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Pirate trap

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TheTick

TheTick

Mechanical
Mar 5, 2003
10,194
Idea for vessel to combat piracy:

Vessel that looks like a high-end yacht above the waterline. Below the waterline is a small sub that can be accessed through floor of "yacht". Pirates approach vessel, decoy crew escapes via sub. Naval assets take over without worry about hostages (or prisoners).
 
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roach motel for somalis, eh?

how about having the sub simply destroy the pirates' boats as they approach?
 
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Oh, cool. We could finally complete the 30-mm deck gun we were trying to sell at one point in time. Max effective range was 2 km. Couple that with Emilio Largo's Disco Volante, which split out a hydroplaning fast boat that would chase down and sink the pirates.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize
 
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Preying on yachts is a new behavior, that needs to be strongly discouraged.

For which purpose, I'm okay with anything, from applying napalm to the pirates' beach houses, up to and including carpet bombing the entire former country with nukes.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
 
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Long ago the European nations knuckled under to piracy similar to what is happening today...until a very young and impetuous country learned how (finally) to deal with pirates in 1804. Seems the same approach by a much older and, seemingly, more timid United States would still work just fine.

Rod
 
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Sadly, I think, the replacement WTC lacks impalement poles.

Vlad knew how to send a message.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
 
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I thought vaporizing a village (nuke or fuel air explosive) for each American killed would be a fair exchange but I'm not in charge and in my mind I'm not particularly worried about what the rest of the world thinks.
 
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Speaking of pirates in the Gulf of Aden...

I saw a TV show where the clever USN Captain ordered his frigate to circle, at 30 knots, the pirate skiff that refused to stop. The resultant ten-foot seas, generated by the circling frigate (!), swamped-out the skiff's engines and the pirates were forced to give up.

It was a brilliant move by the USN Captain.
 
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The Barbary pilots were effectively state sponsored. So by attacking/taking out the state you could deal with them.

The Somalis are effectively free lancers operating out of a large area with no central government.

Unless you want to place garrisons at all the potential home ports, and we know how well the US last effort in Somalia went, there isn't a similar solution.



Posting guidelines faq731-376 (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​
 
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The helicopter tactics didn't work all that well in Vietnam, either.
So, don't do it that way again.

There's no central government to make a fuss about collateral damage, so there's no reason to attempt to spare whatever part of the population are actually noncombatants.




Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
 
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For the ever increasing ransom amounts being paid, you would think that maybe some "private" marines aboard vessels transiting the area would make sense.

They keep doing because they get away with it, start sinking any small approaching vessel that doesn't properly respond to a hail and likely the problem will resolve itself pretty quickly. Sink a few of these new "motherships" and maybe, just maybe they'll get the message..

Keep negotiating and paying, and it will just get worse, don't we ever learn?

I was stationed in Panama in the late 70's, for a short time we also had a breif pirate problem, of course no "official action". But a .50 cal against a small boat made some of those pirates reconsider their career choice pretty quickly.

Mike L.
 
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The west is just getting too soft and pandering to the political 'do-gooders' - just waste them everytime the opportunity arises.
Elimination is a pretty good form reduction.




It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. (Sherlock Holmes - A Scandal in Bohemia.)
 
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State sponsored piracy? You could say that the pirate sponsors are the countries paying the ransoms.

A little gunboat diplomacy might be called for again...Naw...Not from the US...it would just not be PC...Maybe if the pirates hijack an Israeli ship?

Rod
 
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Follow the money and take it. these criminals must be banking the money or it would be of no use. So use the banking system to take back the money.

Its the same with computer scams. Most people get dudded via credit cards, Western Union or the banks. So follow the money trail. Someone owns the account where the money ends up. It cant be sent as cash via the Internet.

There does not appear to be a will to fix these problems. Why the headlines deflect interest in what the pollies are up to. Anything to get the latest political debacle off the front page.

Perhaps nuke Somalia and make sure it is not reported. Who would care.



"Sharing knowledge is the way to immortality"
His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

 
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Find out which village(s) the pirates are from.
Drop a load of JDAMs from 40,000 feet. The bombs will hit within 5 meters of where program. From 40,00o' they won't see or hear the plane. We've got the B-1s in Diego Garcia.
 
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Vaporize children to discourage thieves. I think I have found the definition of "draconian".

The problem with patrolling is the size of the area. It takes too many naval vessels to make it completely safe. Private yachts need to just not go there. Commercial vessels need to make a wider berth. Skiffs take fuel, fuel has to be carried, range has to do with load. The laws of diminishing returns would eventually do away with the effectiveness of the pirates and the problem would solve itself. The reason that this is still happening is because targets keep making themselves available in order to avoid a higher cost of transport of their goods. It's all about the money, on both sides.

"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my axe." -- Abraham Lincoln
For the best use of Eng-Tips, please click here -> faq731-376
 
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The skiffs' area of influence, given that mother ships are used, includes the entire Gulf of Aden, so avoiding them means not using the Suez Canal, which in turn requires a perilous journey around the Cape of Good Hope, not a route known for balmy weather.

So the choice is whether to risk death in cold water or in warm water. It's not strictly an economic decision for a boat, as it might be for a ship.










Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
 
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