Somali pirates hijack boatload of tanks

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**syr8766**

Dice Monkey wrote:
jfrazell wrote:I'm trying to figure out why we haven't launched a bombing run from a nearby carrier group just to solve the problem? How often do you get to sink a freighter?

Because they never attack American shipping due to the fact we will hunt them down and kill them and the number of Merchant Marines on our ships do not encourage them. It is also bad in Asia especially the Straits of Malacca. The actual governments usually get a cut so they show up afterward to act like they are doing something.

Actually, Somali pirates attacked a US fleet refueling tanker (the John Lenthall) earlier this week, and were driven away by return fire, mostly from small arms. linky

**Dice Monkey**

syr8766 wrote:
Actually, Somali pirates attacked a US fleet refueling tanker (the John Lenthall) earlier this week, and were driven away by return fire, mostly from small arms. linky

Poor Somali pirates are going to be killed now. :( Think of all the taxi drivers near Hellfury's home that will lose distant relations.

**Orlanth**

The French rescued the crew of another hijacked ship recently. Sarkozy is not sitting on his arse, when he hears of French nationals being hijacked he sends in commandoes promptly.

The pirates never made port, the crew were released and ship is heading back on its way.

Second time this year they have done this.

**Orlanth**

Dice Monkey wrote:
syr8766 wrote:
Actually, Somali pirates attacked a US fleet refueling tanker (the John Lenthall) earlier this week, and were driven away by return fire, mostly from small arms. linky

Poor Somali pirates are going to be killed now. :( Think of all the taxi drivers near Hellfury's home that will lose distant relations.

Don't make the mistake of thinking these guys are going to be scared by a US flag on a merchant ship, they will attack anyone. Also if anything the US is more 'afraid' of Somalia, Washington knows what happened last time they sent troops in there. US policy in Africa cooled a lot after the debackle there in the early 90's, the US military is not geared correctly for african levels of warfare, and usually end up playing whack-a-mole. France however is, and is markedly good at it.

**warpcrafter**

malfred wrote:
sebster wrote:
On the other hand I'm kind of wishing the plucky buggers some luck, and thinking how to fit this into my Dark Heresy campaign.

Do you thinly veil modern events into all your RPGs?

"You see a carefully prepared room. Everything in the room looks selected and
arranged for its symbolic importance. Everything focuses on thelectern that stands
before the double eagle of the Imperium as if the one there was born to stand
before the Emperor himself and stare the sights down the Chaos threat that lingers
everywhere and anywhere. You are so impressed, in fact, that everyone must
make an awe check to see if they are psychologically debilitated by the man
who now speaks before the digital recording devices."

"'The fundamentals of our great Imperium are solid. All the ones responsible for our
current crisis of failed credit repositories have been found out for the chaos scum that
they are. Worshipers and fiends, everyone one of them. My rival, who would deal
with these elements as a sympathizer and appeaser, is delusional if he hopes to
turn the tainted back to the light of the Emperor. Such lead to the rise of the betrayer,
Horus."

The difference is that the threats against the Imperium in 40K are, within the context of that universe, real. The threats that Dubya used to justify his private war turned out to be a bunch of lies. I'm with Sebster, good luck to 'em, they'll need it because the first time they use those tanks, they're dead. And by the way, Soviet tanks have too little headroom to make any sort of livable shelter. In WWII the maximum height of a T-34 tank crewman was 5' 4:.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

You got proof of that?

No, really, thats pretty slanderous.

**Frazzled**

You mean the height of a T-34 crewman?

**Phoenix**

stonefox wrote:I read something about a "Toyota War" back in the '80s. Imagine these tanks broken down and fitted onto pickups - cuz they can't keep 'em operational for too long. A tracked one. One with a 125mm cannon. One with grenade launchers. And several with tank armor strapped to the sides.

The toyata war was a conflict back durring the cold war. I don't remember exactly where it was (maybe Afganastan?) where one side was backed by the USSR and was sporting their heavy tanks. The other side found that the best way to combat tanks was with RPG's. So they would buy toyota pick up trucks and have guys in the back with the RPG's. Generally, two of the trucks could take on 1 tank and win...most of the time. In the end, the side with the trucks could field far more units than the tank backed side could.

**warpcrafter**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:You got proof of that?

No, really, thats pretty slanderous.

Are you referring to the thing about the T-34 crewman? I saw a mention of it on the history channel in a show about the history of tanks. If you're referring to the fact that the Iraq war was justified by a bunch of lies, everybody who doesn't still have their head in the sand knows about that by now. It's the biggest embarassment in U.S. history.

**Frazzled**

Incorrect. Congress is the biggest embarassment in US history. Even Mark Twain knew that. You youngins with your lack of proper education...

**Phoenix**

Well congress keeps writing bills to fund the war so it is possible that you are both correct.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

warpcrafter wrote:
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:You got proof of that?

No, really, thats pretty slanderous.

Are you referring to the thing about the T-34 crewman? I saw a mention of it on the history channel in a show about the history of tanks. If you're referring to the fact that the Iraq war was justified by a bunch of lies, everybody who doesn't still have their head in the sand knows about that by now. It's the biggest embarassment in U.S. history.

Hmmm. The post I was responding to has been deleted. Someone was claiming other Countries in the region do nowt because the Governments are taking a cut.