Pirates and Chase Boats and Thieves, Oh My!

[LoTech]

isn't a M-2 a grenade launcher? if so, I like your thinking

sorry, Smiley, but the M2, AKA "Ma Deuce", is the Browning 50 caliber belt-fed heavy machine gun. If you see a US or NATO soldier in a movie firing a machine gun from behind sandbags, it is most likely an M2 that he is firing.

The M2 is capable of hitting a target over 4 miles away, so it sounds better than a grenade launcher for repelling pirates in my book: I'd rather not have to duck the pirates' bullets while I am firing, thanks.

[RayvenQ]

sorry, Smiley, but the M2, AKA "Ma Deuce", is the Browning 50 caliber belt-fed heavy machine gun. If you see a US or NATO soldier in a movie firing a machine gun from behind sandbags, it is most likely an M2 that he is firing.

The M2 is capable of hitting a target over 4 miles away, so it sounds better than a grenade launcher for repelling pirates in my book: I'd rather not have to duck the pirates' bullets while I am firing, thanks.

Sod that, invest in a Metal Storm sytem or two, has a maximum RPM limit of One MILLION Rounds Per Minute.

Plus it has a Grenade Launcher version that while it can't fire as fast as the bullet firing metal storm, still has a hell of a rate of fire.

[SailorMan]

Err... As one who is currently serving as an IS Petty Officer in the Navy, I would like to caution "Sailor Man" about getting to specific with posts of the above nature.

As fun as it is to tell of where we've been and what we've done, Operational Security needs to be maintained when posting online so as not to inadvertantly reveal information over an unsecure source.

The mere fact that a vessel transited a specific body of water, at some unnamed point in time (especially if that vessel has been around for a decade or more) does not violate OPSEC, or "operational security." As a matter of fact, the incident I mentioned happened about 12 years ago -- and what ship was it that I named? That's right -- I didn't.

Also, the fact that I mentioned what we do to avoid being boarded is a good thing; nowadays, things like that are called RAMs, or "Random Anti-terrorism Measures." You're supposed to make them highly visible, do them very openly, almost advertise them. This is to let potential 'bad guys' know that you're not going to be an easy target, and therefore a less desirable one. Hell, even the History Channel mentioned that this is how merchant ships protect against pirates! I know all this because, although I'm a Merchant Marine officer (that is, a civilian sailor), I just happen to also be a qualified Navy Anti-Terrorism Officer, or ATO.

[Hyndis]

Three-inchers won't do much to an actual warship (which will usually stand outside their effective range), but they're better than nothing, and will see off the vast majority of pirates. The AA guns can be used to repel boarders too. Any pirate group that manages to get a real warship will, I would hope, have an actual navy after them in double-quick time. Small boats are much easier to hide.

I don't think pirates are even capable of capturing an actual warship. There have been pirate attacks on US Navy ships, and, uhh...lets just say things didn't go very well for the pirates.

If by some miracle they get past the weaponry, they still have to contend with an entire ship full of armed sailors. I'm sure the captain would open up the weapons lockers if the ship was being boarded.

[auntiem]

I would love to work in a place that let us talk like pirates on the overhead announcements.

I can only get away with it on Sept. 19th. For some reason people booking travel are leary to do so with someone talking like a pirate - go figure.

[Alpha Strike]

My ship is docked in San Diego now...

So what kind of ship are you on - Passenger or Merchant? And did you folks speed up to try and outrun the Pirates or to give you enough time to rig your hoses?

[SailorMan]

I'm a Merchant Marine officer serving aboard ships of the Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC). We wear uniforms that are like the Navy's, but have different insignia, otherwise. The Navy has given-over control of most of their auxiliary vessels (non-combat vessels) to MSC, such as fleet oilers, ocean tugs, fast combat support ships (basically cargo ships), et cetera. I think there's a pretty good article about MSC on Wikipedia. In the past, though, I have sailed 'commercial,' as well as done some active duty time, too.

As for the instance I wrote about, it was some time ago... but we sped up so that they couldn't catch us. It was shortly after that period that it became standard practice by everyone to rig charged hoses going through the Strait, and it's recommended by the branch of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that deals with piracy, for that reason.

[depechemodefan]

Last week on Oct. 30 (since most people were off on Fri Oct. 31) one library branch dressed like pirates for Halloween.

[wolfie]

isn't a M-2 a grenade launcher? if so, I like your thinking

Blame it on the U.S. military's naming conventions. M-2 refers to the second version ("Mark 2") of a type of weaponry, so the M-2 Browning refers to the second heavy machinegun design adopted by the U.S. Army.

It can get even more confusing - who built the F4 fighter used by the U.S. Navy? Back in WW2, naval aircraft designations were letter/digit/letter/digit, with "F" as the first letter being fighter (Army aircraft - USAF only came into existence in 1947, at which point they adopted the "F" for fighter instead of "P" for pursuit, so a particular Mustang flown in both WW2 and Korea would have been a P51 in the first conflict and an F51 in the second), "4" as the first digit being the 4th design from that manufacturer, the second letter identified the manufacturer, and the second digit the revision. In the jet era, they switched to the USAF convention of letter/digit/letter, with the digit being sequential across manufacturers and the second letter being the revision

U.S. Navy F4 fighters:
F4F Wildcat designed and built by Grumman
F4U Corsair ("Baa Baa Black Sheep") designed and built by Chance Vought

F4D Skyray (not to be confused with the D variant of the Phantom II) designed and built by Douglas (before they merged with McDonnell)
F4H Phantom II designed and built by McDonnell (this was before they merged with Douglas)
F4A, F4B, F4C, F4D, F4E, F4G, F4J, F4N, F4S, F4X Later revisions of the same aircraft under the new naming convention

[Phantomgrift]

The mere fact that a vessel transited a specific body of water, at some unnamed point in time (especially if that vessel has been around for a decade or more) does not violate OPSEC, or "operational security." As a matter of fact, the incident I mentioned happened about 12 years ago -- and what ship was it that I named? That's right -- I didn't.

Also, the fact that I mentioned what we do to avoid being boarded is a good thing; nowadays, things like that are called RAMs, or "Random Anti-terrorism Measures." You're supposed to make them highly visible, do them very openly, almost advertise them. This is to let potential 'bad guys' know that you're not going to be an easy target, and therefore a less desirable one. Hell, even the History Channel mentioned that this is how merchant ships protect against pirates! I know all this because, although I'm a Merchant Marine officer (that is, a civilian sailor), I just happen to also be a qualified Navy Anti-Terrorism Officer, or ATO.

I wasnt accusing you of breaking OPSEC, just stated to be sure to keep it in mind. I'm Navy Intel, I'm paranoid... *Grins* It's just how we are.

I am curious though-
Are you guys going to get any of the new less-than-lethal weapons coming out like the sound cannon currently employed on cruise ships?

[PepperElf]

Anyway, given the store's devotion to the shipboard experience, we thought it would be cool, when an employee spotted a shoplifter, if they would get on the PA and say: "Arghhhh, Mateys! Thar' be Pirates in aisle nine! Away the Master o' Arms! Catch the scurvy dog!"

... or if the BMOW said that on the 1MC...
(and got away with it too)