When Britney Spears' Iconic Music Was Used By the British Navy to Scare Off Somali Pirates

Britney Spears has been one of the most successful musical talents in the industry ever since her debut in the early 90s. Her charisma on stage followed by her loving demeanor has made her a very likable personality for fans galore. Spears has continued to produce several hit songs in the past that still continue to dominate music charts. Songs such as Circus, Toxic, Criminal, Baby One More Time, and others continue to remain No. 1 in the hearts of fans. But, what one would probably not expect is that her music was once used by the British Navy! 

According to a 2013 article by The Guardian, the British Navy also referred to as The Andrew reportedly used her music back in the day to ward off Somali Pirates. As per sources, they’d often blast two notable hit songs of Spears. Namely, Oops! I Did It Again and Baby One More Time were the ones often played.

It seems that the songs that have earned her many awards and have played a pivotal role in propelling her to fame are also being used to protect the seas. They allegedly attempted to deploy an armada fully geared up with weapons such as harpoons and guns among other ammunition on the ship to take down these pirates. However, in the end, a little singing from Spears is what it took for them to back down back then. 

Rachel Owens, a Merchant Naval Officer from Gartmore, Stirling,  justified the aforementioned facts and explained the plan of action in place to defeat the pirates. In a 2013 article by Metro, she said, “Her [Spears] songs were chosen by the security team because they thought the pirates would hate them most. Owens further explained that Somali pirates expressed a great deal of resentment towards Western Culture [and music]. “As soon as the pirates get a blast of Britney, they move on as quickly as they can.” 

Owens even commented on the efficiency of the tactic with high praise and said, “It’s so effective the ship's security rarely needs to resort to firing guns.” Another official from The Andrew, Steven Jones from The Security Association for The Maritime Industry also shared his testimony on the matter. “Pirates will go to any lengths to avoid or try to overcome the music.” It’s possible that perhaps in some situations, they’d desperately attempt to take out the speakers using whatever means possible.

 The worst case scenario for them is they’d just give up and move on to possibly pillage another town, island, or ship while harrowing an escape from the law, only to be later caught by them and brought to justice. In conclusion, Jones jokingly pondered, “I’d imagine using Justin Bieber would be against the Geneva Convention.”