Somali pirates mistakenly attack US warship, end up in navy custody

The incident happened in the Indian Ocean between the Seychelles Islands and the Kenyan coast, according to navy officials.

Three pirates on a small boat must have mistaken the USS Nicholas for an unarmed freighter in the dark and attacked it firing small arms, the Navy said.

The crew of the 453-foot frigate "returned fire with a .50-caliber deck-mounted crew service weapon," sinking the skiff and taking the three pirates into custody, according to a Navy report.

The boat sunk and and Cmdr. Mark Hesselring, skipper of the Nicholas, instructed the crew to chase down the nearby pirate "mother ship."

Two more pirates surrendered and the mother ship was "confiscated."

The five suspected Somali pirates are being kept in custody aboard USS Nicholas until Justice Department officials decide whether to bring them to the U.S. or hand them over to Kenyan authorities.