EDIT: Captain of McKinney yacht RAMS Israeli Warship, Darwin Award Considered

[Azrael256]

I could see the Israeli vessel firing guns.  Not at the yacht, mind you, but a shot across the bow is the international naval signal for "cease and decist."

I'd be real impressed to see a 500-ton missile boat that could maneuver well enough to ram a fiberglass yacht.

This reminds me of that P-3 that "rammed" that Chinese MiG clone about ten years ago.  Ain't no way it happened like that.

[Cliff47]

McKinney survived??  Now THAT is scary.  Now if Rosie O'D had been on board, a two-fer!!

[Nitrogen]

I'm scared by how many people on digg and reddit fall for the terrorist view of events.

[Viking]

I'm scared by how many people on digg and reddit fall for the terrorist view of events.

Links?

[Josh Aston]

I dunno.  If the Israeli military had turned Cynthia McKinney into a grease spot, there would have been hell to pay in the media.  It would have been a PR disaster.

Only if the story got out.  Just don't leave any witnesses and nothing happened.  No one knows what happened to her.

[Manedwolf]

Maybe they should have been flying a flag of Saint Pancake.

[Nitrogen]

Links?

Here's the reddit one.  I can't find the digg one at the moment:
http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/7mhqo/israelis_ram_medical_supply_ship_3_times_say_it/73l3

Of course my comment was summarily rated down.

[Jamisjockey]

So you're saying that we shouldn't use Jamis' boat to hunt Somali pirates with?

Only with standoff weapons like a Mk19.  But sugar mama won't hold up to an RPG hit very well....

[lupinus]

Riiiiiight

Because a modern ship would forgo, oh you know, guns/missiles/rockets/whatever (don't know the ship, I'm assuming it is of course armed) in favor of ancient war techniques.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Just how big and maneuverable is a 500 ton ship, anyway?

[Gowen]

Manedwolf, they rammed a Sa'ar missile boat, not a patrol boat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27ar_4.5-class_missile_boat

Imagine ELEVEN of these would have fired at them.

Looking at the pic of the ship, it's sporting a Phalanx.   At 3000 rounds a min, moonbat chum.

Seriously, we all know this is President George W Bush's fault.

[Perd Hapley]

Here's the reddit one.  I can't find the digg one at the moment:
http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/7mhqo/israelis_ram_medical_supply_ship_3_times_say_it/73l3

Of course my comment was summarily rated down.

From that reddit website (whatever that is):

    I'm guessing the captain of this yacht lost control of it in the rough seas and hit the Israeli boat.

yeah, somehow he managed to be moving sideways.

Guys, I'm a total and complete land-lubber.  I've never even seen saltwater.*  But don't boats tend to, ya know, move sideways all the freaking time?  Or am I really missing the boat?  Yuk, yuk, yuk.

*OK, I saw Puget Sound once.

[Fly320s]

They move sideways when drifting due to current or wind.  Normally, they keep the pointy end going forward.

[erictank]

Just as reference, for those who haven't been around water areas for most of their lives. Ever see an RV that's been in a serious accident, how they just completely come apart with thin material and insulation all over the road, all structural integrity gone?

That's what pleasure yachts look like if they hit together hard. Then they generally catch fire and burn to the waterline in minutes (fiberglass resin, once it gets going, you have seconds to toss the raft pod and dive after it, it goes up fast), or sink. I'd seen a few do that in S. Florida.

Yachts are not made to be impacted by anything. If they'd been "rammed", they would not be there.

Edit: I just looked at the missile boat photo. 498 tonnes. If they'd been rammed by that, there'd be two halves of a sinking boat and burning fuel on the water. Likewise if they'd been "fired on"...with 20mm Oerlikons? It'd have been chewed apart with one burst. Idiots.

"Rammed", in this case, apparently means "We hit them because the evilnastybadmilitary ship didn't get out of our way and let us do whatever the hell we wanted in their territorial waters."

Anyone who seriously thinks the Israelis are incompetent enough that ELEVEN of their ships could have that little yacht surrounded and under fire and not turn it into splinters is seriously DELUSIONAL.  I don't think that ONE Israeli ship could fail to make that thing "go away", were they so inclined.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

My take on what happened:

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

If a 500 ton steel missile boat managed to run into a fiberglass yacht pointy end first, wouldn't the yacht be split more or less in two?

[280plus]

Chances are if they wanted to make a real "soft" go at stopping the USS Moonbat they would have turned a few firehoses on it and flooded the ever loving crap out of it. That's how we did it in my day when dealing with the Greenpeacers anyways.  Of course, Israel has been known to take stronger measures...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

If a 500 ton steel missile boat managed to run into a fiberglass yacht pointy end first, wouldn't the yacht be split more or less in two?

Other way around. The navy ship gets in front of it, the Moonbat's Skipper (brave and sure) goes Farragut. Or tries to slack the engines/steer away too late, and gets his trusty ship caved in. That would explain why the captain of an oceangoing vessel would not have the brains to steer clear of big heavy ships with guns on 'em. I'm pretty sure big heavy navy ships are painfully slow, so he should've seen that coming a long time before.
Of course, some brain sturgeon could've decided to 'run under the guns'. 

[Perd Hapley]

They move sideways when drifting due to current or wind.  Normally, they keep the pointy end going forward.

Right. 

[Hawkmoon]

There are also "rules of the road" for nautical traffic encounters, too. Nominally, a vessel to your right has the right-of-way (which in the oh-so-sophisticated playbook diagram above would be the SS Moonbat). However, it is also recognized that larger vessels are slower to react to steering and throttle inputs, so as a general rule in navigation the larger vessel has the right of way. Playing chicken with a flippin' warship when you're drivin' a fiberglass yacht is just plain dumb.

[Fly320s]

So, who owns the yacht?  That guy is gonna be pissed.

[Tallpine]

In the picture that I saw, the damage to the Moonboat was mostly or all to the superstructure.  Looked as if they tried to run under the sharply raked bow of the steel missle ship ... 

[Manedwolf]

In the picture that I saw, the damage to the Moonboat was mostly or all to the superstructure.  Looked as if they tried to run under the sharply raked bow of the steel missle ship ... 

That's what I said, they tried to slip by the bow, and the port side of the yacht superstructure clipped the bow of the warship starboard to port.

Like trying to beat a train. They're lucky they weren't cut in half.

[Perd Hapley]

I could see the Israeli vessel firing guns.  Not at the yacht, mind you, but a shot across the bow is the international naval signal for "cease and decist."

I thought that getting fired upon was the international land-and-sea signal for "soil your drawers while hugging the ground or running like mad."    

[MicroBalrog]

Ha!

The story of the SS Moonbat is not concluded!

I have received today's copy of "Israel Ha'yom", and it appears the ship is back afloat. Specifically, it has been pulled into Tel-Aviv's harbor yesterday by police, as it has been used as a casino boat. 120 gamblers have been arrested on deck.