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Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Podcasts: DoDLive–Dr. Michael Crawford Shares History Behind Pirates, Privateers, and the War of 1812
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009
History: Sun Tzu and His Army of 360 Concubines
Sun Tzu and His Army of 360 Concubines
The king of Wu tested Sun’s skills by commanding him to train a harem of 360 concubines into soldiers. Sun divided them into two companies, appointing the two concubines most favored by the king as the company commanders. When Sun first ordered the concubines to face right, they giggled. In response, Sun said that the general, in this case himself, was responsible for ensuring that soldiers understood the commands given to them. Then, he reiterated the command, and again the concubines giggled. Sun then ordered the execution of the king’s two favored concubines, to the king’s protests. He explained that if the general’s soldiers understood their commands but did not obey, it was the fault of the officers. Sun also said that once a general was appointed, it was their duty to carry out their mission, even if the king protested. After both concubines were killed, new officers were chosen to replace them. Afterward, both companies performed their maneuvers flawlessly.
Sima’s biography claims that Sun later proved on the battlefield that his theories were effective, that he had a successful military career, and that he wrote The Art of War based on his tested expertise. His descendant, Sun Bin, also became a famous scholar of the military arts.
Link Here.
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Thursday, April 16, 2009
History: 8 US Marines, 500 Mercenaries, and the ‘Shores of Tripoli’
Ah yes, more history. This stuff never slips into the conversation about our early history here in the US, and I thought this little factoid is certainly relevant to today’s discussion. Using security contractors to defend ships is possible, is not that crazy of an idea, and we even took the concept a little further back in the day when we were dealing the Barbary pirates with this land assault. I also wrote a Building Snowmobiles deal, that talked about PMCs combined with Special Forces to fight a conflict, and that is worth a look if you are interested in exploring the concept. So with that said, here is the Battle of Derne and Semper Fi. –Matt
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The Battle of Derne
The Battle of Derne was a decisive victory of a mercenary army led by a detachment of United States Marines over the forces of the Barbary coast nation of Tripoli during the First Barbary War.
Background
The former Consul to Tunis, William Eaton returned to the Mediterranean with the title of ‘Naval Agent to the Barbary States’ in 1804. Eaton had been granted permission from the United States government to back the claim of Hamet Karamanli, the rightful heir to the throne of Tripoli, who had been deposed by his brother Yussif Karamanli. Upon his return Eaton sought out Hamet, who was in exile in Egypt, and made a proposal to reinstate him on the throne. Hamet agreed to Eaton’s plan.
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009
History: U.S. Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 81-Piracy and Privateering
So there you have it, a legal framework for how to deal with piracy or fire up the privateer machine to go after these Somali pirates. It’s a little old, but blow off the dust and do a little tweaking, and these old laws could definitely be applied to this modern day scourge of piracy
All kidding aside, if you really get into the language of these laws, you can totally get a feel for what that era was like back then. It was part business, part warfare, and this was our attempt at regulating this massive industry back then. Crude-yes, but at least they were rules to keep everyone in line. Something we can certainly learn from. –Matt
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U.S. Code
TITLE 18, PART I, CHAPTER 81
CHAPTER 81—PIRACY AND PRIVATEERING
1651. Piracy under law of nations
Whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, shall be imprisoned for life.
1652. Citizens as pirates
Whoever, being a citizen of the United States, commits any murder or robbery, or any act of hostility against the United States, or against any citizen thereof, on the high seas, under color of any commission from any foreign prince, or state, or on pretense of authority from any person, is a pirate, and shall be imprisoned for life.
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Wednesday, April 8, 2009
History: The Q Ship, and How They Could Be Used To Battle Pirates
Ok, here is one idea for battling these pirates. Set up some Q Ships off the coast of Somalia, with the hopes of drawing out some pirates, and either nab them or kill them. You make the ship look juicy enough, and these pirates will go after it. The Navy could just lease a few different boats, and cycle them through those areas, all with the intent of drawing out these guys. We used this tactic back in the day, until the U boat commanders started catching on.
My thoughts on it, is that the Navy could use the concept by leasing boats from the shipping industry to do it. If a boat gets shot up a little, or an RPG hits the big things, the Navy could totally repair the boat, as per the lease agreement. The shipping company could also have some kind of incentive to lease out to the Navy for putting up a boat, like some kind of insurance discount, tax credit, or just pay really well for the thing. Even the little yachts out there could be used, and the imagination is the only limit. The point being, is that boat should look like a really juicy target for the pirates, and then strike when they get close.
Or as a business venture, a Private Naval Company could offer their services for building a Q Ship. They could buy boats, modify them, paint them up a little based on the customer preference, and then hand them off to the Navy. I don’t think the Navy would want a PNC to do it all, but their is a precedent for it in a way, with the Q Ships during the WW 1 and 2 and with privateers. I am sure privateers back in the early days did all sorts of sneaky things to capture their prey, and using a Q Ship was probably one of them (or whatever they called it back then) Bring on the Q Ships! –Matt
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The USS Anacapa
Q-ship
Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, Decoy Vessels, Special Service Ships or Mystery Ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them. The basic ethos of every Q-ship was to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
They were used by the British Royal Navy (RN) during World War I and by both the RN and the United States Navy during the Second World War (1939–1945), as a countermeasure against German U-boats and Japanese submarines.
In the First Battle of the Atlantic, by 1915, Britain was in desperate need of a countermeasure against the U-boats that were strangling her sea-lanes. Convoys, which had proven effective in earlier times (and would again prove effective during World War II), were rejected by the resource-strapped Admiralty and the independent captains. The depth charges of the time were very primitive, and thus the only method of sinking a submarine was by gunfire or by ramming while on the surface. The problem was luring the U-boat to the surface.
One solution to this problem was the creation of the Q-ship, one of the most closely-guarded secrets of the war. Their codename referred to the vessels’ home port, Queenstown, in Ireland[1]. These would be known to the Germans as a U-Boot-Falle (“U-boat trap”). The Q-ship would pose as an easy target for the U-boat but in fact carry hidden armament. A typical Q-ship would be an old-looking tramp steamer calmly sailing alone near an area where a U-boat was reported to be operating. By posing as a suitable target for the use of the U-boat’s deck gun, the Q-ship would encourage the U-boat captain to bring his vessel to the surface rather than use one of his expensive torpedoes, which were in short supply. The cargoes of the Q-ships would be wooden caskets and wood (e.g., balsa or cork) so even if torpedoed they would stay afloat, encouraging the U-boat to surface and use its gun. If necessary the crew could even stage an “abandon ship” routine. Once the U boat was in a suitable position the Q-ship would change rapidly, false panels would drop to reveal the hidden guns which would start firing. At the same time the White Ensign (Royal Navy flag) would be raised. With the element of surprise the U-boat could be quickly overwhelmed.