Weapons Interdiction on the Indian Ocean
USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) in pursuit.
Joint Army, Navy, and Coast Guard team doing good work off the coast of Somalia. Piracy seems to have been made an unattractive proposition lately; fortunately enterprising Sammies can fall back on arms smuggling. Up to now, that is.
Gun Bunny sends.
Guided-missile destroyer Winston Churchill seizes thousands of illicit weapons from dhows off Somalia coast
Diana Stancy Correll
The guided-missile destroyer Winston Churchill seized thousands of illicit weapons — including AK-47 assault rifles and heavy sniper rifles — from two dhows off the coast of Somalia last week.
The Churchill’s Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure team and embarked joint service Advanced Interdiction Team detected the weapons during a flag verification boarding and the weapons were subsequently seized from the stateless dhows during maritime security operations from Feb. 11-12.
“This joint team [Army, Navy and Coast Guard] on board Churchill came together to successfully execute this operation over the course of two days in the Indian Ocean. These operations prevent nefarious actors from illegally spreading their lethal aid,” Cmdr. Timothy Shanley, commanding officer of Churchill, said in a Navy news release.
In addition to AK-47 assault rifles and heavy sniper rifles, the tranche of weapons included light machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, crew served weapons, along with barrels, stocks, optical scopes and weapon systems. It’s unclear where the weapons came from.
Nefarious? Mmmm-Kay. BZ to Churchill crew and guests. Read the rest of the article here: Air Force Times
Thanks, Gun Bunny.
Category: Bravo Zulu, Guest Link
Yeah, AW1Ed – Nefarious. You know, that nasty place between Iraq and Ahardplace. (smile)
BZ to these Warriors and their Good Ship Winston Churchill, bit them pirates just like The Bulldog that Her Namesake was. Smokin’ Lamp is lit, have a Stogie on me…and a pint of grog.
Wonder if Commander Timothy Shanley is going to continue the latest Navy Tradition of making a plaque out of one of the captured AKs? heh heh 😉
Probably better than making a plaque out of one of the captured Somalis…
Funny how our “assault weapons” are the problem, but it’s always AKs and such found in contraband.
Lost them in boating accident?
If you follow to the FakeBook post its worth it. Brand new rifles MG’s and RPG’s. cleaning kits, slings and bayonets. It looks like a gift pack right from the Iran. Obama bucks?
So I was all set to see that this involved a Royal Navy ship called the “HMS Churchill.”
But it’s USS Winston Churchill. So I gotta ask: There’s an American ship named after the leader of another country?
I know Churchill was half American but I have to admit I’m a little surprised at this.
Are there any other US ships named after non-Americans?
Not complaining, just curious.
I was wondering the same thing since all the
Churchill bust in the White House crap.
Obama is not going to like this and will be scolding Joe.
John Paul Jones was never an American citizen, for any one of several ships. Comte de Grasse. Some ballistic missile submarines, too. I’m sure there are more.
(For those who like history under pressure…..ooops! Wrong thread….)
I am going to disagree with you on John Paul Jones. (Whaddya expect from me? 😉 )
Jones was a land owner in Virginia before the Revolutionary War. At the end of the war and the later signing of the Articles of Confederation, he would have become a naturalized American citizen (as did Washington, Jefferson, Adams, et. al.)
When Catherine the Great recruited Jones to fight for Russia, Jones wrote Jefferson asking for a special dispensation to fight under another country’s flag. In that letter he basically says “I will not fight at the cost of my American citizenship.”
Jefferson bumped it up to Washington who allowed Jones to fight commanding a Russian ship and keep his American citizenship.
USS Comte de Grasse (DD-974)
USS Lafayette (SSBN-616)
USS Tecumseh (SSBN-628)
USS Casimir Pulaski (SSBN-633)
USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641)
USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642)
Winston Churchill is the only current active one
Great site if you’re looking for ships history.
http://www.navsource.org/
Forgot one…Although he may have become an American citizen later in life?
http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08632.htm
USS Tecumseh may be the most interesting one. Possibly the only US Naval vessel named for an actual enemy combatant to the US. Tecumseh fought on the British side during the war of 1812.
What’s a heavy sniper rifle??????
No pics.
“What’s a heavy sniper rifle?”. About 14 pounds?
Bad dog UpNorth! No Soup for YOU!
But just for Jeff! 😛
https://pixelgun.fandom.com/wiki/Heavy_Sniper_Rifle
“….and the weapons were subsequently seized…..”
and promptly thrown overboard, I’m sure.
I’m ready to cry. All that lovely armament and ammunition, when we have such scarcity here in the States.
The Russian Dragunov. It has an AK type action but fires the 7.65x54mm cartridge (similar to 7.62 nato round) and is scoped and has a bipod.
Correction: The round it fires is 7.62x54mm rimmed.