9781422277157

SPECIAL FORCES: STORIES

Storming the Somali Pirates!

avy SEALs Save Hostages

SPECIAL FORCES: STORIES

Captured! Bringing in 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Going After Sparky! Pararescue Jumpers Bring Vietnam War Pilot Home Rescue from an ISIS Prison! Delta Force in Iraq During the War on Terror Saving Private Lynch! A Rescue Story from Operation Iraqi Freedom Storming the Somali Pirates! Navy SEALs Save Hostages Take Out Bin Laden! Navy SEALs Hit the Most Wanted Man A Terrorist Goes Down! Delta Forces in Syria Take Out an ISIS Leader World War II Prison Breakout! Army Rangers Make Their Mark

Storming the Somali Pirates! Navy SEALs Save Hostages

By John Perritano

Mason Crest

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com © 2019 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-4077-9

Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-4082-3 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7715-7 First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group LLC Editorial Director: James Buckley Jr. Designer: Bill Madrid Production: Sandy Gordon

www.shorelinepublishing.com Cover photograph by US Navy. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Perritano, John, author.

Title: Storming the Somali pirates! : Navy Seals save hostages! / by John Perritano. Description: Broomall, PA : Mason Crest, [2018] | Series: Special forces stories | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017053437| ISBN 9781422240823 (hardback) | ISBN 9781422240779 (series) | ISBN 9781422277157 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: United States. Navy. SEALs--Juvenile literature. | Piracy--Somalia- -Juvenile literature. | Piracy--Aden, Gulf of--Juvenile literature. | Hijacking of ships-- Prevention--International cooperation--Juvenile literature. Classification: LCC DT403.2 .P48 2018 | DDC 364.16/4--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017053437 You may gain access to certain third party content (“Third-Party Sites”) by scanning and using the QR Codes that appear in this publication (the “QR Codes”). We do not operate or control in any respect any information, products, or services on such Third-Party Sites linked to by us via the QR Codes included in this publication, and we assume no responsibility for any materi- als you may access using the QR Codes. Your use of the QR Codes may be subject to terms, limitations, or restrictions set forth in the applicable terms of use or otherwise established by the owners of the Third-Party Sites. Our linking to such Third-Party Sites via the QR Codes does not imply an endorsement or sponsorship of such Third-Party Sites, or the information, products, or services offered on or through the Third-Party Sites, nor does it imply an endorsement or spon- sorship of this publication by the owners of such Third-Party Sites.

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Introduction: Mission Briefing…….…….…….…….…….…….……. 6 1. Mission Report: Meet the Navy SEALs …….……. 18 2. Enemy Contact …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….26 3. Going Into Action …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….……34 4. Mission Report: Gear Up …….…….…….…….…….……46 5. Life-Saving Decisions …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….50 Text-Dependent Questions …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….60 Research Projects …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….… 61 Find Out More …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….62 Series Glossary of Key Terms …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…63 Index… .…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….64 Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic mo- ments, and much more! Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains ter- minology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field. Key Icons to Look For

“Y ou know what I was thinking?” “What’s that?” “What do we do if we’re taken hostage?” If nothing else, sailors are a superstitious bunch. It’s bad luck to change the name of ship, and if a seaman’s hat blows overboard, well, count on a long voyage home. So it wasn’t surprising that Captain Richard Phillips, skipper of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama , became unduly concerned when one of his crew voiced nervousness about being taken hostage by pirates. The ship was transporting humanitarian aid to Kenya. The sailor, the ship’s third mate, had every reason to worry. Pirates had ap- proached the vessel twice within the last 24 hours as the Alabama traveled off the coast of Somalia, a country in East Africa. The area, bordering the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, had become a prime hunting ground for marauding M ission B riefing

Words To Understand clambered scrambled, usually upward edict official proclamation fiberglass plastic reinforced by glass fibers hubris excessive self-confidence superstitious fearful of imaginary things superstructure parts of a ship above the main deck

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Huge shipping containers covered the deck of the Maersk Alabama as it headed to sea.

bandits with an eye on hijacking cargo vessels such as the Alabama . Still, Phillips tried to put on a stern face when the subject came up during the April 2009 voyage. “If you’re scared, Colin, you should never have gotten on this ship,” Phillips brusquely answered. The question, however, weighed on Phillips’ mind. He didn’t want the man’s fear infecting the other 22 crew members. “If Colin was terrified of ending up in a Somali boat, he should have worked that out with me before we sailed,” Phillips later wrote in his book A Captain’s Duty . “Being taken hostage was sort of a taboo subject among sailors. Anything—even a shipwreck—is better.” Later that night, April 8, 2009, it seemed as though Colin’s worst fear might be realized. At around 3:30 am , the phone rang in the captain’s cabin

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where Phillips was asleep. Calling was the ship’s second mate on duty on the Alabama ’s bridge, the ship’s control center. “Cap, I think you better get up here.” “What is it?” “Somali pirates…they’re talking on the radio.” Phillips bounded out of

bed, ran into the passageway, and clambered up to the bridge. As he burst through the door, Phillips heard a voice on the radio calling, “This is Somali pirate…Somali pirate.” Phillips grabbed his binoc- ulars and looked across a dark sea partly illuminated by a full moon. He saw a large boat, possibly the pirates’ mother ship, about seven miles dis- tant, its lights cutting across the darkness. Phillips could also see a second, much smaller boat, tied to its stern, or backside.

Captain Richard Phillips of the Alabama found himself at the center of an inter- national hostage crisis.

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Pirates operating in the Indian Ocean relied on small, fast craft like this one to reach their targets.

Phillips ordered more power to the Alabama ’s engines and radically changed course. “I wanted to make a drastic course correction that the pi- rate—if that’s what he was—would recognize, to show him we knew he was up ahead and waiting for us,” wrote Phillips. Phillips scanned the horizon for more ships, but did not see any. For half an hour Phillips kept his eyes trained on the mysterious vessel as the Alabama swam away. It didn’t come closer. “I think we’re good,” Phillips said as he walked back to his cabin and crawled into bed.

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In this exercise, special forces approach a target ship. They will board and inves- tigate to search for pirates.

Pirates of the Present Modern-day pirates, such as those hunting off the coast of Africa, are not like the pirates of yore. They don’t fly black flags with a skull and bones. They don’t wear peg legs, nor do they force their captives to walk the plank. Instead, the pirates of the 21st century use computers and satellite tech- nology to track their prey. When they find an unsuspecting ship, they bound over the waves in high-speed boats and then sneak alongside. They some- times come armed with machine guns, rocket launchers, and grenades. Of- ten, they’ll tie the crew up or lock them in a cabin. They’ll then hijack the vessel, repaint it, and sell it for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sometimes they’ll hold the ship, its cargo, and its occupants for ransom.

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Most modern pirate attacks occur in tropical waters especially around the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Yet, it was in the waters off Somalia in 2008 and 2009 that pirates ran wild. When the Somali government collapsed in 1991, it left the country in economic shambles. Former fishermen, as well as career criminals, armed themselves and took to the sea in stolen trawlers and fiberglass boats called “skiffs.” By 2008, these bandits had hijacked 44 large commercial vessels, nearly four times the number the year before. The average ransom demand for the ships went from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars. Most Somali pirates stalk the Gulf of Aden, which empties into the Indian Ocean. The gulf is among the busiest and most important trade routes in the world. Each year 30,000 vessels ply its waters carrying goods to Europe, Asia, and North and South America. During the first half of 2009, Somali pirates attacked about a ship a day in the gulf and along the eastern Somali coast, as they transformed themselves from a series of rag-tag bandits into a sophisticated criminal enterprise. During Pirates at Large In 2017, there were 180 reported incidents of piracy on the high seas, according to the International Marine Bureau, an organization that tracks such things. Some of the victim ships were as large as container vessels and as small as yachts. Dozens of attacks or attempts to take a ship are still reported monthly to international officials.

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the week the pirates had spotted the Alabama , they had already attacked five other vessels. To combat the problem, the United Nations Security Council adopted a res- olution giving the world’s navies permission to go after the pirates. The edict gave each country, including the United States, the authority to “enter the terri- torial waters of Somalia for the purpose of repressing acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea.” The UN told member nations to use “all necessary means” to stop and arrest the pirates, who seemed unfazed by the rules of engagement. “We attack many ships every day, but only a few are profitable,” one Somali pirate told Wired.com in July 2009. “No one will come to the rescue of a third- world ship with an Indian or African crew, so we re- lease them immediately. If the ship is from a Western country…then it’s like winning a lottery jackpot.” ‘Just Business’ Captain Phillips awoke for good at 6 am . He showered, dressed, and peered out the window. It was a sunny day. “Perfect sailing weather,” he thought to himself. When he reached the bridge, Phillips poured a cup of coffee and be- gan planning what he and his crew were going to be doing that day. Suddenly a sailor’s voice roared: “Boat approaching, three point one miles out…” In the distance, Phillips could see a white skiff bouncing off the calm

CNN pirate footage

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Signal flares are often used at sea. Their bright lights can be seen from a great distance even in fog.

sea at a high rate of speed. It looked like the small boat that Phillips had seen earlier tied to the larger boat. The skiff was fast and the waves were slight. It was getting closer by the second. When the boat was about one mile out, Phillips ordered Colin, the third mate, to sound the intruder alert signal. The alarm clanged and every seaman raced to their designated stations. Some locked themselves in a “safe room” designed to keep intruders out. Others made their way to the steering room, where they could control the ship using a set of auxiliary controls. The crew fired distress flares into the air and radioed that they were under attack. Then gunfire erupted. Bullets flew in all directions. Some struck the Alabama ’s smokestack. Others ricocheted off its superstructure .

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Phillips could see the four pirates in the skiff—all in their late teens or early 20s—and armed with Russian-made AK-47 automatic rifles. The pirates took aim at the bridge, showering it with bullets. Although Phillips and his crew tried to stop the intruders, the bandits boarded the Alabama within minutes, using a white ladder. “Relax, Captain, relax,” one of the pirates finally yelled to Phillips. “Busi- ness, just business. Stop the ship. Stop the ship.” Giving up the Ship Phillips was adamant about not giving up the bridge. “You don’t want to hand it over unless you absolutely have to…It was hubris , I guess. Come take it from me.”

In a scene from the movie about the crisis, crewmen use hoses to try to fend off pirates.

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