Navy to protect US flagged vessels. They need to be putting guns and gun crews aboard all US flagged merchant vessels. If the ships are US owned or operated by US companies, no charge. If they are foreign owned a suitable schedule of "user fees" could I'm sure be arranged. Probably get a big discount on their insurance, which would make paying for the service worthwhile. I'd suggest that the larger ships be armed with 25 mm Bushmasters or 20 mm Gatling type cannon, in addition to heavy and medium machine guns and other small arms.
I can't imagine a ship in that area of the world without an armed escort. Even a couple of rifles could have stopped them.
And all this — first US merchant piracy in over 200 years — because Obama is such a wimp. We will not have our street creds back until a hawkish Republican is in the White House, or until Obama gets religion.
I would really hate to be stuck belowdecks where the walls, floor and ceiling is steel and having a firefight, you do not even have to be in the line of fire, just do bank shots.
Guns would not be my first choice, nice to have for abovedeck work but below decks I would rather gas them, flood them or just secure them in a watertight compartment thats secure against escape even if they use heavy caliber rifle bullets, now defending against an RPG is something else.
It was their "Maritime Security Specialist" guest that was saying that. The Fox guy was disagreeing.
Trying to shoot out of a compartment would be asking to get permanently deafened, no matter what was used.
If the chase lasted that long, if the M. Alabama had been armed, the pirates would have been toast if they'd tried to board, assuming they weren't all killed and their boat(s) sunk first. Just imagine an M2 on the stern, maybe a couple, although a Mk38 Bushmaster would be better. Maybe have one Bushmaster and one M2 on the stern, with a couple of more M2's port and starboard, plus one well forward and amidships.
How fitting. Any ship named "Bainbridge" owes Mussleman pirates whatever it can manage to dish out to them.
Those we have, and in general they are faster than most surface ships. :) Problem is they likley would not be carrying SEALs, but then again, a few PO'd divers are probably about as effective against lilly livered pirates.
Yo Bammy what you gonna do? Oh I forgot you have to rest. I am so sorry. Get This Guy Outta Here while we still have a Country. Redneck American is Watching!!!
Maybe Blackwater can get into that business when Obsama lacks the testicular fortitude.
I wonder if Obama will chastise the crew for not reading them their rights and offering them a trial in the USA
I would add to that that it is impossible to adequately express how LOUD it is when a firearm goes off inside a small steel box. :-)
"Put your hands up!"
"What?"
"Put your hands up!"
"What?"
:-)
Certainly. :-)
The thing being, any weapon is better than no weapon. I was thinking in particular the utility of a rifle because you can use it to encourage them to stay FAR away. Inasmuch as an RPG would be easily available to them, and a nasty thing to have fired inbound. But the useful range of an RPG is only a couple or few hundred yards and a decent rifle might keep that sort of thing out of reach. IMHO.
Students at a Merchant Marine Academy are called Cadets.
At the Naval Academy, they are Midshipmen.
Frgds,
3/M
Fox News scroll say U.S. warship is there now.
The liferaft has no propulsion. The lifeboat will have a small diesel motor and be capable of 4-5 knots.
Both will be stocked with emergency rations and water sufficient for about 20 men for a week. Other safety gear, such as flares, first aid kit, etc will be kept on both the life raft or lifeboat.
The reports I have read state a lifeboat, but I would not count on the media to understand the distinction.
Frgds,
3/M
MMA = Massachusetts Maritime Academy
where is the Merchant Marine Academy?
I’ll google it now - I lived on Cape Cod for 25 years & MMA to me is Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
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