Combat Ships

This time on Combat Ships...

The shock and awe of lightning raids.

A surprised enemy is very often a thoroughly beaten enemy.

Using deception and speed to hunt pirates.

They were just chasing us

because they could see only the back of the ship,

and they could not identify any military ship.

Carrier-launched missions

that catch the enemy off-guard.

The fact that the Americans were able

to launch an attack on Tokyo

was a huge blow to the self-esteem

of the Japanese military.

Speed, precision and surprise,

delivering stunning victories.

Dawn, May 3rd, 2009.

The French Navy frigate Nivose is patrolling

the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa.

A prolonged civil war in Somalia has turned

the surrounding area

into the world's most notorious haven for piracy.

The hijacking of international vessels

is at its peak.

This is when these huge ships are being captured,

and pirates were sometimes getting around $5 million

for ransom, which is pretty lucrative money

when you haven't got any money on shore.

From 2009, pirates have attacked

over 200 vessels off the Somali coast.

The Somalis were able to hijack approximately 20%

of every ship they spotted

and were able to chase down.

Countries from around the world send in

heavily-armed combat ships to patrol the area.

The UN, December of 2008,

gave permission for every country in the world

to use its warships to attack the pirates.

Everybody sent warships,

working together in combined task forces.

The international response to piracy

in the area was actually sort of the first time

that this multinational task group had been formed

to deal with an issue on a global scale, really.

Countries from the European Union

organize an anti-piracy mission called Operation Atalanta.

One ship perfect for the task at hand is

the French Floreal-class frigate, Nivose.

Her captain is Jean-Marc Le Quilliec.

Nivose is also well-armed

and can deliver lethal firepower if necessary.

The Nivose carried a 100mm gun,

a quick-firing gun at the bow.

And she was backed up with a couple of 20mm guns,

which were essentially anti-aircraft weapons,

quick-firing ones,

but really useful in piracy operations too.

The frigate carries another asset,

vital in the fight against the pirates.

The AS565 Panther.

This helicopter gave her a much extended range,

so that made her much more effective

during Operation Atalanta.

7:00 a.m., Friday, May 3rd.

Nivose is 500 miles east of Kenya.

Captain Jean-Marc Le Quilliec gets an alert.

Two motorized skiffs,

the type of small craft used by Somali pirates,

are a few miles ahead.

The French must think quickly if they are to catch them.

Le Quilliec comes up with an audacious plan.

Hide the frigate's true identity and set a trap.

The French frigate slowly turns to face the sun.

Now all that is visible to the pirates is

the undistinguishable silhouette of a ship's stern.

Le Quilliec gives the order to sail at 12 knots,

the typical speed of an oil tanker

or a container ship.

Now she looks like a prime target for pirates.

The trap is set.

The pirates take the bait.

The pirates are now just three miles

behind the Nivose.

The captain orders boarding teams

to prepare their boats,

and the helicopter to be made ready.

He slows the ship down to a crawl.

Now his team must act quickly.

The pirates are now about a mile away and closing.

Now is the time for a lightning strike.

Nivose's two boats hit the water.

Despite their speed, they are vulnerable.

The captain must provide aerial cover

to protect the boarding teams.

The Nivose turns,

for the first time revealing her full profile.

As the helicopter lifts off,

the pirates know they've been duped.

But it's too late.

The pirates aboard the first skiff are

stunned by the lightning speed of the boarding party

and the fearsome firepower suddenly aimed at them.

They throw their weapons overboard and surrender.

The helicopter speeds ahead of the skiff.

A French Marine onboard takes aim.

But the skiff still does not stop.

Outgunned, the pirates decide against

a firefight with the French Navy.

The crew captures 11 pirates,

and a haul of Kalashnikov assault rifles,

a rocket launcher,

and several grenades.

The French hand over the pirates

to the Kenyan authorities.

They are each sentenced to 20 years in prison,

which is later reduced to five years.

This is Nivose's second pirate capture

in a month, concluding a successful deployment.

Captain Le Quilliec and his crew carried out

a perfect lightning strike to catch pirates

in the troubled waters of Somalia.

It's less expected that such tactics would

be needed off the coast of England,

where special forces are

tasked with storming an oil tanker.

October 25th, 2020. The English Channel.

A huge Greek-owned oil tanker, the Nave Andromeda, is

just six miles off the south coast of England,

and in the middle of the world's busiest shipping lane.

At 9:00 a.m., her captain sends out a distress call.

He said that he immediately needed

agency assistance because a group of stowaways

that the crew had discovered on board had

broken out of the cabin where they were being kept.

With food onboard the ship running low,

it's believed tensions between the crew

and stowaways are running high.

Alarmingly, the 748-foot-long oil tanker is

is no longer sailing a smooth course.

The Nave Andromeda was sort of

zig-zagging quite aimlessly. It was drifting,

and that raised concerns

that the crew and captain could have lost control of the ship.

That would be a hijacking,

and in that scenario,

the vessel itself can pose a threat.

The British government is alerted.

There could be a serious threat to life.

The main concern is terrorism, on a scale of 9/11.

What you can do with a super tanker

filled with two to three million barrels

of oil is quite horrendous.

If the vessel is steered into a port

or onto the coast, for instance,

that can cause threat to life, not just for those on board,

but for the people on shore as well.

The British government decides to take action.

The powers that be would've realized

that this was a job for special forces.

The obvious special forces was the SBS.

Incredibly convenient that

this happened on the SBS's own doorstep.

The Special Boat Service

or SBS, is a secretive,

special forces unit of the Royal Navy.

They are based in Poole,

just 45 miles from the zig-zagging Nave Andromeda.

They wait for nightfall.

Operating at night is advantageous to the rescue team.

It's difficult to see and you can move better

under the cover of darkness.

Also, the enemy might be

not as alert, perhaps even tired or sleepy.

The SBS members have elite skills for the mission.

The unit began operations in World War II,

and have developed trailblazing boarding techniques,

now used by other special forces across the globe.

An example is the method of getting on board.

We call it fast-roping. One of the lads had this idea

about... He got a pair of garden gloves

and he, in the gym, he climbed one of the 30-foot ropes

and slid down,

just like a fireman sliding down a fireman's pole.

You could get as many people on the rope as you like.

And as soon as you hit the deck, you could sprint off

towards your objective.

As well as fast-roping from helicopters,

SBS commandos will use Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boats

or RHIBs for short.

One used by the SBS is

the BAE Systems Pacific 24.

RHIBs are vital tools for maritime operations

around the world.

They're a very versatile craft.

They're very fast.

They're very durable.

And they can easily be sort of underslung

from helicopters and thrown out

of the back of aircraft under parachutes.

RHIBs are also extremely seaworthy.

The boat's speed is crucial for success.