ABikerSailor
Diamond Member
Yesterday, I was talking to my room mate about the situation in Somalia with the pirates, and we came up with a really simple solution.........
Water cannons.
And, I'm talking water cannons like what they use on the fire fighting tugboats. What would be the ideal solution is to place them fore and aft, with others lining the side if necessary, and slave them all into the bridge via remote control. That way, when the pirates attacked, there would be no exposed crew members taking fire.
This would also solve quite a few problems associated with taking armed ships into foreign ports, as most ports have quite a few restrictions on that, as well as would take care of the problem of having your weapons used against you.
A water cannon is capable of firing water 100-150 ft, at a very high pressure, and, given the stability of the RHIB boats that the pirates use, they would be capsized fairly easy. If nothing else, it would give the crew time to escape from a swamped boat.
What do you guys think?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cannon
Water cannons.
And, I'm talking water cannons like what they use on the fire fighting tugboats. What would be the ideal solution is to place them fore and aft, with others lining the side if necessary, and slave them all into the bridge via remote control. That way, when the pirates attacked, there would be no exposed crew members taking fire.
This would also solve quite a few problems associated with taking armed ships into foreign ports, as most ports have quite a few restrictions on that, as well as would take care of the problem of having your weapons used against you.
A water cannon is capable of firing water 100-150 ft, at a very high pressure, and, given the stability of the RHIB boats that the pirates use, they would be capsized fairly easy. If nothing else, it would give the crew time to escape from a swamped boat.
What do you guys think?
Safety & Criticism
Early (1960's) water cannons (usually adapted fire trucks) would knock protesters down and on occasion, tear their clothes.
Anecdotal reports indicate that people can walk away from an encounter with a water cannon with serious internal injuries such as a ruptured spleen. If true and if such injuries are ignored, death could occur later. The high pressure that a modern water cannon can achieve (up to 30 bar) can break bones. There have been reports of cobblestone streets being torn open by the jet of water.[citation needed]
A report issued in the United Kingdom said that use of plastic bullets over water cannon was justified because "Water cannons are inflexible and indiscriminate", although several people had been very seriously injured by plastic bullets.
[edit] Media effect
The presence of the media at riots has had a significant impact on water cannon use. There is much pressure on police departments to avoid bad publicity, and water cannons often play badly in the press. It is considered that this is a likely reason that they are not used more often in countries with a free press.[citation needed]
Pictures of riots being dispersed by water cannons remind some of the American Civil Rights Movement when they were used by authorities to disperse crowds of protesting African Americans; this reminder is one reason why the water cannon has fallen out of favor in the USA.[5]
[edit] Alternative payload
[edit] Dye
In 1997, pink dye was reportedly added to the water used by Indonesian police to disperse a riot.[6] The implication is that they might use this mark to make it easier to arrest rioters later. The United Kingdom, who sold the water cannons to Indonesia, condemned this practice, (although the Royal Ulster Constabulary had used a water cannon with purple dye during The Troubles in Northern Ireland) but later approved the sale of more water cannons to them. Most modern water cannons are also capable of adding tear gas to the stream.
[edit] Electricity
One manufacturer is experimenting with additives (salt and additives to reduce the breakup of the stream into droplets) that would allow electricity to be conducted through water. They have demonstrated delivery from a distance of up to twenty feet (6 m), but have not yet tested the device on people.
Although referred to as an electrified water cannon, this experiment involved a water jet much less powerful than a water cannon.
[edit] Other types of Water Cannons
Water cannons differ from other similar devices in the volume of water delivered in a given time, the nozzle speed, the pressure that it is delivered at, and to a lesser extent the total volume that can be delivered. They are also generally portable. The method of employment is also important in labelling a device a water cannon. Nevertheless, the distinction between a water cannon and other similar devices is fuzzy. For example:-
* Pressure washers generally produce an extremely high pressure stream where the power of the stream drops off significantly over a very short distance.
* Water pistols and other toys deliver much less water at a much lower pressure with a much lower volume of water.
* Ultra high pressure water jet cutters are used to cut a wide variety of materials including granite, concrete (see hydrodemolition),ceramics, fabric and even Kevlar.[7] One such cutter delivers 55,000 psi (380 MPa) through a nozzle 0.003 inch (8 micrometres) in diameter at 1 kilometre per second. This can cut a person in half at close range. There are reports of accidental deaths involving the industrial use of high-pressure water.[8]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cannon
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