Pirates attack Navy ship 'by mistake'

MrMatisse

Woops!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8294858.stm

smk89

the pirates seemed to be surprised that the navy ship fought back.

in all seriousness are these people pants on head retarded or what

Elliemental

Aren`t navy ships like floating fortresses, with huge guns all over them? Still, it`s funny though.

sceptre

It's got elements of those constantly misguided pirates in the Asterix books.

4zn76tysfajdxp

Quoted for those on Boards mobile:

A group of Somali pirates has been captured after attacking a French navy ship by mistake, apparently thinking it was a harmless cargo vessel.
French military spokesman Admiral Christophe Prazuck said the pirates attacked in skiffs late at night some 500km (310 miles) off the Somali coast.
But the command and supply ship, the Somme, repelled the attack and chased the pirates, capturing five of them.
Dozens of international warships fight piracy in Somalia's lawless waters.

The country has had no effective central government since 1991, leading to a complete breakdown of law and order, and pirates operate off the coast almost with impunity.
Admiral Prazuck told French TV station La Chaine Info the pirates seemed to be surprised that the navy ship fought back.
"Once they realised they were facing a ship that was responding and was heading towards them, they stopped shooting and attempted to flee," he said.

The 160m Somme, seen here with Defence Minister Herve Morin in 2007
"The Somme gave chase and intercepted one of the pirates' boats. All the weapons had apparently been tossed into the sea and the suspected pirates are now being held on board the Somme."
About two dozen ships from European Union nations, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy, patrol the waters off Somalia - an area of about two million square miles.
Although the international naval forces have stepped up patrols in the Gulf of Aden this year, relatively few of the pirates detained have faced trial because of the legal complexities involved.

orourkeda

Fantastic.

Was John O'Donoghue the pirate captain?

CianRyan

Hahaha, well they're in a life of crime for a reason, I guess.

Bloody idiots.

stovelid

Why bother capturing them? Just use the ship (and them) for target practice.

Riddle101

I wonder if it would have been worthwhile to follow the pirates instead of intercepting them. The Pirates might have brought the Navy to their base of operations.

CianRyan

Riddle101 wrote: »

I wonder if it would have been worthwhile to follow the pirates instead of intercepting them. The Pirates might have brought the Navy to their base of operations.

"Is the massive ship still fallowing us? Yep, can still see it clear... It's about 50,000,000 miles behind."

jumpguy

CianRyan wrote: »

Hahaha, well they're in a life of crime for a reason, I guess.

Bloody idiots.

Yeah, the are, the crippling poverty and war in their homeland.

Pretty funny though, can you imagine their faces when it dawned on them?

RMD

Suppose if it was night time it would be a lot harder to spot the whole guns, army, navy ship type things. Do they really go 500km off coast in those small boats or go out by bigger ones towing those?

thomond2006

Maybe Fr. Dougal was the Pirate Captain:

Pirate 1: "Sir, what the ****, they firing back!"

Dougal: "Oh right, yeah"

Rented Mule

stovelid wrote: »

Why bother capturing them? Just use the ship (and them) for target practice.

Amen brother ....amen.

Snowie

why didnt they just kill them and say nothing :confussed:

Ghost Train

The Somme gave chase and intercepted one of the pirates' boats...

So they let the other boats get away? or they blew them out of the water? would be nice to know

Overheal

Elliemental wrote: »

Aren`t navy ships like floating fortresses, with huge guns all over them? Still, it`s funny though.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=166502

Aside from the Navy Blue Paintjob it would have been easy to mistake these for civilian vessels.

Quote:
Marne, Somme and Var in Djibouti. Three identical vessels, the command and supply vessel (BCR) Marne, the BCR Somme and the BCR Var dropped their anchors in Djibouti on 11 July.(google translation) www.defense.gouv.fr/marine Marne, Somme et Var à Djibouti. Trois bâtiments jumeaux, le bâtiment de commandement et de ravitaillement (BCR) Marne , le BCR Somme et le BCR Var ont jeté leurs ancres à Djibouti le 11 juillet dernier.

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5195/3bcradjibouti.jpg
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6121/marnesommeetvaradjibout.jpg

stevedublin

stovelid wrote: »

Why bother capturing them? Just use the ship (and them) for target practice.

because they're like human beings, and human life is supposed to be like sacred 'n stuff.

Gran Hermano

It was the French navy, the pirates most likely were counting on the traditional surrender.

Rented Mule

stevedublin wrote: »

because they're like human beings, and human life is supposed to be like sacred 'n stuff.

Tell that to the pirates.

weeder

Gran Hermano wrote: »

It was the French navy, the pirates most likely were counting on the traditional surrender.

unfortunately the pirates did not carry lightsabres

msg11

I would put it on par, with a bank robber going in and trying to rob a garda station (full time one of course).

TomCo

Rented Mule wrote: »

Tell that to the pirates.

I can't recall many deaths off the top of my head.

Since its a ransom operation they tend not to kill or injure hostages, in fact hostages are generally treated very well.

Nodin

Elliemental wrote: »

Aren`t navy ships like floating fortresses, with huge guns all over them? Still, it`s funny though.

Actually, by the time you make out what it is, they've usually made out what you are........identifying ships from profile is actually quite difficult,,,probably more so when all you have is a pair of shades for visual equipment.

Jip

Elliemental wrote: »

Aren`t navy ships like floating fortresses, with huge guns all over them? Still, it`s funny though.

Not this one, it was basically a supply ship
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FS_Somme_1.jpg

edit. whoops, somehow missed Overheals post

Bill-e

Hey pirates gotta make a living too. Arrrr

Even if they do get caught it's win win for them. a few years in a nice comfy western prison gives them loads of time to claim asylum.

Captain Havoc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehweLPluNpY

Why are Somalian pirates stupid? Because they aarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!:D

I'm sorry

meathstevie

Those 6 Browning 50 cals they have could have made a nice mess of those pirates.