Far from the Caribbean, the Straits of Malacca, a narrow stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra is the main shipping channel between the Indian and Pacific oceans and is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.
It also a Pirate haven against shipping dating back centuries.
Every US Navy ship that sails through these waters is on the lookout for pirates, especially at night when they are most active. Our gunners mates, armed with 50-cal machine-guns maintain a vigil watch and have shot at a few pirate boats foolish enough to get too close to our ship, which looks like a cargo vessel as it was a Navy supply ship.
Having sailed these waters multiple times on deployments we only encountered pirates once and after a few quick bursts from twin 50s they quickly realized their mistake and retreated before we sank them.