Roughly 200 years ago.....

[Pell City Tiger]

Stephen Decatur and his boys burned Tripoli to the ground for the same thing. I think this time, the pirates will be released with an apology.

American Crew Regains Control of Hijacked Ship, One Pirate in Custody

American crew members aboard a U.S.-flagged ship regained control of the vessel hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia Wednesday, FOX News confirms.

Defense Department officials confirmed that one pirate is in custody. A U.S. official said the status of the other pirates is unknown but they were reported to "be in the water."

"All the crew members are trained in security detail in how to deal with piracy," Maersk CEO John Reinhart told reporters. "As merchant vessels we do not carry arms. We have ways to push back, but we do not carry arms."

John Harris, CEO of HollowPoint Security Services, which specializes in maritime security, said that the 20-member crew's overtaking the pirates could help prevent future hijackings, especially since the military can't be protect the entire high seas.

"Any time you can get intel from them, they can give you any kind of significant information, they more than likely will not, but anything we can get will always help us in the future," Harris told FOX News.

"Naval vessels ... can't be everywhere at one time, just like law enforcement," he said, noting that the U.S. Navy has been protecting the most vulnerable shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean.

"If you saturate an area long enough in the shipping lanes, if you saturate it with war ships long enough, they venture out. In this case that's what they did. They want 350 miles out of the coast where no Naval vessels were present," he said.

As for the boldness of the pirates taking a ship operating under a U.S. flag, Harris said pirates don't care which ship they grab.

"We have not seen it matters at all. This is a business to them. They are not intended on carrying what cargo we're carrying. All they want to do is see a dollar figure. They know if they catch a big ship, they get big money. All they want is ransom out of this. They are not worried about crew or cargo," Harris said.

Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman said earlier Wednesday he has "no information to suggest the 20 crew members of the Maersk Alabama have been harmed by the pirates."
Photo Essays

During its one communication with the ship, Maersk was told the crew was safe, Reinhart said. He would not release the names of the crew members.

Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that it was the first pirate attack "involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory."

Wednesday's incident was the first such hostage-taking involving U.S. citizens in 200 years. In December 2008, Somali pirates chased and shot at a U.S. cruise ship with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel.

The top two commanders of the ship graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Cape Cod Times reported Wednesday.

Andrea Phillips, the wife of Capt. Richard Phillips of Underhill, Vermont., said her husband has sailed in those waters "for quite some time" and a hijacking was perhaps "inevitable."

The Cape Cod Times reported his second in command, Capt. Shane Murphy, was also among the 20 Americans aboard the Maersk Alabama.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, a professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, says his son is a 2001 graduate who recently talked to a class about the dangers of pirates.

The newspaper reported the 33-year-old Murphy had phoned his mother to say he was safe.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said earlier Wednesday the White House is "closely monitoring the apparent hijacking of the U.S.-flagged ship in the Indian Ocean and assessing a course of action to resolve this situation."

"Our top priority is the personal safety of the crew members on board," Gibbs said in a written statement.

The 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya, at the time it was hijacked, for the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Robert A. Wood, Deputy State Department Spokesman, told reporters the ship was carrying "vegetable oil, corn soy blend and other basic food commodities bound for Africa."

Just last week, A. P. Moller-Mærsk Group sold eight containerships to Maersk Line Limited to be run under a U.S. flag. The U.S. company also recently replaced eight older units flying U.S. flags, including the Maersk Alabama.

Flying under a U.S. flag means the ships are bound by U.S. law maritime regulations and can travel directly from U.S. port to U.S. port.

Just a day earlier, the Navy's 5th fleet warned "merchant mariners should be increasingly vigilant" when operating off the coast of Somalia.

"The area the ship was taken in, is not where the focus of our ships has been," Christensen told The Associated Press in a phone call from the 5th Fleet's Mideast headquarters in Bahrain.

Maersk does business with the U.S. Department of Defense, but Christensen said the vessel was not working under a Pentagon contract when hijacked.

The vessel is the sixth to be seized within a week and the first with an all-American crew.

At least 12 of the Americans aboard the Maersk Alabama are members of the Seafarers International Union, spokesman Jordan Biscardo said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513238,00.html

[RWS]

I told my fiancee that they would take that ship back, but I didn't think this soon. Something told me that the "Let's roll...." syndrome would kick in to some of those guys and they wouldn't take that shit.

[Tarheel]

I'm certainly glad the American crew retook that ship.  I had some serious doubts as to the The ONE's response; suspecting that he'd probably attempt to negotiate with the terrorists  .

[Saniflush]

I'm certainly glad the American crew retook that ship.  I had some serious doubts as to the The ONE's response; suspecting that he'd probably attempt to negotiate with the terrorists  .

I am impressed although not surprised that you came up with that reference Tarheel. 


"From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli"

Glad it ended the way it did but it is time to release the muthafuckin' hounds.

On a lonely knoll in a Frankfurt, Kentucky cemetery stands a simple stone marking the grave of the "Hero of Derne". It is among the final resting places of vice-presidents, senators, governors, artists, and scores of local patriots who fell in action against the wilderness and foreign aggressors.

The story of Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon begins in 1805. For several years American ships plying the waters along the coast of North Africa had been endangered by bands of Barbary pirates who grabbed what loot they wanted, killed many of the seamen or shackled them to lives of slavery. Annual payments in tribute to the area's many rulers were demanded for "protection" of American lives and shipping.

Although the U.S. was tired of a Naval war which had dragged on for several years, it decided to carry the fight to Derne, the inland stronghold of the enemy and chief fortress at Tripoli. To do this, General William Eaton, U.S. Navy agent in charge of the region, asked for 100 Marines from a nearby U.S. squadron. In answer to his request, a young Virginian, Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon and seven enlisted Marines were placed at Eaton's disposal.

O'Bannon was given an odd assortment of men to form a task force formidable enough to seek the surrender of Jussup - the reigning Bey of Tripoli. His handful of Marines, a few Greek mercenaries, and a motley crew of cut-throats and sheiks loyal to Hamet Karamanli, the disgruntled brother of the Tripolitan ruler, started from Egypt on the 600-mile trek across the desert of Barca.

Along the way, every obstacle known to the East beset Eaton and O'Bannon. Instead of the usual two weeks, the trip covered 45 days. O'Bannon was called upon to prevent the Moslem's plundering of the Christians. It was he who brought the numerous revolts of the camel drivers to a halt. He constantly prodded the Arab chiefs who repeatedly refused to proceed. And all these delays prolonged the journey, stretched food rations, and at times, exhausted water supplies.

On the 25th day of April, the forces under Eaton and O'Bannon reached Derne and terms of surrender were offered to the enemy. The flag of truce was immediately returned. "My head or yours," came the reply from the Government's stronghold.

O'Bannon then swung into action. With the support of naval gunfire from American ships in the harbor and accompanied by his seven Marines, he spearheaded a bayonet charge which resulted in the capture of the fort on 27 April, 1805. O'Bannon personally lowered the Tripolitian flag and hoisted the Stars and Stripes for the first time on foreign soil, securing the War with Tripoli.

Hamet Karamanli promptly took as ruler of Tripoli and presented the Marine lieutenant with his personal jeweled sword, the same type used by his Mameluke tribesmen. Today, Marine officers still carry this type of sword, commemorating the Corps' service during the Tripolitian War, 1801 - 05.

Appropriately, the actions of O'Bannon and his small group of Marines are commemorated in the second line of the Marines' Hymn with the words, "To the Shores of Tripoli". These same words were also inscribed across the top of the Marine Corps' first standard, adopted around 1800.

Upon his return to this country O'Bannon was given a welcome by the people of Philadelphia and was acclaimed "The Hero of Derne." After his separation from service, O'Bannon went to Kentucky, where his brother, Major John O'Bannon, a Revolutionary War figure, was living. Shortly after his arrival he was elected by the people of Logan County to represent them in the state legislature. He served from 1812 through 1820.

Presley O'Bannon died on September 12, 1850, and was buried in Henry County, Kentucky. In 1919, through the efforts of the Susannah Hart Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, O'Bannon's body was moved to the Frankfort Cemetery. Today, many people still stop by to pay their respects to the man who, by his gallant actions, helped to "set the best traditions of the Corps".

If you are ever in Frankfort, Kentucky, stop by and visit Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon, "The Hero of Derne."

[AUChizad]

I read that same article yesterday, and the entire time I was reading it "America: Fuck Yeah!" was playing in my head on loop.

America: We don't take shit from pirates.

That belongs on a coin or a license plate or something...

[Tarheel]

I am impressed although not surprised that you came up with that reference Tarheel. 


"From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli"

Glad it ended the way it did but it is time to release the muthafuckin' hounds.

Excellent, excellent reference, Saniflush!  And a well appreciated article about the Hero(es) of the Barbary Wars!

I was thinking of an only slightly more recent hostage taking during the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt in which an American of Greek heritage named, Ion Perdicaris, was taken hostage by a follower of 'the religion of pieces' who called himself "The Raisuli" [sic]. 

Even though it turned out during the crisis that the hostage (although born in America) had become a full Greek citizen, the Roosevelt Administration stood it's ground; Roosevelt's Secretary of State, John Hay, released a statement saying:

"The United States government wants Perdicaris returned alive or The Raisuli dead."

Roosevelt dispatched the U. S. Marine Corp and the Navy to Morocco and Perdicaris was released unharmed.

And then Reagan's famous words come to mind too; "We do not negotiate with terrorists."

Too bad The ONE is such a disgusting weltbuerger.  He's 'closely monitoring the situation'.  Well so the fuck are we!  The ONE, on the other hand, is supposed to be doing something!

[Tarheel]

I read that same article yesterday, and the entire time I was reading it "America: Fuck Yeah!" was playing in my head on loop.

America: We don't take shit from pirates.

That belongs on a coin or a license plate or something...

 

That's great!  On this, I agree with you.

[Tarheel]

Excellent, excellent reference, Saniflush!  And a well appreciated article about the Hero(es) of the Barbary Wars!

I was thinking of an only slightly more recent hostage taking during the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt in which an American of Greek heritage named, Ion Perdicaris, was taken hostage by a follower of 'the religion of pieces' who called himself "The Raisuli" [sic]. 

Even though it turned out during the crisis that the hostage (although born in America) had become a full Greek citizen, the Roosevelt Administration stood it's ground; Roosevelt's Secretary of State, John Hay, released a statement saying:

"The United States government wants Perdicaris returned alive or The Raisuli dead."

Roosevelt dispatched the U. S. Marine Corp and the Navy to Morocco and Perdicaris was released unharmed.

And then Reagan's famous words come to mind too; "We do not negotiate with terrorists."

Too bad The ONE is such a disgusting weltbuerger.  He's 'closely monitoring the situation'.  Well so the fuck are we!  The ONE, on the other hand, is supposed to be doing something!

By the way, for the benefit of some of you yutes there was a movie made based on this incident called "The Wind and the Lion".  It came out in 1975, starred Brian Kieth, John Huston, Candice Bergen, and Sean Connery.  The male American hostage was replaced by a woman (Candice Bergen) and her son.  My only problem that I have with this movie is that it really makes the islamic, terrorist, thug, hostage-taker leader (played by Sean Connery) look like a good guy (as one might expect from Holly-weird, even back in the 70's).  But it does portray Roosevelt (Brian Kieth), Hay (John Huston), the Marine Corp and the U. S. in general a positive light too.  I'd recommend it.

[Thrilla]

Stephen Decatur and his boys burned Tripoli to the ground for the same thing. I think this time, the pirates will be released with an apology.

I'm inspired to share more influences of this famous Commodore, as he is responsible for the name of my current city of residence.  He also is the reason that forty-six communities in the United States have their current name, including:

Decatur, Alabama
Decatur, Arkansas
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Indiana
Decatur, Michigan
Decatur, Texas
Decatur, Georgia
Decatur County, Georgia
Decatur County, Indiana
Decatur County, Iowa
Decatur County, Kansas
Decatur County, Tennessee
Decatur Township, Indiana
Decaturville, Missouri

Commodore Decatur's involvement in the Barbary Wars and War of 1812 is fascinating, but who knew that my hometown would carry on his tradition of conflict and resolution during the Civil War:

During the American Civil War, Decatur became a strategic site in Sherman's campaign against Atlanta. In July 1864 Union general James B. McPherson occupied Decatur to cut off the Confederate's supply line from Augusta, Georgia. During the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, Confederate cavalry under Major General Joseph Wheeler attacked McPherson's supply wagons and the Union troops left to defend the wagons. A marker at the Decatur courthouse marks the site of this skirmish.

I also find it fascinating that Decatur, GA, could've been Atlanta, GA:

In the 1830s, the Western and Atlantic Railroad wanted to make Decatur the southernmost stop on its railroad. The citizens of Decatur did not want the noise, pollution and growth that would come with such a major terminal, so they rejected the proposal. In response, the railroad founded a new city to the west-southwest of Decatur for the terminal. This town would later become known as Atlanta, Georgia.

Not sure if other Decaturs around the US have similar stories to tell, but ever since seeing all the historic markers in the downtown Decatur that I live in along with the famous bust of Commodore Stephen Decatur near our historic courthouse, I have appreciated the history of this place and the person it was named after.

Thanks to Wiki for the info that's cited here.

[AUJarhead]

The only Marine's name I said more than Presley O'Bannon's while doing pushups was Chesty's. 

[Saniflush]

The only Marine's name I said more than Presley O'Bannon's while doing pushups was Chesty's. 

Word.  Much sweat on the quarterdeck.

[AUJarhead]

Word.  Much sweat on the quarterdeck.

Get into my House of Pain, now move.

[Tarheel]

Word.  Much sweat on the quarterdeck.

Not the f'csle?

[Saniflush]

Not the f'csle?

Not when you're not actually on a ship. 

Get into my House of Pain, now move.

Good times. (if you were not the one being singled out)

[Pell City Tiger]

I recall doing pushups in memory of Stephen Decatur, Reuben James, John Paul Jones, and the like during my CPO initiation. After one, I recall, I yelled out the name "Raphael Semmes". Two guys got it, yankees unfortunately, and I wound up doing a few more.

[Saniflush]

After one, I recall, I yelled out the name "Raphael Semmes". Two guys got it, yankees unfortunately, and I wound up doing a few more.

I heart you.

[Tarheel]

I recall doing pushups in memory of Stephen Decatur, Reuben James, John Paul Jones, and the like during my CPO initiation. After one, I recall, I yelled out the name "Raphael Semmes". Two guys got it, yankees unfortunately, and I wound up doing a few more.

That's even more appropriate in that the name of the ship in this crisis is the "Maersk Alabama".

[Tarheel]

Pirate Obama:




Source:
http://aviary.com/creation?fguid=4a39c6b6-0217-102c-b565-0030488e168c

[AUJarhead]

Good times. (if you were not the one being singled out)

One of my DIs, Drill Instructor Sgt Martinez, who I am convinced was Evil Incarnate, had me in his "dirty dozen."  When he was on duty, and the rest of the platoon was having the daily field day, he would take his dirty dozen on an island hopping campaign, his goal was to hit every pit at MCRD before we graduated.  This guy had us doing pushups the morning of our graduation, in our dress blues.