# US Marines Retake German Ship from Pirates



## evangilder (Sep 9, 2010)

Semper Fi! Great job, guys. 



> (The Wall Street Journal) - U.S. Marines early Thursday boarded and seized control of a German-owned commercial vessel that had been commandeered by pirates, in what appeared to be the first American-led military boarding of its kind amid the recent surge in piracy along the east coast of Africa.



Full story below
US Marines Retake German Ship from Pirates


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## mikewint (Sep 9, 2010)

Looks like its back to the shores of Tripoli for the marines. love to see the looks on their faces when someone who can fight back shows up!


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Sep 9, 2010)

Way to go Marines! Chock another one up to the good guys.


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## Night Fighter Nut (Sep 9, 2010)

Terrific job and without firing a shot! Perhaps they have heard of the last pirates to go against the U.S. ... taken out by snipers... Reaction.."Me give up!"


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## Messy1 (Sep 9, 2010)

Heard about this story on the morning news. Guess they don't act so tough when challenged by some real tough guys!


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## Matt308 (Sep 9, 2010)

Interesting that they were given permission to board a foreign vessel. That's a vote of confidence from Germany!


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## ToughOmbre (Sep 9, 2010)

Great job Marines !

And the quote in Matt's sig is right on the mark !

TO


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## Erich (Sep 9, 2010)

Rip it Up !


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## BombTaxi (Sep 9, 2010)

Matt308 said:


> Interesting that they were given permission to board a foreign vessel. That's a vote of confidence from Germany!



I suspect that relatively few forces are trained for boarding ops. Obviously the USMC are, and also the Royal Marines, but I suspect the majority of elite 'regular' forces are not, and also perhaps the USMC were the closest forces on hand - better to let them get the job done than hang around bringing your own guys in from a long way off...


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## Ferdinand Foch (Sep 9, 2010)

Alright! Go USMC!


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Sep 9, 2010)

Great news.


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## N4521U (Sep 9, 2010)

You gotta love them Leather Necks!


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## RabidAlien (Sep 9, 2010)

Heh. Read this one this morning, my first thought was "dang....there are SMART pirates?"


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## Matt308 (Sep 10, 2010)

BombTaxi said:


> I suspect that relatively few forces are trained for boarding ops. Obviously the USMC are, and also the Royal Marines, but I suspect the majority of elite 'regular' forces are not, and also perhaps the USMC were the closest forces on hand - better to let them get the job done than hang around bringing your own guys in from a long way off...



Yeah, but what's amazing is that someone had the political balls to give the okay. Lose a shipmate or passenger held as hostage and that would likely be political suicide. If Merkle was behind the decision, she's my new PM Thatcher on my totem pole of respect.


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## BombTaxi (Sep 10, 2010)

I think that the line against terrorism and piracy has hardened over the last decade and the authorization of deadly force, even at the risk of hostage's lives, is becoming more acceptable. On a related note, the Foreign Office has repeatedly refused to pay the ransom on two British citizens seized by pirates over a year ago, and both are now thought to be dead. There was a storm of media outrage, but the FO held fast to the line that it did not negotiate with terrorists and pirates (the two terms seem to have become interchangeable, and maybe they are with the crap that's going down in East Africa these days). I think losing innocent lives in the 'War On Terror' is becoming an acceptable price to pay...

PS. I say War on Terror because I think that certainly here in the UK, piracy has been bought under that banner, perhaps to make the govt stance more palatable to the public. And like I say, with the state of East Africa right now, these pirates could well be a front for Al-Qaida anyway.


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## vikingBerserker (Sep 10, 2010)

Nice!


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## Matt308 (Sep 10, 2010)

Well said.


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## N4521U (Sep 10, 2010)

Don't forget, the Marines are the guard troops on U S Navy ships. Aircraft carriers have a pretty good size contingent on board. Do we know if these troops were delivered by air? 

Being a skinney 18 year old sailor at Subic Bay in the Phillipines in the early 60's, and housed in the Marine barracks, they took care of me pretty well on my stumbeling out of the Sky Club. Usually the MP's would throw me into the back of the pick up truck and deliver me safe and sound to my bunk. Well sometimes the delivery to the top bunk was a little over zelous, I often found myself on the floor the next morning. They were a good lot.


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## tango35 (Sep 11, 2010)

Thank you USMC ! Interesting that you didnt hear anything bin the german media, but this sucessful operation would be contraproductive to Mr. Guttenberg Plans to cut the German Forces into pieces.

T


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## BombTaxi (Sep 11, 2010)

Thought this might be of interest:

U.S. Marines Take Ship From Somali Pirates (PHOTOS)


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## Gnomey (Sep 11, 2010)

Agree BT. Good to see it done and a job well done.


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## Southron (Mar 17, 2012)

Unfortunately, a lot of shipping companies are pacifists when it comes to pirate attacks. They refuse to arm and train their crews.

No, I am not talking about a traditional 18th Century 'Defense Against Pirate Attack' with the crew and pirates sword fighting on the deck of their ship with cutlasses.

While a merchant ship at sea, radar and infrared systems could detect the approach of any pirate vessels to the merchant ship. Then remotely operated Quad Fifty gun turrets could pop out of the deck and IF the pirates didn't leave the area after being warned-a short burst would take care of the problem.

I also like the idea of a few "Q Ships" based on the old World War I II models where war ships disguised as merchant ships swiftly blow away the pirates that approach the Q Ships.


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## vikingBerserker (Mar 17, 2012)

I agree with the Q-Ships Southron.


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## GrauGeist (Mar 18, 2012)

I still say a few subs roaming the waters would be the perfect solution...the sub spots a longboat packed with skinnies, ladders along with various small arms and it's *whoosh* to Davey Jone's locker for the douchebags...swift, silent and no fan-fare.

Eventually the asshats would realize thier comrades are heading out to sea and disappearing without a trace and piracy wouldn't look so good after all...


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Mar 18, 2012)

Southron said:


> Unfortunately, a lot of shipping companies are pacifists when it comes to pirate attacks. They refuse to arm and train their crews.



Actually if i am correct, Shipping companies are not allowed to arm their ships as per international maritime laws. I could be wrong though...


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## Aaron Brooks Wolters (Mar 18, 2012)

I think you're correct Adler.


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## Shortround6 (Mar 19, 2012)

They may be able to arm the ships but a lot of countries would refuse entry into ports/harbors by armed ships. Sure cuts down on trading partners


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