laststandonzombieisland

The Japanese ghost ship, former squid fishing trawler the 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru, after she was on the bad end of a one-way shootout with the coast guard cutter USCGC Anacapa, a 110-foot Island Class patrol Boat about 180 miles off the Alaska Coast

Now THATS Homeland Security ! ( USCG D17 photo)

The  Ryou-Un Maru, a possibly radioactive derelict has been afloat on a lonely 4000+ mile, 51-week journey across the Pacific since being swept to sea unmanned and empty after last years Tsunami in Japan.

She is now in 6,072  feet of water

USCG news release-
JUNEAU, Alaska — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa successfully sank the derelict fishing vessel Ryou-Un Maru 180 miles west of the Southeast Alaskan coast today at 6:15 p.m.

The Anacapa crew began its operation to sink the vessel at approximately 1 p.m. and completed two gunnery evolutions shooting highly explosive ammunition into the vessel until it sank in 6,072 feet of water.

“For the safety of mariners, sinking the vessel was the quickest way to properly address the danger this unattended vessel posed,” said Capt. Daniel Travers, Coast Guard District 17 Incident Manager. “The Anacapa crew did an outstanding job safely completing their mission.”

The Coast Guard worked closely with federal, state and local agencies to assess the immediate dangers the vessel presented and determined that sinking the vessel at sea would be the best course of action to help minimize any navigation and environmental threats. Light sheening and minimal debris have been reported from the sinking of the vessel, and the sheening is expected to quickly dissipate at sea.

USN Data sheet on the Mk38 25mm gun
MK 38 – 25 mm machine gun system

25mm cannon. The Army uses the same gun on the Bradley fighting vehicle. The USN and USCG use it for small-boat defense (say against attacking Iranian speedboats etc) .....from the look of the picture above, id say it works.

Description
The MK-38 is a 25-mm machine gun, with an effective range of 2,000 yards (Mod 2).

Background
The MK 38 was first employed aboard combatant and auxiliary ships conducting Mid-East Force escort operations and during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. MK 38 Mod 1s are maintained in a rotatable pool for temporary installation aboard deployed ships. Following the October 2000 attack on USS Cole (DDG 67), Task Force Hip Pocket identified an improved MK 38 Machine Gun System (MGS) as a means to increase shipboard self defense against small boat threats. In 2003, the Chief of Naval Operations documented the requirement and directed the development and fielding of the MK 38 Mod 2. Installed aboard CG, DDG, FFG, LSD, LPD, LHD, LHA, LCC, PC, OSV, and USCG FRC class ships and planned for installation aboard CVN, AS, and MK VI class ships, the MK 38 Mod 2 MGS is a low cost, stabilized self defense weapon system that dramatically improves shipboard self defense.

General Characteristics
Primary Function: (Mod 1) Single barrel, air cooled, semi- and full-automatic, manually trained and elevated machine gun system.
Contractor: Contractor Mod 1: Designed and assembled by Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center; components procured from various contractors.
Date Deployed: 1986.
Contractor Mod 2: BAE Systems Minneapolis, MN; Rafael, Haifa, Israel.
Date Deployed: 2005; 166 systems installed as of Oct. 2011.
Date Deployed: 1986.
Range: 2000 yards (effective range)
Type Fire: Single shot; 180 rounds per minute automatic.
Caliber: 25 mm (1 inch).
Guidance System: Mod 1: N/A,unstabilized, manually trained and elevated.