Pirates take over battleship

[MeMyselfAndI]

124-meter long Type "Diana" Rank I cruiser Avrora was built in 1903. At the time, it and its sister ships, were the pride and joy of the Tsar's Navy. In 1905, Avrora fought at Tsushima
http://content.foto.mail.ru/mail/knajevich/893/i-900.jpg
There, the ship was "injured" 18 times, lost its captain, and 1/7 of its crew, but still survived and inflicted much damage on the enemy.
http://www.segodnya.ua/img/forall/hronograf/aurora-tsusima.jpg

In the 40s, Avrora's guns heroically defended blocaded Leningrad, shooting quite a few Nazi bombers out of the sky.

But the battleship's most famous moment was back in 1917 when, taken over by Red sailors, the Avrora fired the first shot at the monarchy with this cannon
http://img0.liveinternet.ru/images/attach/b/0/10542/10542322_41_nosovoeorudie.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/8884/049gp.jpg
Lenin addressed sailors of the Baltic Fleet from Avrora, by its radio station, telling them to join the Bolshevik cause, to rebel, and take their ships and hang their monarchist officers.

Today, the Avrora is anchored in Saint Petersburg
http://s004.radikal.ru/i206/1010/34/4af97f7f0b82.jpg
It is a Russian national symbol, one that inspires pride and reverence in people. It is an icon, thousands visit it every day
http://stat11.privet.ru/lr/0821d2cd726a7c452341ba46ea11dc45

This is why so many were, quite frankly, shocked, when a group of young activists sbeaked aboard and engaged in mayhem, climbing atop masts and hanging pirate flags
http://www.ridus.ru/_ah/img/2QRo2cOiMzYjuqWmPwVJaA
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/8094/picturenz.jpghttp://image.tsn.ua/media/images/original/Apr2008/63823.jpg
Apparently this was a anti-poverty protest action by art group "Voina" ("War")
http://www.interfax.ru/news.asp?id=212352

Frankly, if these people think they can win support for their cause by dececrating a national treasure this way, they are wrong. People cheered and applauded indeed, when they watched police drag these hooligans off the cruiser in handcuffs. Somehow I do not think this is what they intended.

[Donkey]

Good for them. But if they really want to protest the military industrial complex (not, I think, a uniquely American phenomenon) they should take over a currently commissioned ship.

[MeMyselfAndI]

Good for them. But if they really want to protest the military industrial complex (not, I think, a uniquely American phenomenon) they should take over a currently commissioned ship.

Actually, the funny part is, the Avrora is not entirely de-commissioned yet
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Aurora_Cruiser_Museum_StPetersburg.JPG

Until early this year, cruiser Avrora remained in the ranks of the Russian Combat Fleet. There was a full Naval contingent living aboard
http://img12.nnm.ru/a/6/0/b/a/13850ec62ac971d610fd8ae8d92.jpghttp://img12.nnm.ru/d/c/0/4/2/dcbdd049a0660592c843870b842.jpg
This kind of thing simply would not have happened.

But now, despite protests from Navy veterans and others, they are writing Avrora off and selling it to a civillian curator. No more military sailors aboard, the ship left unguarded. So, this happens.

And, Donkey, I assure you these people would not target a ship on active duty, they know all too well that active front line warships in the Russian Navy are guarded by armed Marines
http://timer.od.ua/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/copy-of-_p046495.jpg
If anyone tries to get aboard without authorisation, the Marines are allowed to use deadly force. The Navy has no sense of humor about these things.

[pramjockey]

Does the Navy ever have a sense of humor?

;-)

[Donkey]

Does the Navy ever have a sense of humor?

;-)

Apparently, when it comes to their tank tops. ;)

[Michael]

Does the Navy ever have a sense of humor?

;-)

How about putting graffiti on the Statue of Liberty? I doubt if anyone would have a sense of humor about that. :shrug:

[Donkey]

How about putting graffiti on the Statue of Liberty? I doubt if anyone would have a sense of humor about that. :shrug:
You mean the statue with this on its base?
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

No, our dear statue has long been desecrated by extreme reactionaries. Just because one of them has yet to have the chutzpa to take spray paint to these words doesn't mean that they don't every day spit on the very principles of its erection.

[pramjockey]

How about putting graffiti on the Statue of Liberty? I doubt if anyone would have a sense of humor about that. :shrug:

I'm not suggesting that defacing a piece of history is a joking matter. I meant that, in general, the armed forces of any nation are unlikely to be seen as a humor-filled organization (funny individuals within the organization aside).

I certainly wasn't intending to suggest that defacing a piece of Russian history is a laughing matter.

[Michael]

I'm not suggesting that defacing a piece of history is a joking matter. I meant that, in general, the armed forces of any nation are unlikely to be seen as a humor-filled organization (funny individuals within the organization aside).

I certainly wasn't intending to suggest that defacing a piece of Russian history is a laughing matter.

That's the point I was making. The Russian military, like the American military, are a bunch of nationalist fanatics to begin with. Fanatics, nationalist or otherwise, seldom have any sense of humor.

[MeMyselfAndI]

I think maybe this was connected to the global anti-poverty protests that happened at that same time around the world, in Europe and Asia. I suppose the anarchists were acting out everywhere :lol:

[Donkey]

I think maybe this was connected to the global anti-poverty protests that happened at that same time around the world, in Europe and Asia. I suppose the anarchists were acting out everywhere :lol:

Anarchists (and many, many others) were acting everywhere. Whether they were acting out I imagine is a point of some subjectivity.

[Michael]

Anarchists (and many, many others) were acting everywhere. Whether they were acting out I imagine is a point of some subjectivity.

Occupying a national monument and decorating it with pirate flags definitely falls under the label of "acting out" no matter how you spin their politics.

[Donkey]

Occupying a national monument and decorating it with pirate flags definitely falls under the label of "acting out" no matter how you spin their politics.

I guess it depends on your definition of "acting out."