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2005-11-07 Africa: Horn

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Posted by Fred 2005-11-07 00:00|| || Front Page|| [7 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Yaarrr!

Posted by 2b 2005-11-07 00:40|| 2005-11-07 00:40|| Front Page Top

#2 That raises an interesting question: Somalia has no government, so who is doing the forbidding? And what are they going to do if we simply ignore the restriction?

It unfortunately still falls under maritime law.

Where there may be exceptions: a) the Somali territorial waters being declared a war zone, b)The UN sanctioning escort and interdiction operations, c) intervention at the request of the 'host' government.

I'm not sure about the rescue of a distressed U.S. or U.K. flagged vessel by USN/RN.

Posted by Pappy 2005-11-07 02:08|| 2005-11-07 02:08|| Front Page Top

#3 STEPHEN DECATUR, besides my late father whom served in the USN during the Korean War, and others in my extended family, was my inspiration for joining the JROTC at my high school plus the Sea Cadets. Great days and a great Hero -Decatur's life is a must-read for young tweens or older. Got me wondering how the ROTC's and Cadets are doing these days!?

Posted by JosephMendiola 2005-11-07 04:15|| 2005-11-07 04:15|| Front Page Top

#4 Maybe it's time for Decatur to go deal with the 'pirates' (aka AQ Navy) again.

Posted by DMFD 2005-11-07 07:45|| 2005-11-07 07:45|| Front Page Top

#5 ..IIRC, the unwritten 'Law Of The Sea' - as well as USN tradition and regs - require that any United States Navy vessel, from a tug to a carrier, immediately go to the aid of a ship under attack by pirates - don't forget that the USN was born mostly due to the depredations of the Barbary Pirates. And given the history and traditions of Her Majesty's Fleet, I simply can't imagine an RN skipper not going to the aid of a vessel that was under attack.

NOTE TO JOE MENDIOLA: I've done a lot of writing about Stephen Decatur lately - check out the story of him and the first USS Intrepid . If it wasn't true, nobody would believe it.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2005-11-07 08:53|| 2005-11-07 08:53|| Front Page Top

#6 We need a Q-ship or two: converted merchies with concealed 25mm Bushmasters (or 40mm Bofors) in the superstructure which cruise the ocean off Somalia. Wait till they close with the ship, sound general quarters, run up the battle ensign, run out the guns, and . . . no more pirates.

Posted by Mike 2005-11-07 12:48|| 2005-11-07 12:48|| Front Page Top

#7 Mike K what's the status of the Huntley book?

Posted by Shipman 2005-11-07 13:10|| 2005-11-07 13:10|| Front Page Top

#8 Mike- a link to the story of the Decatur?

Posted by Jim">Jim 2005-11-07 16:54|| http://Technochitlins.com]">[http://Technochitlins.com] 2005-11-07 16:54|| Front Page Top

#9 Ship-
Was advised today that because of printing backups (the publisher outsources his stuff)I'm looking at January before we have a green light to go to the printer. It's a bit maddening because we've missed the original Xmas pub date and the backup February date is probably toast too. My agent is trying to get them to go for an April release date to coincide with the anniversary of the crew's burial.

Jim-
The story of Stephen Decatur and the USS Intrepid can be found at

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/barb-war/burn-phl.htm

This version is kind of dry, but with a little imagination you can see what it must have been like.

Best regards,
Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2005-11-07 17:45|| 2005-11-07 17:45|| Front Page Top

#10 Basically the Babrbary Pirates operating out of Tripoli were running a 'protection racket' in the Mediterranean at the end of the 18th century. The European powers were content with paying protection. The US under Thomas Jefferson refused to pay up and in 1801 Jefferson ordered in Naval and Marine forces to take names and kick ass. Details can be found here. This is where the 'Tripoli' reference comes from in the Marine Corp Hymn.

Posted by DMFD 2005-11-07 23:17|| 2005-11-07 23:17|| Front Page Top

00:00 jules 2
23:44 Bart Simpson
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22:58 Mike Kozlowski
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