Send for Victory: modern navy can't cope with piracy

The navy of 1717 was far better equipped than its 2006 counterpart to deal with pirates

In 1717, the notorious pirate Blackbeard was hunted down by two Royal Navy sloops, decapitated and his crew hanged. The golden age of piracy was soon to end. But 300 years later, it is on the rise again, and the Navy has fewer "resources" to combat it than in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The admission, in a government report in the Commons, has shocked MPs who fear little is being done to combat piracy, up by 168 per cent since 1992.

The modern pirates' most deadly haunts are the Strait of Malacca, off Indonesia, the Gulf of Guinea and off Somalia. Since 1992, there have been more than 3,500 attacks, killing 340 sailors and passengers. Last year alone, 150 were assaulted by pirates and 650 were kidnapped.

MPs on the transport committee have urged the Government "to take the upward trend of violent attacks seriously, and to take action to reverse it".

Between 1993 and 2004, UK-flagged ships were involved in 32 piratical encounters. In 1992, Captain John Bashforth died from gunshot wounds, after his ship was boarded off Indonesia. The yachtsman Sir Peter Blake was shot dead by pirates in 2001 while anchored in the Amazon.

The Navy said it patrols known pirate areas and would intervene on the high seas in answer to a distress call. But the Navy is not permitted to take on pirates inside national waters, where many attacks are made.

HMS VICTORY

Nelson's flagship; first-rate British ship of the line

Launched: 1765

Length: 69.3 metres

Crew: 850

Firepower: 104 guns

HMS ILLUSTRIOUS

Aircraft carrier

Launched: 1981

Length: 194 metres

Crew: 685 plus 366 air arm

Firepower: Warplanes

HMS TRITON

Fifth-rate frigate

Launched: 1796

Length: 150ft

Crew: 284

Firepower: 32 guns

HMS NORFOLK

Type 23 Frigate

Launched: 1987

Length: 133 metres

Crew: 185

Firepower: Missiles, torpedoes, Lynx helicopters