Somali pirates attack French military flagship

[clayinaustin]

Somali pirates attack French military flagship

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.

[Tom A.]

That is awesome! Talk about a pirate going, ooops!

[03darkshadow]

haha.

[OldSchool]

WOW, I'm surprised that they didn't wave a white flag and surrender!!!!!!!!

[03darkshadow]

they should attack one of these...

[MacGyver]

they should attack one of these...

That's an awesome pic Bill. I see they are all standing around the perimeter of the ship as it passes the USS Arizona. Nice tribute to the fallen.

[03darkshadow]

That's an awesome pic Bill. I see they are all standing around the perimeter of the ship as it passes the USS Arizona. Nice tribute to the fallen.

i would absolutely love to watch a video of some pirates trying to attack that.

[Uncle Dave]

Unsurprisingly the French "warship"/refueling ship only got one out of 2 pirate skiffs.

Still, its good to know the French will always be there when they need us.

(That said they did us a solid for which I do not want to seem ungratefull early on when we were having problems wit the brits, Given weve handed them the keys back to that place twice, Id say were even. )

UD

[Uncle Dave]

i would absolutely love to watch a video of some pirates trying to attack that.

No kidding eh? Thatd be fun to watch

Id guess the closest clown like this would get to that rig is in the picture above. They wouldn't be able to get within 100 miles of a carrier due to the litany of accompanying "enforcers".


Im more an airforce guy than a navy guy, but from what I know these babies are always accompanied by a "carrier battle group". One of which is likely far superior to the entire navies of any other non superpower country in the world.

Like in the pict.

Looks like (like I said Im an AF guy)

2 probably Los Angeles class nuke subs now being replaced with Virginia classes
2 Arleigh Burke/Aegis class destroyers
2 of something really fast. Interceptor type deals

& a whole bunch more "o whoop ass" pro actively looking for trouble and HIGHLY motivated to protect themselves.


UD

[Ratickle]

I've always assumed there are five countries total in the world one of our carrier fleets couldn't win a war with. And 3 of those are our allies......

[Bobcat]

once you get past the whole homo thing are navy is pretty decent.........

[X-Rated30]

once you get past the whole homo thing are navy is pretty decent.........

And they dont have that pesky minimum height requirement that the USCG has.

[Playn]

they should attack one of these...

Great pic of the USS John C. Stennis

[Audiofn]

once you get past the whole homo thing are navy is pretty decent.........

I am sure the Seals could change your opinion

[MikeyFIN]

WOW, I'm surprised that they didn't wave a white flag and surrender!!!!!!!!

Well The French get a lot of flak here but the Legionnaires can take a match with any other special force in the world. I have two (Finnish) guys I know worked there as officers for long stint, back in the days I was close to draft myself there too.
The Legion is a Tough SOB place to be... and you learn the French there the hard way...by doing 200 pushups per word with the drill sergeant standing on your fingers and beat the crap out of you if you don´t learn as fast as he wants.

[MikeyFIN]

once you get past the whole homo thing are navy is pretty decent.........

Spare me the Details

[MikeyFIN]

they should attack one of these...

Actually that would be quite an easy prey for someone used to guerilla warfare once you get close and inside.

How many Navy pilots can honestly do close guerilla warfare ?
Lets say 20-30 pirates could halt a carrier like that and make mincemeat out of the servicemen there.

[Bobcat]

there are Marines on board

[X-Rated30]

Actually that would be quite an easy prey for someone used to guerilla warfare once you get close and inside.

How many Navy pilots can honestly do close guerilla warfare ?
Lets say 20-30 pirates could halt a carrier like that and make mincemeat out of the servicemen there.

LOL! Stick to UC photos. A pirate captain you ain't, LOL!

[Trim'd Up]

Well The French get a lot of flak here but the Legionnaires can take a match with any other special force in the world. I have two (Finnish) guys I know worked there as officers for long stint, back in the days I was close to draft myself there too.
The Legion is a Tough SOB place to be... and you learn the French there the hard way...by doing 200 pushups per word with the drill sergeant standing on your fingers and beat the crap out of you if you don´t learn as fast as he wants.

Yeah, but they are not french, hence the French FOREIGN legion thing. Kinda funny how they need foreigners for their special forces.