Many cities put out decoy cars to lure in car thieves, with the police waiting nearby.
Is it time to do the same thing in regards to, for example, the Somali Pirates?
We have submarines that are well equiped for covert missions, able to launch SEAL teams without being seen. Would it be possible, practical and pragmatic to set up potential “bait” ships in the region to lure in the pirates, then overwhelm them with SEAL teams once they take the bait?
Heavily armed decoy ships, or “Q-ships,” were used against submarines in WWI and WWII. I found this article by a retired Navy Captain saying why he doesn’t think Q-ships would be effective against modern piracy in terms of cost-benefit analysis:
Why not some kind of modern-day Q ship, instead of risking SEALs?
I’m thinking a smallish container ship, except with maybe 40mm BOFORS guns and 50 cal machine guns and maybe even something like a 76mm OTO Melara with radar targeting.
Pirates show up, BOOM BOOM BOOM, pirates sink to the bottom.
I thought that what spelled the end of the golden age of piracy was that the military forces of the various nation states systematically rooted out the pirate’s safe harbors. With no where to repair ships or sell the booty, piracy withered on the vine.
That might be a better tactic than Q-ships/decoys.
Maybe not Q-ships, but what about Q-containers? Most cargo ships now carry standardised containers. You could rig out some of these to contain the weaponry which could then be deployed on different vessels at will. The element of surprise is therefore maintained as any container vessel could be a Q-ship at any time.
Yeah, but back then, you really couldn’t sell much outside of relatively civilized and powerful nations.
Nowadays, there are plenty of shithole third-world countries whose law enforcement and military aren’t very effective or well paid (think Indonesia or Somalia), and that’s where they sell the goods.
Short of some kind of 18th or 19th century gunboat diplomacy, or serious aid to their forces, we’re not going to get them to really make a dent in it.
Personally, I don’t understand why the western navies fire warning shots, and other sissified tactics like that. Making the pirates flee isn’t a victory; they’ll just come back when the naval ship isn’t around. The pirates aren’t easily scared- they probably view us as weak for not trying to sink them.
Sinking the ships and killing their sailors is the way to solve the problem, hopefully in a way that doesn’t involve a 8500 ton big gray ship that’s easily identified.
That was kind of my thought. They aren’t going to attack an obvious naval vessel, and a Q-ship is a bit of overkill, even if rumors and news of it’s presence doesn’t get around. Besides, Q-ships pre-emptively blasting any passing boat out of the water is a good way to cause unfortunate accidents and international incidents.
We have enough yachts and small freighters and the like roaming around. Just put Sam and Sally Sailor on one, cruise slowly past looking for all the world like two rich but clueless American tourists, but either have a buttload of soldiers hiding below deck or waiting in the shadowing submarine. Once the pirates close and board, you definitely have them for piracy and can deal with them appropriately.
Go away for a month or two, bring in a small freighter with a couple of cargo containers on deck, repeat process.
The Q ship idea is OK.
A few .50s, a few Thumpers, a 20mm or 2…nothing bigger than that needed.
But no SEALS. Marines can do the job.
Or Coastguardsmen.