Historical story

You bought ships in France and they don't want to give them to you? We have the perfect solution… straight from Israel

Mid 1960s. Israel secretly buys modern rocket boats in France. After the Six Day War, the French impose an embargo on the Jewish state and ship delivery becomes impossible. The Israelis then take matters into their own hands…

From the mid-1950s, Egypt and Syria rapidly developed their navies in cooperation with the USSR. The Egyptian fleet in particular soon became the leading force in this Mediterranean region. It was a potentially dangerous situation for Israel, surrounded by hostile countries, which was after all heavily dependent on shipping.

The modern missile boats of the 183R and 205 projects were particularly dangerous. The P-15 winged rocket gave these small ships fantastic combat capabilities. Suffice it to say that her firepower was judged to be the equivalent of a broadside salvo from a WWII battleship! The Jews became convinced of their effectiveness on October 21, 1967, when four P-15s sank the Israeli destroyer "Elath".

Project 183R missile boat - a small ship with a powerful firepower (photo:public domain).

German sponsorship

Israel's navy was then much weaker than its neighbors' naval forces. Its core were ships dating back to World War II. In order to overcome the advantage of the Arab states, the government in Jerusalem decided to purchase twelve modern missile boats from a West German shipyard. They are designated as "Saar" type. They were to be carriers of the self-developed anti-ship missile "Gabriel".

The shipbuilding was to be financed entirely by West Germany as compensation for Nazi crimes. During the negotiations it was also agreed that these units would be built by the French shipyard in Cherbourg. The Germans did not want any irritations in their relations with the Arabs. The head of the Israeli military mission for procurement was Rear Admiral Mordechaj Limon, born in Poland.

Things get complicated

The first five ships reached Israel by the end of 1967, but the receipt of more was questionable. In the meantime, the Six-Day War broke out. Moreover, in December 1967, Israeli commandos raided the airport in Beirut, as Lebanon was a training base for Palestinian terrorists.

The latter had unexpected effects for Jewish decision-makers. As Artur Górski writes in his book “Pięść Dawida. Israel's Secret Service ": Jerusalem did not foresee (...) the international consequences of this attack - many countries condemned the act of aggression and France of General Charles de Gaulle imposed an arms embargo on Israel .

Saar rocket boat 3. Effective response to the Arab threat (photo:public domain).

Under the guise of trials, Star of David sailors managed to get two more boats out of Cherbourg. This provoked an extremely harsh reaction from President de Gaulle, who spared no harsh words to the local authorities for allowing Israeli ships to escape.

The Jews then realized that it would not be easy to get the remaining five units back. Meanwhile, work on them was still in full swing, and thought was over on how to bring them home.

Admiral Limon's clever plot

Admiral Limon, however, found a way out of this difficult situation. The Jews managed to get the Norwegian businessman Ole Martim Siem to cooperate with them. The company he runs registered a company in Panama to buy ships from the French. All that was needed for this was the consent of Israel, which of course readily agreed to the transaction, provided that it would not incur any financial loss. Felix Amiot, owner of the French shipyard, was also privy to everything.

The article was based, inter alia, on for the book by Artur Górski, “Fist of David. The secret services of Israel ”(Znak Literanova 2015).

The purchased cutters were supposed to service oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Siem even made an official request to the Israeli government to borrow the sailors needed to service the ships. Just in case someone inquires into the reasons for the presence of Jewish personnel on board.

The ships went to sea at night, on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. The Israelis counted on the festive decision-making powerlessness of French government factors. The boats immediately set off for Gibraltar. At the same time, Felix Amiot also cashed a check for $ 5 million.

Stuffed in a bottle

The information about the escape was made public in France on December 27. A real storm broke out on the Seine. As Artur Górski writes:

When the French realized the gunboats were going blue, they began to get nervous. Defense Minister Michel Debre even demanded that the air force ... sink the escaping ships . However, the chief of the general staff - perhaps feeling more responsible for his actions - refused to do so, putting his position at stake. Ultimately, Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas canceled the ministerial decision.

The Great Escape

Meanwhile, the small ships were suffering from the storm in the Bay of Biscay. Since they did not have adequate coverage, the Israeli navy provided them with support in the form of two civilian ships acting as makeshift tankers.

After crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, Israeli cutters were detected by a French navy patrol plane. They were also discreetly monitored by a Soviet fishing trawler, in fact a spy ship.

MV Netanya, one of the ships supporting cutters during their escape from France (photo:Avi Brillant, CC BY-SA 4.0).

The warships of the Soviet Mediterranean squadron that intercepted the Israeli flotilla also showed increased activity. One of the Soviet ships, sharply maneuvering on collision courses, even brushed against the side of an Israeli speeder.

The last two days of the march, however, passed quietly under the safe umbrella of the Israeli F-4 Phantom fighters. Eventually, all ships reached Haifa on December 31st.

The core of the Israeli fleet

The ships built in France became the main striking force of the Israeli fleet. In October 1973, they took an active part in naval operations during the Yom Kippur War. They distinguished themselves in the battles of Latakia and Damietta-Baltim, inflicting heavy losses on the navies of the Arab states. As a result, Israel secured its dominion in this part of the Mediterranean.

The route taken by the Israeli cutters (fig. Benherz, CC BY-SA 3.0).

Contrary to widespread media reports, the Mossad was not involved in the operation of the hijacking of the ships. It was carried out only by the forces of the Israeli Navy. This proves how flexible and effective the various government agencies of Israel were at the time.

This event clearly shows that various economic entities are often out of the way with the policies pursued by the home state. This episode looks very interesting in the context of the Russian contract for the French "Mistrals". Let's just hope that the President of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant Colonel of the KGB, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin will not follow the example of the Jewish State ...