Michael Groves
What Really Happened Aboard Seabourn Spirit?
November 5, 2005 Somalian Pirate Attack Exposed
The sun rose that day at 5:41. Only six minutes earlier, the glow of the sun inching up from below the horizon, with the sea still in total darkness, pirates attacked the Seabourn Spirit at 5:35.
Many passengers would still be sleeping, some of them having just woken up were getting themselves ready to go to breakfast.
They were waking up in pirate alley, so nobody would be out walking around on deck this morning. It was a day at sea, with no early port calls, there was no rush to get out bed.
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is any hand-held, shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons capable of firing an unguided rocket equipped with an explosive warhead.
An example of one such weapon is shown to the left. It is typical of those pirates carry.
At top in the image, the weapon is loaded. Below the loaded weapon an extra round is ready to reload.
The number one question any reporter should have asked was, " Who was in the cabin with the huge hole in the wall? It would seem impossible they were not injured in some manner.
In researching passenger statements, I have been able to narrow down where that cabin was located, on deck 6. That narrows it down to one of only about a dozen cabins, all numbered in the 300s.
In looking at the huge mortar round sticking out of the cabin wall, it is hard to imagine people in that cabin would not be affected at all. Yet that is what the cruise line and mainstream media have been reporting.
When the military came to remove what they thought was undetonated artillery, they found it was only the shell casing, the round had exploded on impact. That is clear just from the markings on the outside of the hull seen in Image A, B and C on page 1.
This fact in itself contradicts the notion that the passengers in the cabin that took the hit or the passengers in the cabins adjacent to the cabin taking the direct hit were not affected at all, if they were in their cabins, as they most likely were.
The sound and percussion from the explosion when the cabin was hit had to be huge. I would guess, nearly deafening. I relate this to sound of a pebble being tossed against my office wall when the grass is mowed outside and a pebble is kicked against the house by the mower. It makes a sound that will startle me if I am deeply concentrating.
Now, multiply that pebble size hundreds of times and send it at the speed of a rocket-propelled grenade, against a metal hull, it is not hard to imagine what that sounded like from inside the cabin. Only in this case, the object didn't just hit the "wall", it went through it, as seen in the photographs on page one.
I also want to draw your attention to one other fact. In looking at the photographs you will notice there are dark black, smoke, burn marks on the hull. This live round exploded on impact, sending thick black smoke into the air. Since there was a hole in the wall of the cabin, it would be reasonable to assume that smoke might have entered the cabin, and the passengers inside would have been breathing smoke filled air.
Note the size of the hole left by the round in the cabin wall. That is not a small hole.
The round itself would be similar to that of a long-neck beer bottle.
You can then begin to understand the effect the impact had on the passengers inside that cabin. This was not a tiny bullet hole the size of a raisin.
Groves (R) And Som Bahadur Gurung (L) show the medals the Queen gave them.
To better understand what happened that day, I think you really have to understand the weapon. The video below shows the RPG-7 in action, a device similar, if not the same the pirates used that day. You can hear what it sounds like both when it is fired, and when it hits a "soft target", such as a cruise ship.
It is also worth considering this fact. That ship was a huge target for men in a tiny boat. They could have aimed that weapon with their eyes closed and hit the ship. The pirate firing the weapon chose to aim center on the ship, at an area that was obviously several decks of passengers cabins. The intent is clear, they were trying to kill passengers to show they meant business.
Grove's co-worker Som Bahadur Gurung, 46, tried to activate a sonic cannon, known as a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), but was hit by a bullet and fell to the ground, bleeding from his head, and unconscious. After dragging Mr Gurung to safety, Mr Groves turned the sonic weapon on the pirates and the pirates were forced to retreat.
One of several models Long Range Acoustic Device in use
Not to diminish Gurung's efforts before he was unconscious and removed from further danger by Groves, he was given the Queen's Commendation for Bravery, the next lesser of the medal given to Groves
who single-handedly saved the ship from being boarded.
The significance of the Queen's medals given to the two men, reflects their contribution and the danger each were in during the attack.
When given his medal by the Queen, Groves said that when he came on deck, he was swept off his feet by an incoming mortar round. Let's take a look at what the means in reality, not according to Carnival Corp.
A writ issued at London's High Court and made public says Mr Grove was injured in the attack and has developed tinnitus - a hearing disorder. This is the same injury actor William Shatner received from loud 'explosion' noises he was subjected to on the set of the vintage television series, Star Trek.
The University Of Texas Medical Branch Describes the condition, Acoustic Trauma, how it is acquired, and it describes the situation Michael Groves was in.
