Action of 11 November 2008

11 November 2008, incident off Somalia
Part of Operation Ocean Shield

Pirates surrendering after engaging Royal Marines
Date11 November 2008
Location
60 nmi (110 km) off Yemen, Gulf of Aden
Result British victory
Belligerents
 United Kingdom[1] Somali pirates
Commanders and leaders
Peter Sparkes Unknown
Strength
2 frigates
1 freighter
2 rigid inflatable boats		 1 armed dhow[2]
Casualties and losses
None 3 killed
8 captured
1 armed dhow captured

The action of 11 November 2008 was a naval engagement fought off Somalia between pirates and British forces. Russia has stated that its forces fought off the pirates also, though Russia's involvement has been disputed by the Royal Navy. The incident took place 60 nautical miles (110 km) south of the Yemeni coast, in the Gulf of Aden. When the Royal Navy ship HMS Cumberland, "attached to the NATO task force in the region"[3] attempted to board a Somali pirate dhow with twelve pirates on board, the pirates initially resisted with assault rifle fire. After a brief shoot-out with the Royal Marines, two pirates were killed and the dhow was captured by Cumberland. The Times has described the incident as "the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the high seas in living memory."[1] The Independent has also stated that the confrontation "is believed to be the first time recently that British naval service personnel have been involved in a confrontation that resulted in deaths",[4] and The Toronto Star has stated that the engagement is "the first time since the 1982 Falklands War that the Royal Navy had killed anyone on the high seas."[2]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TO was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Popplewell, Brett (2008-11-15). "Rule, Britannia, you've still got the stuff". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
  3. ^ Brown, Nick (March 2009). "RN considers tougher stance against piracy off Horn of Africa". Jane's International Defence Review. p. 6.
  4. ^ Sengupta, Kim (2008-11-13). "Marines kill two Somalis in raid on pirate vessel". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 20, 2009. Retrieved 2008-11-15.