Patterico's Pontifications

10/7/2009

Somali Pirates Attack French Warship

Filed under: Crime,International — DRJ @ 4:29 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Somali pirates mistakenly attacked a French warship for the second time in 6 months. This time it was the French command vessel La Somme:

“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.
***
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.”

The report indicates pirate attacks are expected to increase now that the monsoon season has ended.

— DRJ

UPDATE: Here’s a report on the May 2009 pirate attack on a French warship.

19 Responses to “Somali Pirates Attack French Warship”

  1. So many pirates, so little time.

    AD - RtR/OS! (108af0)

  2. Actually, this happens in every “Asterix, the Gaul” book, if I recall correctly … although it usually ends with the pirates sinking their own vessel in some way …

    Alasdair (e7cb73)

  3. I updated the post with a report on the earlier pirate attack on a French warship. This one was in May 2009.

    DRJ (7fbae6)

  4. “…opened fire with Kalashnikovs …”

    That was their error. Traditionally, against the French, one uses Mausers …

    SPQR (26be8b)

  5. The French won?

    daleyrocks (718861)

  6. Dominic de Villepin just sh*t his pants and surrendered, just in case.

    JD (2228b9)

  7. Go to google.

    Type: french military victories

    Click on “I’m feeling lucky”.

    Mike (0a8037)

  8. Not too much success in the last few centuries, but Napolean kicked some serious Euro – Trash butt, my friends. And just think if the French had conquered most of the civilized world for a century or two – 13 – year old sex partners for all!

    Dmac (5ddc52)

  9. Not much result. I suspect a French frigate ca. 1804 could have done a better job. Suck them into twenty-four pounder range and load with grape.
    Just finished Will and Ariel Durant’s “The Age of Louis XIV”.
    I sort of knew that he’d attacked everybody he could find on a map. But the huge cost in blood to France wasn’t recouped when the rev happened, and France was in action against monarchies not liking the example, after which Napoleon’s wars reduced the height of the average Frenchman by three inches.
    Then there was losing against Prussia, then the bloodbaths of WW I and WW II.
    Maybe there is such a think as a fighting gene that can be wrung out of a population by overuse.

    Richard Aubrey (66645a)

  10. I have the Durant books and there is an interesting review of their career in the latest National Review. The later the book, the less well done. Napoleon was the logical outcome of the French Revolution as Stalin was the logical outcome of the Bolshevik.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  11. Too bad the French sailors didn’t blow the pirates out of the water.

    RB (9c47f9)

  12. Aubrey: Would these frigates be the ones stationed at Le RĂ©union?

    Oh, and Napoleon was Corsican. Not really even French.

    Newtons.Bit.Maturin (ba2dac)

  13. Excuse me. The pirates opened hostilities with live fire?

    Scuttle them with all hands aboard. Problem solved.

    This touchy-feely crap has gone on for far too long.

    You live by the sword, you die by the crossbow bolt.

    NavyspyII (df615d)

  14. Way to go France!

    Anyone who thinks the French can’t fight is historically brain dead. It’s not that they can’t.

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  15. The French have military vessels? Who knew?

    John425 (eae6ea)

  16. I love Pirates, in the sense that I want to destroy them.

    carlitos (e4a83c)

  17. Check this out, some odd things about this one

    http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2009/10/avast.html

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  18. It’s unlikely there was any mistake in identifying the ship, there’s been a nearly full moon for the last few days. Once the pirates got close enough to fire their AKs they were in position to see well enough what they were up against. Could be they were so high on drugs they thought they could pull it off and/or were pressured to attack regardless of the target.

    The pirates I’ve seen on TV have been very young, too young to have enough money to buy boats equipped for speed on the high seas. I suspect the real thugs are well concealed on shore while they send children out to do the dirty work.

    ropelight (8ab8e3)

  19. It could also be that the account we have from the French is totally bogus.

    Just call it the Gulf of Aden Turkey Shoot.

    Amphipolis (b120ce)


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