Pirates shot
AFTER days of tense negotiations, the US Navy rescue of an American sea captain came in a matter of seconds on Easter Sunday when a few sniper bullets killed three Somali pirates who authorities feared were about to kill him.
There is a simple and economic answer to pirates. Just have an Infantry section (10 men) on each ship. They don’t have to be special forces – just trained infantrymen.
A damn site cheaper than deploying destroyers.
Facebook
Twitter
Boo-fecken-hoo.
That’s all they understand.
The only reason they keep doing it is because they keep getting away with it!
Once upon a time there were infantry soldiers on board most ships – they were called marines…
And they didn’t have radar, night vision, sat coms and GPMGs.
Hands up who’d like an all expenses paid trip across the Indian Ocean up the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal before tooling about the Med, past Gib and up to Tilbury.
I did it twice years ago and they were amazing trips, though I guess it could get a bit boring after the umpteenth time and some orrible hofficer would make one chip paint or wipe salt off the port holes to keep you busy.
The bloody ‘orrible hofficer’s interference could be stopped by clever Patrol Orders and the troops could insert by chopper just for the bad area. Imagine though, the thrill of the hunt and giving the troops a bonus for every act of piracy nipped in the bud could ease the pain of boredom.
I reckon it would be a goer
Would probably do the trick…
This brings back memories of brassing up balloons (and the occassional self-inflating liferaft) off the arse end of the flight deck aboard HMAS Sydney.
It will never happen, unless the financial losses reach a point much higher than they are now – the insurers are happy to write off the losses. Shipping companies these days are run by accountants, not sailors.
Punitive raids were all the go when marines were aboard most British ships.
My great, great grandfather was such a marine and his decorations include the East and West Africa Medal with bars for the punitive raids on Brass River and Benin.
I don’t know if he was particularly chuffed about Benin though as he kept that gong in a separate case from his other medals and never wore it.
I think his fellow marines and sailors took the ‘bonus’ idea a bit far…