US navy captures Somali pirates - BBC

The guided missile destroyer USS Winston S Churchill went in pursuit of a suspect vessel after receiving a report of piracy, the navy said.

When other efforts failed, the Churchill fired warning shots to bring the boat to a halt.

There have been numerous attacks by pirates off Somalia, some of the most dangerous waters in the world.

The US navy's Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain and patrols the Indian Ocean, received reports of "an attempted act of piracy" approximately 50 miles (80km) off the Somali coast on Friday, it said in a statement.


The Churchill shadowed the suspect vessel, and tried to make contact over the radio, before resorting on Saturday to "aggressive manoeuvring in an attempt to stop the vessel".

When this failed, "Churchill fired warning shots. The vessel cut speed and went dead in the water," the statements said.

Later an unspecified number of sailors were taken off the vessel and a quantity of small arms was recovered, the navy said.

piracy is a threat to all nations all over the world;
it should be commmon sense to stop piracy all over the world by all navys who can do so ...

Sczepan said:

piracy is a threat to all nations all over the world;
it should be commmon sense to stop piracy all over the world by all navys who can do so ...

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I agree whole heartidly. Notice the picture. The US Navy DDG has its forward gun trained on the pirate ship. I believe the pic was probably taken by the SeaHawk embarked on the DDG, which was also involved in the chase. In addition, it looks like the launch from the Burke class is coming up on the back side of the pirate vessel.

Jeff! You'er back!

Yes those pirates need to be delt with in a swift and sever manner. I know my sons former ship the USS Paul F foster DD-964 spent three months of it's last deployment dealing with pirates in the Staris of Malaca near Singapore.

Courtsey of navy.mil
A boarding team from the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81), approaches a suspected pirate vessel to conduct a boarding and inspection at sea, Jan. 21

I remember a couple of years back, a dude who won the America's cup got killed in South America
And then they were joking about it on sports radio stations. I don't think most people realize how rampant piracy still is.

tphuang said:

I remember a couple of years back, a dude who won the America's cup got killed in South America

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And then they were joking about it on sports radio stations. I don't think most people realize how rampant piracy still is.

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I remember that. The anouncer was Jim Rome. You know the little twerp that talks smack all the time. I emailed him about his comments . All I got back was a thank you letter for listening to his program...

bd popeye said:

A boarding team from the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81), approaches a suspected pirate vessel to conduct a boarding and inspection at sea, Jan. 21

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Is that a crossbow I see held in the front? Is that used for a rope or underwater combat?

What are you talking about? it looks liek a machine gun(SAW?) with a bipod mount. since when did the u.s navy use crossbows?

MIGleader said:

What are you talking about? it looks liek a machine gun(SAW?) with a bipod mount. since when did the u.s navy use crossbows?

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I'm pretty sure it's a machine gun....check this link for that pic and make it as large as you can. Check it out for yourselves. The USN web page has ome awesome digital pics.

bd popeye said:

Jeff! You'er back!

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Thanks you...I've been down in Texas for several weeks helping my Mom who is 81 get back into her house and get her place and affairs in order. My wife is down there watching her now so she can live in her own home again. After my Dad died a couple of years ago, she was unable to live there alone. She's so happy to back on the old "place" there in the country near the cemetery where my Dad is buried.

bd popeye said:

Yes those pirates need to be delt with in a swift and sever manner. I know my sons former ship the USS Paul F foster DD-964 spent three months of it's last deployment dealing with pirates in the Staris of Malaca near Singapore.

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I know those particular pirates had to have had some very interesting moments with the US DDG bearing down on them and firing their main gun as a warning. I am sure the boarding party was redy for anything and that the .223 MG on the bow of their launch was trained on the suspected pirates the entire time. Apparently they took them into custody and confiscated quite a few arms in the process according to what I have heard.