Hmmm… But when it’s going slowly and silently it combines the the best traits of a submarine (being almost invisible) with the best trait of a boat (not being underwater in a cheap deathtrap).
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Argh, tis the law of the Sea
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Not sure why these things need to be manned. Even if fully autonomous is beyond them, you could just sail a boat nearby for a submersible to follow and have plausible deniability. Heck… you could have it follow a commercial boat’s AIS transponder most of the way.
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If they can’t determine country of registry and you don’t answer a hail, then yes.
What bothers me, as a former Coastie, is the militarization of the USCG. Yeah, we did the occasional drug bust but everyone really joined because we did search and rescue and occasionally busted someone for overfishing/fishing out of season.
If we wanted to shoot someone, we would have joined one of the DoD branches.
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That way the crew is unaffected by USCG tear gas…
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Operative: We locked onto Serenity’s pulse beacon the moment you hit atmo. I can speak a word and send a missile…
Captain Reynolds: You do that, you’d best make peace with your dear and fluffy lord.
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17,000 pounds of coke? Sounds like a weekend supply back in the 70’s…
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Well, Indiana Jones did it this way, and if it’s good enough for Indy…
And thanks, everyone, with all the questions about maritime law here I now have “Youre a crook, Captain Hook, judge wont you throw the book” running through my head…
Sounds like a catchy tune.
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Cocaine is awesoooooooooommmmmeeee
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Stop your boat.
Drug runners, Nazis… sometimes ya just gotta ride the boat.
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The Hunt for White October
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I’m pretty sure the hull isn’t proof against 5.56mm.
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It was entertaining to turn on the auto-generated subtitles.
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Or shove a tactical potato in the air intake.
If it’s one of those semi-subs that can’t submerge, the people up top have all the options.
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I’d be more concerned about buoyancy than resistance.
The guys picked for the…enviable assignment…of piloting a tiny, comfortless, diesel coffin across a fair amount of ocean while loaded to the ‘covert and reckless’ load line(not that such vessels actually get load lines; but still) are both less likely to be hardcore cartel loyalists and to have no hope of shooting their way out(surprise the first couple who try to open the door, sure; deal with their buddies or whatever support ship launched the dinghies opening fire; not so much).
They obviously aren’t going to be happy to see the feds, even if they manage a “cartel threatened my family” defense, possession charges of that magnitude are going to go poorly; but possession charges and a murdered coast guard agent or two will really get the book thrown at you, assuming they don’t just watch you drown and write it up as tragic but unavoidable.
Being denser that water while clambering around and doing breaching stuff on a rickety improv sub, though, is tempting the ocean, which doesn’t exactly have a plea deal to worry about when possibly killing you.
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I can’t lie, I’d be blasting “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” for at least half the journey.
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The sub reminds me of the Hunley, which killed three crews, all volunteers in a bad cause.
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