Oops. (Somali pirates pick the wrong ship to attempt hijack)
 

Surprise, surprise. :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1255016874.jpg

Wed Oct 7, 11:10 am ET
NAIROBI (AFP) – Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy's 18,000 tonne flagship in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the French military said on Wednesday.

The crew of La Somme, a 160-metre (525-foot) command vessel and fuel tanker, easily saw off the brazen night-time assault by lightly armed fighters on two lightweight skiffs and captured five pirates, a spokesman said.

"The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," Admiral Christophe Prazuck said in Paris.

La Somme is the French command vessel in the Indian Ocean, overseeing French air, sea and land forces fighting Somali pirates and hunting terrorists under the banner of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

Officers on the ship have directed commando operations to free French hostages in the hands of Somali pirates.

The pirates tried to flee when they realised their mistake but were pursued by French forces who, after an hour-long chase, caught one of the skiffs, Prazuck said.

More:
Somali pirates attack French military flagship - Yahoo! News

LOL, 10 pirates attack a french navy ship, neither of the little skiffs are sunk and one gets away.
Does that navy ship have any guns? It says it's a command ship and tanker, maybe it doesn't have guns. if it doesn't why would they send it to hunt for pirates?

The US navy took out all the pirates on a little boat just using snipers. IIRC it took 5 bullets.
I can't beleive the let the pirates get away.
I guess it should be considered a victory that the french ship didn't surrender ;)

Dead pirates provide little intelligence or trade material.

Best,
Tom

Its not over yet, the French still have the chance to surrender today...

Maybe it's being reported wrong.........maybe they attacked the ship because it was French!

Live pirates provide no intelligence or trade material, and you have to feed them.

You can't torture them. And you have to make sure they have a nice state room and three squares until their UN appointed lawyer shows up, or Amnesty International and Oxfam will protest

Is this always the case?

Best,
Tom

During the first Gulf War, I was the Air Boss on the USS La Salle (AGF-3).

I got to do a lot of cool stuff, flew with HC-2 Desert Ducks, did all the mine clearing into Kuwait prior to the end of the war, got some H-60 time the day the war ended (we flew COMIDEASTFOR to the quay, shut down and had a nice walk about), and pretty much had a hoot.

After five days in Kuwait we headed back to Bahrain, our home port.

The first night out, we were attacked by pirates, who mistook our ship for a merchant. They came in a swarm, three boats, all about 20 foot outboards.

The Officer of the Deck that night was a very crusty, very combat experienced Warrant Officer (brown water navy in Vietnam, happened to be a Rappahannock Indian, last name Bird). He and I are still friends.

Good for us, bad for the pirates.

I was not on the bridge that night: I was asleep in my state room when GQ was sounded and I struggled to get to my guys who were manning the eight aft 50's around the flight deck.

The Bos'un mates who were on the bridge told me later that Bird was the man. The pirates fired first, a shot across the bow.

Warrant Bird did all the right things, positioned the ship perfectly and the Captain of the ship ordered fire.

I have never seen anything like it...50 caliber rounds, from offset angles, are lethal...I can still remember the thumps as the rounds impacted the pirate boats. All three were sunk. Bird circled the mess, making sure.

Arm merchant vessels...

It took the French 1 hour to catch the priates. What were they chasing them in, a canoe?

At least the French did not surrender :rolleyes:

The white surrender flags slow them down.....

It's been known for centuries, dead pirates tell no tales.

This is France under Sarkozy. I like them. They don't back down.

I can understand giving chase in the dark rather than shooting. First, it scares the crap out of the pirates (good thing). Second, they might not have had fancy trijicon or night-vision scopes and simply couldn't see the distance with optics in low light.

seahawk...awesome story.