This well-known photo shows a convoy of merchant ships getting ready to sail to Britain from Bedford Basin, the splendid harbour of Halifax,Nova Scotia. The photo is from A Nation Forged in Fire by J.L. Granatstein and Desmond Morton.From the Danger Room:
MOMBASA, KENYA -- Nearly seventy years ago, German U-boat submarines sank millions of tons of Allied shipping, killing tens of thousands of sailors and threatening Great Britain with ruin. The key to defeating U-boats was cooperation: cargo ships and warships would clump together for mutual protection. The resulting convoys turned the tide against the German underwater menace and helped win the war for the Allies.
Today convoys are making a comeback, as a tactic for deterring pirates operating along the Somali coast. Several times a month, chartered cargo vessels link up with warships for the dangerous dash into the Somali ports of Mogadishu and Merka. During World War II, convoys sailing from the U.S. to Great Britain carried everything from weapons to food to fuel. But today's convoys are hauling just one thing: donated food, enough to feed half a nation.
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My Comment: The best way to stop Somali Piracy is to attack their safe havens. But no country is willing to go to that level right now .... at least not now.
