In 2006, Somali pirates attacked the USS Cape St. George and USS Gonzalez

[u/tomina69]

[u/U_HWUT_M8]

There’s easier ways to commit suicide

[u/_PM_me_your_MOONs_ → u/U_HWUT_M8]

Suicide by battleship sounds way better than suicide by cop.

[u/bulgedtrunnion → u/_PM_me_your_MOONs_]

Suicide by battleship would make a great band name or album/song title.

[u/_PM_me_your_MOONs_ → u/bulgedtrunnion]

Hell yea. Suicide by Battleship and their hit songs, it ain't gay if it's underway and My lips are SEALed

[u/GalaxticSxum → u/_PM_me_your_MOONs_]

It ain’t gay if it’s midway

[u/mamamackmusic → u/GalaxticSxum]

Wouldn't that be suicide by aircraft carrier?

[u/PsPhenom89 → u/_PM_me_your_MOONs_]

Don’t forget their classic “Down Unda”

[u/Longbow92 → u/bulgedtrunnion]

Imagine a bunch of pirate boats going against an actual Battleship,

"Order guns to starboard and fire"

Just wipe out everything with the muzzle blast alone, although those shells are gonna land somewhere.

[u/OP-69 → u/Longbow92]

not even that

the ammount of anti air guns that could be turned towards the pirates would be insane

Perry this you fucking casual

opens up with 20 quad 40mm bofors and 50 20mm oerlikons

[u/DumpsterB4by → u/OP-69]

The CWIS would turn those boats into toothpicks

[u/KTM890AdventureR → u/DumpsterB4by]

They must have been using human aimed 50 cals.

[u/mrteas_nz → u/KTM890AdventureR]

Gotta put some sport in it...

It's also valuable training you don't get every day.

[u/SoylentVerdigris → u/KTM890AdventureR]

Both of these ships each have a pair of human aimed 25mm autocannons for basically exactly this situation. In fact, the example picture for the Mark 38 25mm gun on Wiki was taken on the Gonzalez.

They do typically have a handful of .50s as well.

[u/OP-69 → u/SoylentVerdigris]

Probably still used the .50s

.50s cals take less time to get into action and its more likely the pirates already started to leave by the time the 25mms were available

[u/kjg1228 → u/OP-69]

The Gonzalez for sure knew about these boats like an hour before this was taken. If they wanted to use 25mm then they would have.

[u/reformedjerkoff → u/OP-69]

"Parry this you fucking casual".. best laugh I've had today.

[u/skavenslave13 → u/reformedjerkoff]

He said Perry, not parry, referencing commodore Perry. That reference.... (chef's kiss)

[u/DreamOfTheEndlessSky → u/_PM_me_your_MOONs_]

The hardest part of doing that with a US battleship is finding an operational one, seeing as the last (Missouri) was finally decommissioned in 1992.

These two named above are a Ticonderoga-class cruiser and an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, respectively.

[u/swervey → u/DreamOfTheEndlessSky]

I remember watching the Missouri and Wisconsin bombard Iraq on the eve of Desert Storm on CNN. I guess that was the last hurrah for our battleships.

Edit: desert not dessert

[u/brownhotdogwater → u/swervey]

It was. Big guns are not in style anymore. It’s a bomb you can place on the hood of a car 300 miles away now.

[u/mrpoops → u/brownhotdogwater]

Sword bombs are the new hotness.

[u/Kolby_Jack → u/brownhotdogwater]

When I'm elected President, my first order will be to prioritize the creation of nuclear-powered railgun battleships. Fuck missiles and bombs, just make a bullet that goes so far and so fast that it does as much damage as a bomb!

Vote for me in 2028! I'm not old enough to be eligible in 2024!

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_ANYTHNG → u/Kolby_Jack]

The navy is working on railguns already they're just running into the issue of, once you get to the amount of mass they want to fire the force to accelerate it is also pushing on each rail outwards so it destroys itself with every shot, the real thing is lasers

[u/backagain_again → u/PM_ME_YOUR_ANYTHNG]

Navy has given up on rail guns for now. Focusing on hypersonic missiles.

[u/Kolby_Jack → u/PM_ME_YOUR_ANYTHNG]

Oh, of course, lasers for point defense, railguns for long-range bombardment. Unlimited budget, I'm sure they can figure it out.

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_ANYTHNG → u/Kolby_Jack]

Well the navy called it off recently have they hit the $500m mark for R&D and didn't have any long terms solutions yet

[u/Kolby_Jack → u/PM_ME_YOUR_ANYTHNG]

That's why America needs ME in the Oval Office! I don't know shit about anything, but you can bet your ass that my policies will be based on two priorities: is it funny, or is it awesome? Ideally both, like giving wedgies to autocrats on diplomatic visits, but either/or would be fine as well.

[u/raven1121 → u/DreamOfTheEndlessSky]

I like to think of the movie "Battleship" where they reactivate Missouri in less than a hour as a documentary

https://youtu.be/-iGp8D9832Y

[u/Kitahara_Kazusa1 → u/raven1121]

That movie makes absolutely zero sense but it's still badass as fuck

[u/jassi007 → u/Kitahara_Kazusa1]

I fucking love when they drift slide the battleship

[u/almaperdido → u/U_HWUT_M8]

yes but none are as epic as taking on a battleship with a few dingy's and 30 of your buddies though

[u/ExaminationRich6913]

Probably not the best life choice to attack a U.S. warship in a 10 foot wood boat.

[u/StuRap → u/ExaminationRich6913]

Sure. Maybe it doesn't work 99 times out of a 100 but... lol

[u/Reverendbread → u/StuRap]

I have a good feeling about it this time guys

[u/imapieceofshitk → u/Reverendbread]

They probably thought Under Siege was as real as all the other things Steven Seagal did.

[u/LokiMyAoki → u/StuRap]

So you’re saying there’s a chance!

[u/Meltedmfer → u/StuRap]

I think you could try this an infinite amount of times with the same results but I get your point

[u/Barbarossa_25 → u/ExaminationRich6913]

They were probably high on khat and watched the Leroy Jenkins clip.

[u/serr7 → u/ExaminationRich6913]

There was actually an exercise in 2002 I think where the guy commanding the “opposing” force managed to sink a considerable amount of US navy ships with speedboats, so much so they had to restart the exercise and restricted the opposing teams actions.

[u/pm0me0yiff → u/serr7]

Not speedboats, I think?

If I remember correctly, they were each given a certain amount of make-believe capital to invest in a fleet, and while one side used a traditional fleet of large warships, the opposition just built a shitload of small, fast torpedo boats. Enough torpedo boats got through to really ruin the other fleet's day.

[u/ActualWhiterabbit → u/pm0me0yiff]

It was actually a submarine disguising itself as a fishing vessel during war games. There was a documentary about it.

[u/StonedGhoster → u/serr7]

That was Lt Gen Paul Van Riper during Millennium Challenge 2002. First, the small boats were used to figure out where Blue force's ships were. Then Red (Van Riper's team) used a ton of cruise missiles and destroyed sixteen ships, including an aircraft carrier. Lastly, the small boats swarmed the remainder ships and destroyed a bunch more. The exercise was restarted and Van Riper was prevented from doing pretty much anything. I've taken part in exercises in which entire recon teams were destroyed and then, by my next shift, fairy dusted back into existence. Some officer I heard said, "My recon teams would never be destroyed like that, the enemy wouldn't be able to find them." I was like, "Well, sir, you stuck them in the middle of a god damned field because you paid zero attention to the terrain at the outset."

[u/Weary_Statistician35]

When was the point that they realized they fucked up? Lmfao

[u/FormerPatrolJockey → u/Weary_Statistician35]

Most likely when they started actually taking return fire lol

[u/Ceramicrabbit → u/FormerPatrolJockey]

Not too long after this most merchant ships were armed as well there's a lot of first person combat footage of private security companies fighting off pirates

[u/IlluminatedPickle → u/Ceramicrabbit]

I think even at this point it was pretty common for them to run with armed guards.

The security companies board the ships outside of ports, in international waters, so they don't have to follow the gun laws of whatever port they'd be getting onboard at.

So they come packing some serious heat.

[u/_BMS → u/IlluminatedPickle]

I remember reading something about how these private security companies maintain boats/ships that are basically floating armories in international waters so they can arm the security guards as they board merchant vessels, then take the guns back before they enter a country's territorial waters. Otherwise they'd have to just chuck the guns overboard which isn't very economical.

[u/IlluminatedPickle → u/_BMS]

Yep.

I've even seen photos of the security guys carrying RPGs.

[u/MembershipThrowAway → u/IlluminatedPickle]

I believe it, I once was able to sneak into a building because the security guard was distracted playing Fallout 3

[u/banned_after_12years → u/_BMS]

High jacking one of those floating armories sounds like a good plot for a movie.

[u/K1lledByAmerica → u/IlluminatedPickle]

I was in the Navy and we did a personnel transfer like this inside the Suez Canal.

The spooks said "yeah this is illegal but they're not going to do anything about it" lol

[u/IlluminatedPickle → u/K1lledByAmerica]

they're not going to do anything about it

"Did somebody say Suez crisis 2.0?"

"N-n-n-n-no?"

[u/[deleted] → u/Ceramicrabbit]

[removed] — view removed comment

[u/Ceramicrabbit → u/[deleted]]

Wiping them out is bad for their business I guess

[u/Nokneemouse → u/[deleted]]

I've seen one video where they attempt a boarding, and an entire boat full gets slaughtered. Full auto fire from both rifles and a belt fed weapon.

[u/kahek5656 → u/Nokneemouse]

Huh. All videos I've seen ends in warning shots.

[u/SoLongSidekick → u/kahek5656]

Most are just warning shots, but there is one video I'm aware of that sounds like what he's talking about. Entire skiff gets murked then collides with the side of the "target" ship because no one is alive to pilot it.

[u/DubiousReindeer → u/SoLongSidekick]

Link?

[u/Weary_Statistician35 → u/FormerPatrolJockey]

Those merchants are shooting holes in our boats! Keep fighting!

[u/Rockabs04 → u/Weary_Statistician35]

The merchant of death 💀 lol

[u/yesyesnoyess → u/FormerPatrolJockey]

more like heavy ass dope shit return bombardment

[u/Leto2AndTheCrew → u/Weary_Statistician35]

It’s very funny to see them be like “oops, my bad” and speed away.

[u/Deadbird80]

Why the fuck would they do that? 😂

[u/auge2 → u/Deadbird80]

The real story behind this:
The US warships trailed them in the night and sent a boarding crew to the pirates "mothership" at dawn.
The boarding crew got fired upon, they withdrew and the pirates chased them back to the warships and opened fire with RPGs.

Thats what you can see in this video.
Since the pirates had 3 small vessels, at least one of the small boats in this video should be one of the US boarding boats.

And before you ask: the "battle" was too close for the main guns.

Source

[u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache → u/auge2]

Too close, switching to Ma Deuce!

[u/ViolentEncounter → u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache]

Remember, switching to your M2 Browning is always faster than reloading CIWS

[u/anormalgeek → u/ViolentEncounter]

Aww man... I wanted less "tuktuktuktuktuk" and more "BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP".

[u/SeaworthyWide → u/anormalgeek]

R2D2 of death, looking all around silly like then turns into a Chad A10...

God I love it

[u/LikesTheTunaHere → u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache]

Once that fat lady starts singing it really is over.

[u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache → u/LikesTheTunaHere]

There's a reason the last M2 gunner has yet to be born.

As I said before, the battle for independence of the colonies on Mars will be using a M2. And an e-tool.

[u/Squrton_Cummings → u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache]

The Legion of the Damned books are set 800 years in the future and every mech still mounts an air cooled .50 cal mg. on one arm.

[u/banjowashisnamo → u/LikesTheTunaHere]

A Coast Guard officer once told me he admired the .50 cal's ability to turn a 40 ft boat into two 20 ft boats and flotsam.

[u/Milkslinger → u/auge2]

On March 15, the United Nations Security Council encouraged naval forces operating off the coast of Somalia to be vigilant and take action against piracy. Pirate attacks against aid ships have hindered UN efforts to provide relief to the victims of a severe drought in the area.

context

[u/Moon_Atomizer → u/auge2]

Interesting. So basically:

Out doing pirate shit.

Oh shit a whole ass battleship is onto us. Play it cool guys.

Oh shit they're sending dinghies. Play it cool... too close too close... Fire?? Fire!!

Ok we're real fucked now. Go out and try to take hostages from the boarding boats it's our only hope!

(bald eagle noises and rain of fire)

[u/Clockwork_Kitsune → u/Moon_Atomizer]

Red tailed hawk noises, really.

[u/improbablywronghere → u/Moon_Atomizer]

Two whole ass battleships by the end of it. Gotta respect the balls on engaging like that just…. Wow…

Guys obviously they aren’t battleships I am responding to the comment above me which is making a joke. Let your hair down and relax for fucks sake.

[u/Kindly-Biscotti9492 → u/auge2]

And before you ask: the "battle" was too close for the main guns.

Also probably a waste of 5 inch (main gun) ammo.

[u/GumbysDonkey → u/Kindly-Biscotti9492]

Man we fired off the 5inch for fun on the USS Normandy. I still have 3 shells in my garage 15yrs later.

[u/marcus_lepricus → u/Deadbird80]

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take ¯(ツ)/¯

[u/Burnsie92 → u/marcus_lepricus]

They missed a good percentage of the shots they did take.

[u/crockett5 → u/Burnsie92]

Warning shots, the point they decided to hit the target they destroyed it.

[u/xbearsandporschesx → u/crockett5]

yah, directly after you see a muzzle flash come from the pirates skiff, they got lit up like a christmas tree

[u/TheElderCouncil → u/marcus_lepricus]

Considering how they were shot at, the opponent didn't miss any of them.

[u/keep_it_kayfabe → u/marcus_lepricus]

• Wayne Gretzky
  • Michael Scott

[u/Inigo93 → u/[deleted]]

Heh... I recall stories of the US Navy hanging lights on cruisers and such to make them look like freighters at night. Come on, boys... let's play.

[u/daysondaysfam → u/Inigo93]

The midrats hit different with a nice show to watch. 😅

[u/JustaRandomOldGuy → u/Inigo93]

Didn't pirates attack a Navy supply ship? Not realizing it's still a Navy ship and can fight back.

[u/AnotherLightInTheSky → u/JustaRandomOldGuy]

Gets to. Gets to fight back.

[u/PrisonSlides → u/Inigo93]

Age of empires level of patrolling a trade route

[u/appsecSme → u/PrisonSlides]

Barbarians attacking your AEGIS cruiser in Civ 5.

[u/thepeoplesfist → u/Inigo93]

Did they also sing “Louie Louie”?

[u/samueltingram → u/Inigo93]

Name the game. And, happy cake day.

[u/Inigo93 → u/samueltingram]

Dodgeball. If you can dodge ball ammo, you can dodge a wrench.

[u/Deadbird80 → u/[deleted]]

That makes sense

[u/Claymore357 → u/[deleted]]

Navy gave them the biggest no u

[u/Icemasta → u/[deleted]]

Nope, nothing like that at all.

USS Gonzalez spotted a larger skiff towing 2 smaller skiffs, fitting the profile of a pirate mothership configuration. They stalked it for a day. At dawn, they sent 2 small boats to board under the cover of darkness, but were found out and fired upon. The boarding team fled back to the US ships while returning fire, the 3 skiffs followed, then the pirates engaged the US ships.

You can see 5 small boats in the water in the first half of the video, 2 of those are US boats.

[u/IlluminatedPickle → u/[deleted]]

I've heard a different story, that the Cape St George and the Gonzalez were chasing down the pirate mothership, and these chucklefucks thought this would work as a distraction to pull them off the chase.

[u/G-T-L-3 → u/[deleted]]

Ok. That explains it.

I wonder why the US ships allowed them to get that close though? Why not blast them a little out farther? Or maybe the Americans didn’t see them as well until they were that close?

[u/Zdrack → u/G-T-L-3]

From my time doing security in that area of the world, a lot of times the pirates hide their weapons until the last moment, and the US blasting some poor innocent fisherman's boat doesn't look good on a news headline

[u/Gryphon0468 → u/Zdrack]

If they’re hiding weapons until last moment, they would have been close enough to see the bug fuck off cannons in the fore and aft of the ship no?

[u/MisterSergeant → u/Gryphon0468]

Wonder what time of day it was? Can’t see shit in that 6am gloom. Conditions might’ve been bad too

[u/my_name_is_reed → u/MisterSergeant]

That was thermal video. Could've been night time.

[u/Fresh-Concept77 → u/G-T-L-3]

Surface search goes out over the horizon depending on the height of the radar. At night those destroyers are masking as fishing boats or yachts during counter piracy operations. Somalis doesn’t know better and take every opportunity to hijack what comes close to their waters.

[u/Arctic_x22 → u/Deadbird80]

Matchmaking

[u/nrtphotos → u/Deadbird80]

That was my first thought as the video begins and you can’t even see the full silhouette of the American cruiser that is dwarfing the pirate vessels. It’s kind of hilarious that the pirates actually engaged the Americans.

[u/tomina69 → u/Deadbird80]

They were not very smart?

[u/Iwannabesomebody → u/Deadbird80]

You gotta have ambition!

[u/JimsonTweed26 → u/Iwannabesomebody]

And ammunition

[u/Magnum2XXl]

Wait, they attacked a warship with fishing boats????

[u/StuRap → u/Magnum2XXl]

sounded good back in the ideas room

[u/sgp1986 → u/StuRap]

Someone was in there like "AGILITY"

[u/StalkySpade]

Who won?

[u/theforbinprojects → u/StalkySpade]

Some will tell you the US Navy, but in their hearts, the pirates won

[u/knbang → u/theforbinprojects]

Some of the pirates have massive hearts.

[u/Quatro_Armour98 → u/knbang]

Massive holes in their hearts.

[u/Overwatcher_Leo → u/theforbinprojects]

Their hearts, which can be seen scattered all across the sea.

[u/pistcow → u/StalkySpade]

YOU DECIDE

[u/Pythagoras_101 → u/pistcow]

ePiC rAp BaTtLeS oF hIsToRyYyYyYyyyyy

[u/MrOwnageQc → u/pistcow]

Jesus christ, what a throw back

[u/pistcow → u/MrOwnageQc]

but that came out in 2010...which was 13 years ago...

[u/MrOwnageQc → u/pistcow]

It would have cost you nothing to not make me realize that 13 years ago is not, in fact, 2000. 😭

[u/ahu747us → u/StalkySpade]

Who's next!?!?

[u/CatsOverFlowers → u/ahu747us]

You decide!

[u/Fluffiebunnie]

I can understand mistaking a military supply ship for something to be looted. But those are a fucking US Navy cruiser and a destroyer.

[u/SexMasterBabyEater → u/Fluffiebunnie]

"That cargo ship is transporting massive guns! Let's steal them!"

[u/BeltfedOne → u/Fluffiebunnie]

That day, they learned...

[u/Dozerdog43 → u/BeltfedOne]

Learned a lot that day- what a Navy Cruiser and Destroyer looks like, learned how to swim, learned how to fuck around and find out……

[u/Current-Scratch4973]

Did they want to die? I'm so confused.

[u/FormerPatrolJockey → u/Current-Scratch4973]

They were confused, didn’t know it was a military ship.

[u/Big_Turd_Sniffer → u/FormerPatrolJockey]

The massive guns weren’t a clear indicator lol

[u/FormerPatrolJockey → u/Big_Turd_Sniffer]

Probably low visibility, dark outside. That’s my guess. These guys are professionals I tell you what.

[u/Twin_Turbo → u/FormerPatrolJockey]

Yeah it was night outside

[u/PharFromPharm → u/Twin_Turbo]

What was it like inside?

[u/franktheguy → u/PharFromPharm]

Also night

[u/Shrek1982 → u/FormerPatrolJockey]

They were confused, didn’t know it was a military ship.

Apparently they did: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_18_March_2006

[u/AggressiveSloth → u/Shrek1982]

I love these Wikipedia match ups

Srength

1 Cruiser, 1 Destroyer

VS

3 Skiffs

[u/iLike2Teabag → u/AggressiveSloth]

So the pirates had the upper hand in number of vessels, and still lost. Smh my head

[u/Grand-Ad4235 → u/Shrek1982]

What a bunch of dolts. Attacking 2 US Navy warships in some wooden fucking boats 🤣

[u/KneeDeep185 → u/Grand-Ad4235]

The wiki article is absolutely hilarious.

Result: American victory

Belligerents: 1 cruiser, 1 destroyer vs 3 skiffs

[u/Signal_Obligation639 → u/KneeDeep185]

Result American victory

ROCK FLAG AND EAGLE

[u/Endura3 → u/Current-Scratch4973]

They turned around pretty quickly

[u/lostmesunniesayy]

I'm reminded of a famous quote by Winston Churchill: You done fucked up son.

[u/joelingo111 → u/lostmesunniesayy]

"Tis better to cum in the shower, rather then, to shower in the cum."

John Fortnite Kennedy

[u/MrJanCan → u/joelingo111]

Speak for yourself.

[u/Trowj]

This is literally the stupidest fucking target they could’ve gone after

[u/Reverendbread → u/Trowj]

Cue them floating up to the death star in those boats

[u/Insolent_redneck → u/Trowj]

I can't think of anything worse than a US Destroyer to try and strong-arm... like c'mon guys, use your heads. Preferably on something other than piracy, but if you're gonna be a pirate, at least be a good one. Or join a merry crew that has cheeky adventures instead of fucking around with the most technologically advanced warships in human history lol.

[u/RrtayaTsamsiyu → u/Insolent_redneck]

IIRC there's basically no decent way to earn income in Somalia, ridiculous amounts of weapons, lots of people with nothing to lose, and billions of dollars of stuff just floating by a few miles offshore. Place is designed to create piracy lol

[u/TheBLue101]

Wrong fucking boat

[u/no_melody]

Full story here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_18_March_2006

The pirates did not mistake the boats for merchants as many have commented.

[u/Kowboy_Krunch → u/no_melody]

Okay, that makes more sense. The 2 boats firing at the beginning of the video were US RIBs withdrawing after taking fire.

[u/SpaceCage → u/no_melody]

The beligerent sides comparison made me lol. 1 cruiser, 1 destroyer vs 3 skiffs

[u/MyDiary141 → u/SpaceCage]

The part that got me was "a spokesperson for the somali pirate militia said"

[u/lark_song → u/no_melody]

Today I learned the pirates had a spokesman.

[u/North_Cardiologist85 → u/no_melody]

“American Victory” lmao

[u/ThatCryptographer622]

That's a Bold strategy Cotton...

[u/-Anonymously- → u/ThatCryptographer622]

Let's see if it pays off for them.

[u/WombRaider47]

In 2007, Somali pirates were fish poop at the bottom of the ocean.

[u/joelingo111 → u/WombRaider47]

Amazingly, only one died

[u/Spazfreak]

A true underdog story.

[u/AmericanBillGates → u/Spazfreak]

I didn't hear no bell

[u/timmy_deeznuts]

“You are without a doubt the worst pirates I’ve ever heard of” -US Navy

[u/The1rod → u/timmy_deeznuts]

Ahh but you have heard of us!!

[u/mtgdrummer13]

Lot of effort to commit suicide but whatever doesn’t float your boat

[u/Zestyclose_Love_4894]

Lucky they didn't get the CIWS treatment.

[u/CEDoromal → u/Zestyclose_Love_4894]

Serious question. Can CIWS even aim that low? I haven't seen them aim below the horizon.

[u/GadenKerensky → u/CEDoromal]

At a distance, they have enough depression, and at a distance is where they will use CIWS against light surface targets if they deem it prudent.

And at a distance is where any light surface target engaged by a CIWS will be reconsidering its life choices.

[u/SirNiflton → u/Zestyclose_Love_4894]

My dad was on the cape St. George in the 90s, he reports that the ciws would be a waste of resources, the dual .50 mounts around the ship are sufficient.

[u/andy02m]

At second 23- what is that black thing? An exhaust? Or a weapon? Something else?

[u/Bisping → u/andy02m]

Water.

[u/KaleidoscopeNo8980]

When a single ship costs more than your country’s entire gdp

[u/Doodoopeepeedoodoo]

What's filming the boat in the first half of the video?

[u/tomina69 → u/Doodoopeepeedoodoo]

Probably the other US boat from the title

[u/Doodoopeepeedoodoo → u/tomina69]

Ah right. I apparently can't read.

[u/mookie2times → u/Doodoopeepeedoodoo]

There are worse things than not being able to read… like not being able to see that you are attacking two battleships while on fishing boats.

[u/numberbruncher]

Well that seems to have gone about as well as I expected after reading the title

[u/Geartone]

This is a good metaphor for what would happen if Russia went up against NATO.

[u/wirthmore → u/Geartone]

Russia did. In Syria, 2018.

Russian forces approached a US base at a refinery on the "US" side of a river that Russia and the US had agreed to stay on their respective sides. US contacted their Russian counterparts via the deconfliction line, and Russia disavowed any association with the group.

The Russians apparently assumed the US would not want to get into combat with escalation potential and would withdraw.

It was the nailiest "nail" imaginable for the US military "hammer." The US military is designed to fight the Warsaw Pact / Soviet / Russian military, not to be an occupying force in Iraq and Afghanistan or be peacekeepers in Somalia.

200-300 Russians and Syrians were killed. No casualties on the US side.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/world/middleeast/american-commandos-russian-mercenaries-syria.html

[u/ReadBastiat → u/wirthmore]

"The Russian high command in Syria assured us it was not their people. My direction to the chairman was for the force, then, to be annihilated.. And it was.” - Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis

[u/sgtabn173 → u/ReadBastiat]

Miss having the secretary of offense. Dude was/is amazing

[u/kbotc → u/ReadBastiat]

Wasn’t it suspected to be Wagner at the direction of the MoD, and some local militiamen who wanted to use the tactic of “shell them out of the position” like they used early on Ukraine, totally ignoring that the US had air superiority?

Then close air support just wiped the map.

[u/tuskedkibbles → u/wirthmore]

No casualties on the US side.

How dare you discount that one Syrian militia guy getting a sprained ankle.

[u/Budpoo → u/tuskedkibbles]

IIRC something similar happened during the Spanish American War.

During the Battle of Manila Bay the US wiped out the Spanish fleet at the cost of a single sailor who died of heat stroke.

[u/Reditobandito → u/Budpoo]

I always knew the sun was a spanish sympathizer

[u/Kev1n8088 → u/tuskedkibbles]

That guy must have been bullied for weeks.
"Imagine being listed as the only casualty on the Wikipedia page. Goddamn it Mohammad, would have been a perfect op if you didn't step in that ditch."

[u/RS994 → u/Kev1n8088]

Imagine getting annihilated and finding out a ditch did more damage than your whole attack

[u/Furthur → u/wirthmore]

paywall fyi

[u/Rokey76 → u/Furthur]

Non paywall version

[u/incidencematrix → u/Geartone]

That's absurd and unfair. No way does the Russian navy have that many working fishing boats.

[u/panzermike666]

you are american you have rules

​

no rules today

[u/Adventurous_Ticket26]

2009 in USS Pinckney had a similar experience somewhere in Indian ocean. They didn’t fire at us but our VBSS surrounded them. Since we can’t arrest them, our team took their weapons and left them enough gas so they can go back on where they cane from. 😂By the way we also had our helo flying over them. It was a nice experience. 25mm also pointing at them if they something stupid. 😂

[u/Animal_Prong]

Ok what tf was their plan tho? Was this like a massive suicide pact?

What was the outcome? They get another 5000 Somalia priates and finally take the ship over. What then?

[u/thefreecat]

are the warships only firing warning shots? each boat should be ripped apart by a small burst of CWIS

[u/yetanotherwoo → u/thefreecat]

It was too close for anything except .50 cal from Wikipedia entry and the explosion was just from a tracer round.

[u/BlackandRead]

Leroooooooy Jenkiiiiins

[u/kingsfreak]

Do cruisers carry a detachment of marines still? Is that still a thing?

[u/thenewnapoleon → u/kingsfreak]

No, Marine Detachments went away in 1997 when the Navy introduced Master-At-Arms. If there's Marines on board, they're probably being transported somewhere. Master-At-Arms exists to do the job of the MarDets now.

[u/Dangerous_Aspect_601]

this has to be some kind of joke? attacking a destroyer with dingy boats?