On Friday, August 24, 2009, General David Patraeus suggested that civilian ship owners retain armed guards to protect their ships. His remarks re-kindled my interest in the possibilities of using "Q-Ships" to deter pirates.

Q-Ships were used during the previous two World Wars to disrupt enemy merchant vessels. Whether categorized as lightly armed warships made to look like merchant ships, or simply heavily armed merchantmen, Q-Ships normally flew neutral flags until they came upon an enemy ship. Then, they "showed their 'true colors'" and opened fire or took a prize.

Today, the Navy could lease container vessels for use as Q-Ships. Armor plated containers could provide "modular" means to add "specialized functions" and equipment: weapons, protection for the those manning the weapons, camera platforms for those gathering criminal evidence and, of course, public defenders to represent any captured pirates.

One wonders how keen on ship hijacking these young men would remain after two or three intended victims turned out to have "cargoes" of "quad-.50" machine guns, "obsolete" M-60 tanks, a few wire-guided anti-tank rockets, and a platoon of United States Marines.

While the Navy would probably feel an obligation to pick up any survivors from crippled speed boats, it would not trouble me if the Navy "left them where it found (or last saw) them." The Navy could simply say that there was not enough evidence to hold the survivors for trial; hence it left them alone--after, of course, sinking their boats.

Despite my tongue-in-cheek remarks, Q-ships seem to deserve a trial.

DJ