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View Full Version : EPIC FAIL: Somali Pirates Attack French Navy Command Vessel!



Hardrock69
10-08-2009, 02:38 AM
Man, sounds like dem not be smartest in dey head! :hee:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a140/rubioriqueno/epic-fail.jpg

Somali pirates attack French military flagship - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091007/wl_africa_afp/somaliapiracyshippingfrance_20091007151820)

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.

On it they found five men but no weapons, water or food as the pirates had apparently thrown all of the boat's contents overboard, the spokesman said.

A Western official at sea in the area, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that there had been an exchange of fire between the warship and the pirate launches.

"One of the skiffs managed to get away in the night because La Somme was busy with the first pirate boat," he said.

"Despite the arrival of other vessels, they haven't yet managed to find the second boat," he said, adding that many warships in the area were busy hunting another group which attacked a cargo ship off the Seychelles on Sunday.

The world's naval powers have deployed dozens of warships to the lawless waters off Somalia over the past year to curb attacks by pirates in one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes.

La Somme was operating 250 nautical miles (460 kilometres) off the Somali coast, on its way to resupply fuel to frigates patrolling shipping lanes as part of the European Union's Operation Atalanta anti-piracy mission.

This was not the first time that Somali pirates have mistakenly attacked a French naval vessel. Several pirates were captured in May when they attempted to board a frigate in the area.

Somalia has had no proper government since it plunged into lawlessness after President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

The country is riven by factional fighting and pirate gangs operate freely from several ports along its Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden coasts.

According to the environmental watchdog Ecoterra International, at least 163 attacks have been carried out by Somali pirates since the start of 2009 alone, 47 of them successful hijackings.

Last year, more than 130 merchant ships were attacked, an increase of more than 200 percent on 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Pirates have in recent weeks resumed attacks with the end of the monsoon season. Last week Somali gunmen captured Spanish fishing boat The Alakrana with 36 crew members in the Indian Ocean.

The US Maritime Administration warned last month that the end of the monsoon season was likely to bring an increase in piracy off Somalia and urged shipping companies to be vigilant.

Calmer waters allow pirates, who often operate in small fibreglass skiffs towed out to sea by captured fishing vessels, to hijack freighters, trawlers and private yachts. Cruise vessels have also been attacked.

Diamondjimi
10-08-2009, 03:38 AM
Fucking PWN3D!!!

http://warisboring.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/p13_17777557.jpg

What a buncha Maroons! :lmao:

hideyoursheep
10-08-2009, 03:40 AM
The US Navy could use some "unmarked" ships right about now methinks...

standin
10-08-2009, 07:16 AM
A steady supply of low hanging fruit.

ZahZoo
10-08-2009, 10:41 AM
They're using 40 HP outboards to navigate in the open ocean..? Given the size of the boats they couldn't carry enough fuel to go 10 miles...

Wouldn't be that hard to find the mother ship supporting those dingies...

thome
10-08-2009, 11:25 AM
They're using 40 HP outboards to navigate in the open ocean..? Given the size of the boats they couldn't carry enough fuel to go 10 miles...

Wouldn't be that hard to find the mother ship supporting those dingies...


A wooden -Transom- won't hold any more weight than that of about a 40 HP Outboard.

On that size boat it could never reach -Trim-

They may be smaerter than you think..?

The Rat Bastards.

ZahZoo
10-08-2009, 04:46 PM
Doubtful with that many adult men, weapons, ammo, etc... that it could reach trim either.

I just find it amazing those bozos can be out pirating ships 200 times the size of theirs in such a samll under powered piece of shit boat. Although the French Navy boat isn't anything great either...

Hell my pontoon boat is bigger and faster...

standin
10-08-2009, 06:21 PM
Pirates use small speedboats with outboard engines, are usually armed with AK47s, petrol bombs, and RPGs and use a ladder to board the stern or sides of the ship.


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The Pirates Of Somalia - Somalia
Worth a watch Journyman pictures has not grasped embedding is a good thing.
YouTube - The Pirates Of Somalia - Somalia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSP9a1VMQCk)

Seshmeister
10-08-2009, 06:58 PM
This is the first French naval victory since they beat the Chinese in 1884! :)

Nickdfresh
10-08-2009, 07:07 PM
And we almost made it through the entire thread without a French military joke. :)

Diamondjimi
10-08-2009, 07:09 PM
They should've bombed the boats and feed them to the fish!

Little Texan
10-09-2009, 01:11 AM
I'm surprised they didn't throw their hands up and surrender to that small boat of pirates! :biggrin:

TAKIN WHISKEY
10-09-2009, 11:25 AM
One of them got away? Why didn't they just blow both boats out of the water and be done? What the fuck?

Seshmeister
10-09-2009, 11:56 AM
And we almost made it through the entire thread without a French military joke. :)

Only the French would name a ship after a battle where they took 204 000 casualties.

I guess they did it since it was a draw and they didn't actually surrender.

Beggars can't be choosers... :)

Anonymous
10-09-2009, 12:23 PM
Aren't the French worried that the Somalis will now feel insulted? Shouldn't they apologize?

Cheers! :bottle: