Wanna rethink that battle plan there Captian Hook?

By Komet
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Komet

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Navy Exchanges Fire With Suspected Pirates

pirates.jpg

Pirates (photo released by Navy after fight)

Cape_st_george.jpg

Navy (U.S.S. Cape St. George in unrelated archive photo)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Two U.S. Navy warships exchanged gunfire with suspected pirates Saturday off the coast of Somalia, and one suspect was killed and five others were wounded, the navy said.

Seven other suspects were taken into custody after the early-morning shootout, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

No sailors were wounded in the battle, which occurred at about 5:40 a.m. local time, approximately 25 nautical miles off the Somali coast in international waters.

The battle started after the USS Cape St. George and USS Gonzalez, which were patrolling as part of a Dutch-led task force, spotted a 30-foot fishing boat towing smaller skiffs and prepared to board and inspect the vessels.

(AP) In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is launched from the...

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The suspected pirates were holding what appeared to be rocket-propelled grenade launchers, the navy said. When the suspects began shooting, naval gunners returned fire with mounted machine guns, killing one man and igniting a fire on the vessel.

Three suspects were seriously wounded and being treated on one of the Navy ships, Brown told The Associated Press. A Dutch Navy medical team was en route.

The suspects' nationalities were unknown.

The Navy boarding teams confiscated an RPG launcher and automatic weapons, the statement said.

The Cape St. George, a guided-missile cruiser, and Gonzalez, a guided-missile destroyer, were conducting maritime security operations in the area. They are based in Norfolk, Va.

The International Maritime Organization has warned ships to stay away from the Somali coast because of pirate attacks, which surged to 35 last year from two in 2004.

On March 15, the U.N. Security Council encouraged naval forces operating off Somalia to take action against suspected piracy. Pirate attacks against aid ships have hindered U.N. efforts to provide relief to the victims of a severe drought in the area.

The pirate raids are part of the anarchy wracking Somalia, which has had no effective government since 1991, when warlords ousted a dictatorship and then turned on each other.

EDIT: photo captions edited as per request below)

Edited by Komet
Grand Master

zhangm Supervisor

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Great way to spend tens of millions of dollars, launch a Tomahawk to scare some stupid pirates.

The navy returned fire with small arms and mounted machine guns. No missiles were used. The pictures there probably aren't of the actual ships involved, just an illustration to show the relative sizes of the vessels.

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Komet

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Posted (edited)

The navy returned fire with small arms and mounted machine guns. No missiles were used. The pictures there probably aren't of the actual ships involved, just an illustration to show the relative sizes of the vessels.

According to the news story those are the actual ships, err rather the actual ship and boat involved in the fight. the pirates boat was a photo release by the Navy and the image of the U.S.S. Cape St. George is an archive photo.

Edited by Komet
Grand Master

DrunkenMaster

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Posted

I'm not denying the need to maintain security on the vessel, that pre-empts EVERYTHING. But, doesn't a cruise missle cost over $1 million. So didn't this fight cost US taxpayers over $1 million?

*I'm Canadian so it doesn't effect my pocket book but isn't this absurd?

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Island Roots

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Posted
I'm not denying the need to maintain security on the vessel, that pre-empts EVERYTHING. But, doesn't a cruise missle cost over $1 million. So didn't this fight cost US taxpayers over $1 million?

*I'm Canadian so it doesn't effect my pocket book but isn't this absurd?

If you read the article or the replies below, you would have seen that the picture used in the post was an archive photo; no cruise missiles were ever used. The Navy returned fire with machine guns and small arms fire.

Grand Master

Yusuf M. Veteran

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The first post should be edited to show that the image of the Navy warship is an archived photo, and not the photo of it enaging the pirate vessel. There's no need to fire a Tomahawk cruise missile at a small vessel.

Grand Master

ToneKnee

Posted
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The first post should be edited to show that the image of the Navy warship is an archived photo, and not the photo of it enaging the pirate vessel. There's no need to fire a Tomahawk cruise missile at a small vessel.

Its a missle ship! They have one cannon which probably could aim so low! :p

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