2010s
On 1 April 2010, Nicholas came under fire from Somali pirates while deployed in the waters off of East Africa near the coast of Kenya and Somalia conducting anti-piracy operations. Nicholas seized five pirates, sank their skiff and captured a pirate mother ship. The pirates were tried in the U.S. and convicted of piracy, which carries a mandatory life sentence. Five Somali men were sentenced to life plus 80 years in prison for engaging in piracy and related offenses in last year's attack on a U.S. warship in the Indian Ocean. In November, a federal jury in Virginia convicted the Somali men – Mohammed Modin Hasan, Gabul Abdullahi Ali, Abdi Wali Dire, Abdi Mohammed Gurewardher and Abdi Mohammed Umar – of piracy, attack to plunder a vessel, act of violence against persons on a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon on federal officers and employees, conspiracy to use firearms during a crime of violence, and multiple firearm counts, including the use of a rocket propelled grenade.
Read more about this topic: USS Nicholas (FFG-47)