Navy 1 Pirates 0
In this image made available by the Ministry of Defence in London, Wednesday June 3, 2009, sailors and Royal Marines from the Royal Navy frigate HMS Portland, intercept and board one of two pirate vessel during counter-piracy operations in coordination with a Spanish martime patrol aircraft, in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia, Tuesday June 2, 2009. The two pirate vessels which were found to be carrying extra barrels of fuels, grappling hooks, and a cache of weapons including rocket propelled grenades, machine guns and ammunition, were subsequently sunk by gunfire.
In this handout image supplied by the MoD Crown Copyright, Skiffs are destroyed after The Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate HMS Portland (F79), while conducting counterpiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden as part of Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Task Force 151, intercepted and boarded two suspicious skiffs preventing a possible pirate attack on June 2, 2009 in the Gulf of Aden. In coordination with a Spanish maritime patrol aircraft, Portland identified, pursued and subsequently conducted a boarding of the two vessels where they were found articles that indicated the skiff had been involved or was about to conduct an act of Piracy, and were clearly not those of an innocent fishing vessel.
HMS Portland destroys the smaller skiff with her 30mm guns and machine guns [Picture: LA(Phot) Alex Cave]