The Danish Navy has done that which had not been done before by breaking up an act of piracy in process off Somalia:
Danish special forces have stormed a ship captured by Somali pirates and freed 25 crew members, an EU naval spokesman said in Nairobi.
Cdr John Harbour told the Associated Press news agency it was the first time a warship had intervened after pirates boarded a vessel.
Troops in inflatable dinghies moved in after a distress signal from the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Ariella.
It is not clear if the pirates left the ship before the troops arrived.
The special forces, who set out from a Danish warship in the area, scaled the side of the ship and freed the 25 crew members, who had locked themselves in a secure room, Cdr Harbour said.
Troops were continuing to search the vessel for the pirates, he added.
This requires two things: The good fortune to be within striking range and the willingness to strike. You can’t always count on good fortune, but fortuna favet audaci.
Nice job, Denmark.
Bravo for Denmark, for promulgating the proper ROE for fighting piracy.
Now if only the pirate ships and their mother ships would meet a hellfire …
I’m here in Kandahar, AFGHN – lots of Danish troops onsite and they are a good bunch….Kinda fond of the Danish FEMALE troopers as they are as alluring as any DANE Female could be and they happen to be packing some serious firepower….
OH yeah, and they carry some impressive weapons too!
Nothing better than a little “Danish Pastry” in the morning….especially when they come in varieties of Blond & Brunette!
Don’t mess with Vikings!
Why don’t we (the US Navy) take the lead to clear the whole area of pirates? Or work with the Indians to do so?
For one thing, the Somali coastline is over 2000 miles long. Lot of launching points.
Land Marines and Indians at northern end of coast. Loiter vessels with aviation and naval bombardment capabilities off-shore. Resupply as required. Pick up Marines at southern end of coast. Encourage India to develop interests in the area.
Sounds like the perfect ASuW op for ye olde War Hoover with a load of Mavericks.
Oh…wait…we’re missing something. {sigh}
Okay. Never mind.
Mebbe a flight of P-3′s, anyone? I think somebody still has a few of those around.
Good to hear that someone is being ‘proactive’ in this. I still think that a few MVs with hidden 5/38s would make a huge difference. Heck even some hidden 40mm. Once the wolves find that there are some goats in with the sheep, they just might back off.
We need to resurrect the WWII German Raider Atlantis and bring back Capt Rogge from beyond the grave to command it again. Now THAT would “larn’ ‘em.”
BTW–everyone should buy the book “The German Raider Atlantis” avail on Amazon–a GREAT read!
The “Q-ship of the damned.” Kind of has a Pirates of the Caribbean ring to it.
Back in the 70s I read about Atlantis. I can’t remember the title, but I think it was written by Rogge. That was a good read. They picked up an Indian cook and Rogge went on about the curry.
When stationed at RAF Woodbridge we had a NATO sister Squadron of the Danish AF that we used to have pilot exchanges with (they flew the D model F-100) A really great group of good-natured and eager guys–good sticks all round. And boy could they drink! Got me weaned away from the “green-pepsi” Hennikens to Danish Tuborg (also a green-pepsi kinda drink to be factual
)
Three Cheers and a Tiger for DDenmark!
DENMARK!
DENMARK!
DENMARK!
GROWL!
Wonder why the Antigua and Barbuda armed forces didn’t come rescue their ship?
Shipowners need to realize that the benefits that come from flags of convenience, might wind up being not so, shall we say, convenient?
If only taxes and manning costs weren’t so high in the US. I can understand flags of convenience all too well.
Mebbe we should just resurrect ol’ “Mad Jack” Churchill and set him loose on the N. coast with his broadsword & bow – we’d probably pick him up at the south end a few months later with a whole passel of pirates in tow, marching to the skurl of the bagpipes…