Navy Seal snipers rescued Captain Richard Phillips after a five-day standoff between the US Navy and Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa.

Navy Officials recall:  Two of the captors had poked their heads out of a rear hatch of the lifeboat, exposing themselves to clear shots, and the third could be seen through a window in the bow while pointing an automatic rifle at the captain, who was tied up inside the 18-foot lifeboat.  It took only three remarkable shots — one each by snipers firing from a distance at dusk, using night-vision scopes, the officials said. Within minutes, rescuers slid down ropes from the Bainbridge, climbed aboard the lifeboat and found the three pirates dead. They then untied Captain Phillips, ending the dangerous hostage situation at sea that had riveted much of the world’s attention. A fourth pirate had surrendered earlier.

Captain Phillips spoke to officials of the Maersk Line, who quoted him as saying: “The real heroes are the Navy, the Seals, those who have brought me home.”

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