Cherbourg Project
Encyclopedia
The Boats of Cherbourg was an Israel
i military operation which took place on 24 December 1969, and involved the escape of five class 3 missile boat
s from the French port of Cherbourg. The boats had been paid for by the Israeli government but had not been delivered due to the French arms embargo
in 1969. The whole operation was planned by the Israeli Navy, and was codenamed "Noa-Operation", after the daughter of Captain Binyamin (Bini) Telem
.
-era destroyer
s, frigate
s and corvette
s were obsolete and new ships and vessels were needed. A survey was made and the German shipyard of Lürssen
was recommended. The shipyard was asked to design a new generation of small missile boat platforms and to modify the suggested wooden Jaguar-class
torpedo boats according to Israeli Navy requirements. However, due to Arab League
pressure on the German government, this plan was not continued and a new builder was sought. The Israeli navy survey suggested that the Cherbourg-based Félix Amiot
would build the boats, based upon the German planning and design. The boats and engines were German-designed, and constructed by the French. The project received the codename "Fall" (Autumn).
Navy crews were sent to France in early 1965. The technical team was headed by Commander
Haim Schachal. The administrative and operational side was headed by captain Binyamin (Bini) Telem, who later became a Rear Admiral
and the navy's commander in chief during the Yom Kippur war
.
This was during the "golden age" of relations between Israel and France. After the Six-Day War
relations began to worsen. The French president Charles de Gaulle
limited the export of weapons to Israel. In 1968 Israeli paratrooper
s commanded by Colonel
Raphael Eitan (who later on became IDF
chief of staff), carried out a raid
on Beirut airport during operations against the Palestine Liberation Organization
. As a result the French president Charles De Gaulle ordered a weapons embargo for any contract with Israel, even those that were ordered and paid by a contract.
With his moratorium
declaration Charles de Gaulle cancelled the export license to Israel. However, he was afraid to cancel the working licenses of the shipyards due to riots sparked by recession and unemployment that had started in Paris
. The French president did not want to escalate the situation by adding additional unemployment and feared public opinion
and the spread of the riots throughout France.
The resignation of Charles de Gaulle and the election of Georges Pompidou
to be the president of France inspired hope amongst the Israelis. The Israeli government assumed that Pompidou's close relation with the Rothschild
family would cancel the embargo. They found out this was not to happen.
While the French government ordered a weapons embargo for Israel, they continued construction of the boats according to the original plan, and while the Israeli naval mission was in Cherbourg, controlling the project. Israeli crews were on board the completed boats and the whole project was fully paid for by Israel.
The build-up of the Egyptian Navy with Soviet
assistance during the early days of the war of attrition
and into the mid-sixties, and their procurement of new missile boats such as the Osa
and Komar-classes
, had changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean theatre in favour of Arab navies and away from the Israeli Navy. There was by now an urgent need for a new generation of vessels for the Israeli Navy. Israel had been developing seaborne missiles, but the new vessels they would be launched from were being built at Cherbourg. Their delivery to the Navy was considered a high priority.
The loss of the destroyer
INS Eilat
in an attack by Komar-class missile boats in October 1967 and the accidental loss of the submarine
INS Dakar
in 1968, as well as the general ageing of the Israeli fleet, brought naval planners to the conclusion that the boats had to be taken from France by deception.
Mordechai 'Mokka' Limon
, formerly the Israeli Navy's commander in chief, who was the head of the Israel Defense Forces
mission in Paris
. Limon's affiliation with the Rothschild family provided him with important connections in France with the French government, and more widely in Europe as well.
During that period, several events worked in favor of the Israelis. In 1967, the seventh boat of the 12 boats ordered, INS Mivtach (Reliance), was completed and launched. A telecom
from Israeli Navy command informed the Israelis in Cherbourg that the embargo was expected to escalate, and the boat would have to sail immediately to Haifa
during sea trials, ignoring the French protocols for leaving port. This angered the French, and they ordered the Israeli Navy and the other boats to leave the French Navy
harbor, and dock instead at the commercial port, which was unguarded.
The boats were transferred to a front company called Starboat, registered in Panama
. This company was a Norwegian
company for oil drills. The front company was Limon's idea, aided by his connections with Milla Brenner, a retired naval officer with a rank of commander and the owner of the Israel-based "Maritime Fruit Carriers", a company which operated cargo ships transporting fruit. Milla Brenner knew the Norwegian businessman Martin Siem
, who was able to provide assistance. The front company people were Mossad
members led by Benyamin Vered, one of the highest ranking commanders of Mossad.
The front company feigned interest in the boats as potential survey ships for searching for oil, and declared that the boats' specifications met their needs. To add to the deception Limon pretended to have "tough negotiations " with Starboat. The terms agreed were that the boats would be transferred to Starboat and would be crewed by members of the Israeli Navy due to their experience with the boats. The boats were sold and transferred legally by the government of Israel to the front company with the approval of Michel Debré
, the French minister of defence
. This was the first part of the deception.
The next stage of the operation was to build a day-to-day routine with the aim of ultimately misleading the French at Cherbourg. The Israelis maintained a routine of short voyages, heading north into the Atlantic. Prior to the operation the Israeli crews were reinforced. Small groups of officers, ratings
and sailors
began to arrive at different destinations in France as tourists. The crews started to buy fresh and dry supplies from local grocery store
s in small quantities each time in order to prevent the exposure of their plot. They made their purchases in small groups to avoid attention, since Cherbourg was a small town and the men were known there.
Prior the escape the boats had to be fuelled with large amount of fuel. Loading this fuel in one go would have alerted observers to the fact that a long voyage was planned. Commander Rinat, the head of operations, instead ordered the boats to the gradually fuelled using a small 5 ton tank truck
. By 24 December the boats had been fully fuelled and stored.
Since sudden engine noise during the night of the escape would alert the French, the operation's commander, Captain Hadar Kimhi, ordered the boats' engines to be regularly started at nights, causing the inhabitants of Cherbourg to become accustomed to the noise. The local police
visited the boats in response to inhabitants' complaints, and received the explanations that the electrical supply from the shore was not enough to warm the ship during the cold days of December. The boats received an authorization from the electrical company and police to operate their engines at night. The noise was loud since 20 Maybach
main engines were running.
Meanwhile the ZIM
navigation company Europe Lines were approached to help in providing fuel, once the boats had left Cherbourg. Assistance was provided by Edmond Wilhelm Brillant
, a retired navy officer and a naval architect. He designated MV
Lea to provide fuel at Gibraltar
and MV Natanya as a backup in the Bay of Biscay
(both general cargo ships that were available at that time ). The main difficulty at this stage of the plan was the conversion of MV Lea into a fuelling ship. This was solved by conversion of the ballast tank
in the ship's bow into a fuel tank. The pump system was converted to operate as both a fire fighting and fuelling pump. Special hoses with high buoyancy were used and a fuelling drill was developed prior sailing to the rendezvous point near Gibraltar. According to international maritime regulations, MV Lea could not sail since safety regulations ban ships from carrying fuel in the bow since fuel vapour might cause an explosion. This issue was solved by Brillant with the aid of Kirstine shipyards and a Lloyd's Register
surveyor
. The overall conversion and drill took 12 hours. Other Zim divisions provided the Dan, a Ro-Ro ship sister of MV Nili which would provide fuel near Lampedusa
. Captain of MV Dan was Yosef Dror, a retired Navy officer (Commander) and a Navy Seal. In this case, tanker trailers were loaded in the ship's garage. These Zim ships sailed with additional crew made up of members of the Israeli Navy.
on the night of the escape, but a report on the BBC
indicated that the storm would die down. Faced with the decision of cancelling the mission or proceeding, Captain Hadar Kimhi gave the order to sail at 2AM.
The French were initially unaware that the Israeli boats had left port, and their absence was first noticed by a reporter who came to the port and saw that all the boats were missing. He immediately reported it to the BBC almost 12 hours after the escape and the French learned of it from BBC News
.
The French were outraged and the French minister of defence Michel Debré ordered the French chief of staff to order an air strike and sink the boats. The French chief of staff refused to obey and replied he would resign rather than obey the order. The French prime minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas
cancelled the order and prevented any further escalation. Although the French government were furious, they realized that there was little they could do, since the boats were already on the high seas when the ruse was uncovered. French Foreign Minister
Maurice Schumann
warned that if the boats appeared in Israel, "the consequences will be very grave indeed".
During fuelling by MV Lea at Gibraltar, one of the Israeli navy crew members mistakenly allowed water into the fuel tanks of INS Hetz (Arrow). It was not initially known whether the water was seawater, if it was it could not be drained and might damage the engines. Commander Rinat asked the crew to taste the fuel and to indicate if it was salty or not. Having determined that it was not seawater the tanks were drained.
The Israeli boats sailed a total of 3,145 nautical miles, beginning in the English Channel
, and arriving at the Kishon
Shipyard port in Haifa
bay on 31 December.
When the boats approached the Israeli coast, they were given an escort of Israeli Air Force
aircraft. The boats were met with public jubilation when they arrived in Israel.
The Navy's commander in chief during the operation was Rear-Admiral Avraham Botzer
(Cheetah). The commanding officer of the operation was Captain Hadar Kimhi(later on Commodore
commander of Haifa Navy-Base and Naval Attache in UK during the 1973 Yom Kippur War
), with Commander Ezra Kedm Krishinski, nicknamed Karish (Shark) as his deputy (later on Commodore
and commander of the Red Sea
theatre ).
The boats were:
Two young officers in the operation, Alex - Tal and Michael – Ram, went on to become commanders in chief of the navy.
The boats' names while being operated by the oil drilling company were Starboat 1,2,3,4,5. The boats joined the already acquired INS Sa'ar to form the Sa'ar 3-class missile boats.
“. It was said that the French president stated “I do not like tea with Lemon and Mokka coffee”. Generals Louis Bonte and Bernard Gazelles were suspended by the government. The Cherbourg affair, together with Mossad's theft of the plans for the Mirage 3, which were used as a baseline for the design of IAI Kfir
by Israel Aerospace Industries, ended a period of French-Israeli cooperation. Instead Israel turned to American supplies of weapons and support. The Israeli Air Force
began to be equipped by US aircraft, while the US Navy started to train the Israeli Navy's high command and increased the level of naval cooperation.
s and ECM
and EW
systems produced by MABAT and RFAEL. Their commissioning into the Israeli Navy was commanded by Commodore Yehoshua Lahave Schneidemesser, a Haganah
member who had volunteered with the Royal Navy
during the Second World War, and who was at the time the head of Navy – Equipment and Platforms.
The flotilla's working up was overseen by Captain Hadar Kimhi, who was later promoted to Commodore commanding the Naval base of Haifa. New concepts of sea missile warfare was developed by the navy and new ECM/EW techniques were developed with the leadership of Captain Herut Zemach who was awarded the Israel Defense Prize
for his efforts, sparking a new generation of missile boats. New Israeli Sa'ar boats were developed in Haifa Shipyards under the leadership of Haim Schachal, the chief engineer of the Israel Shipyards
. Two of the boats were launched a few months before the Yom Kippur War, INS Reshef (Flame, Spark) and INS Keshet (Bow), Sa'ar 4 class missile boats. For his leadership Schachal was awarded the Israel Defense Prize. The Israeli Navy went on to win the sea battles with the Egyptian and Syrian navies with zero casualties and losses. The Israeli Navy became a pioneer in modern sea missile warfare, resulting in their successes in the Yom Kippur war in 1973.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i military operation which took place on 24 December 1969, and involved the escape of five class 3 missile boat
Missile boat
A Missile Boat is a small craft armed with anti-ship missiles. Being a small craft, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming an inexpensive navy...
s from the French port of Cherbourg. The boats had been paid for by the Israeli government but had not been delivered due to the French arms embargo
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
in 1969. The whole operation was planned by the Israeli Navy, and was codenamed "Noa-Operation", after the daughter of Captain Binyamin (Bini) Telem
Benjamin Telem
Benjamin Telem was the ninth Commander of the Israeli Navy .-Early life and education:Born Benjamin Blumenthal in Dessau, Germany in 1928, Telem immigrated to Haifa, Israel as a child in 1933. He attended the Haifa Naval School, joining the Palyam shortly after graduation...
.
Background
The Israeli naval command had come to the conclusion by the early 1960s that their old Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s, frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s and corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
s were obsolete and new ships and vessels were needed. A survey was made and the German shipyard of Lürssen
Lürssen
Lürssen is a German shipbuilding company based in Bremen-Vegesack.Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels...
was recommended. The shipyard was asked to design a new generation of small missile boat platforms and to modify the suggested wooden Jaguar-class
Jaguar class fast attack craft
The Type 140 Jaguar class fast attack craft is an evolution of the German torpedo boats of World War II. The design was developed by Lürssen and designated Schnellboot 55. The 20 boats that were built for the German Navy were in Service from 1959 to 1976...
torpedo boats according to Israeli Navy requirements. However, due to Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
pressure on the German government, this plan was not continued and a new builder was sought. The Israeli navy survey suggested that the Cherbourg-based Félix Amiot
Félix Amiot
Félix Amiot was a French aircraft constructor.Amiot's first aircraft was built in a Paris garage in 1913, but it was not until 1916, during the First World War, that he became seriously involved in construction. The Minister of Defence granted a contract to SECM , owned by the Wertheimer brothers,...
would build the boats, based upon the German planning and design. The boats and engines were German-designed, and constructed by the French. The project received the codename "Fall" (Autumn).
Navy crews were sent to France in early 1965. The technical team was headed by Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Haim Schachal. The administrative and operational side was headed by captain Binyamin (Bini) Telem, who later became a Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
and the navy's commander in chief during the Yom Kippur war
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
.
This was during the "golden age" of relations between Israel and France. After the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
relations began to worsen. The French president Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
limited the export of weapons to Israel. In 1968 Israeli paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
s commanded by Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Raphael Eitan (who later on became IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
chief of staff), carried out a raid
1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon
The 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon, code-named Operation Gift , was an Israel Defense Forces Special Forces operation against Beirut International Airport on the night of December 27 - 28, 1968...
on Beirut airport during operations against the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
. As a result the French president Charles De Gaulle ordered a weapons embargo for any contract with Israel, even those that were ordered and paid by a contract.
With his moratorium
Moratorium (law)
A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out....
declaration Charles de Gaulle cancelled the export license to Israel. However, he was afraid to cancel the working licenses of the shipyards due to riots sparked by recession and unemployment that had started in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The French president did not want to escalate the situation by adding additional unemployment and feared public opinion
Public opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
and the spread of the riots throughout France.
The resignation of Charles de Gaulle and the election of Georges Pompidou
Georges Pompidou
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974.-Biography:...
to be the president of France inspired hope amongst the Israelis. The Israeli government assumed that Pompidou's close relation with the Rothschild
Rothschild
Rothschild is a common German surname. It is a habitational name from a house distinguished with a red shield , the earliest recorded example dating from the 13th century...
family would cancel the embargo. They found out this was not to happen.
While the French government ordered a weapons embargo for Israel, they continued construction of the boats according to the original plan, and while the Israeli naval mission was in Cherbourg, controlling the project. Israeli crews were on board the completed boats and the whole project was fully paid for by Israel.
The build-up of the Egyptian Navy with Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
assistance during the early days of the war of attrition
War of Attrition
The international community and both countries attempted to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict. The Jarring Mission of the United Nations was supposed to ensure that the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 242 would be observed, but by late 1970 it was clear that this mission had been...
and into the mid-sixties, and their procurement of new missile boats such as the Osa
Osa class missile boat
The Project 205 Tsunami, more commonly known by their NATO reporting name Osa, are a class of missile boats developed for the Soviet Navy in the early 1960s. The Osas are probably the most numerous class of missile boats ever built, with over 400 vessels constructed for both the Soviet Navy and for...
and Komar-classes
Komar class missile boat
The Soviet Project 183R class, more commonly known by its NATO reporting name Komar, is a class of missile boats, the first of its kind, built in the 1950s and 1960s. They also hold the distinction of being the first ships to sink another ship with anti-ship missiles.- Design :The Project 183 MTB...
, had changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean theatre in favour of Arab navies and away from the Israeli Navy. There was by now an urgent need for a new generation of vessels for the Israeli Navy. Israel had been developing seaborne missiles, but the new vessels they would be launched from were being built at Cherbourg. Their delivery to the Navy was considered a high priority.
The loss of the destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
INS Eilat
HMS Zealous (R39)
HMS Zealous was a Z-class destroyer of the Royal Navy built in 1944 by Cammell Laird. She served during the Second World War, participating in operations in the North Sea and off the Norwegian coast, before taking part in some of the Arctic convoys...
in an attack by Komar-class missile boats in October 1967 and the accidental loss of the submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
INS Dakar
INS Dakar
INS Dakar was the former modified British T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. In 1965, she was purchased by Israel as part of a group of three T-class submarines. She was commissioned into the Israeli Sea Corps in November 1967 and underwent sea and diving trials in Scotland. Dakar departed for...
in 1968, as well as the general ageing of the Israeli fleet, brought naval planners to the conclusion that the boats had to be taken from France by deception.
Preparations
The plan to take the boats was formulated by retired Rear AdmiralRear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Mordechai 'Mokka' Limon
Mordechai Limon
Mordechai Limon was the fourth commander of the Israeli navy, serving from December 14, 1950 until July 1, 1954.Limon was born in Baranovichi and made aliyah to Palestine in 1932...
, formerly the Israeli Navy's commander in chief, who was the head of the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
mission in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Limon's affiliation with the Rothschild family provided him with important connections in France with the French government, and more widely in Europe as well.
During that period, several events worked in favor of the Israelis. In 1967, the seventh boat of the 12 boats ordered, INS Mivtach (Reliance), was completed and launched. A telecom
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
from Israeli Navy command informed the Israelis in Cherbourg that the embargo was expected to escalate, and the boat would have to sail immediately to Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
during sea trials, ignoring the French protocols for leaving port. This angered the French, and they ordered the Israeli Navy and the other boats to leave the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
harbor, and dock instead at the commercial port, which was unguarded.
The boats were transferred to a front company called Starboat, registered in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. This company was a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
company for oil drills. The front company was Limon's idea, aided by his connections with Milla Brenner, a retired naval officer with a rank of commander and the owner of the Israel-based "Maritime Fruit Carriers", a company which operated cargo ships transporting fruit. Milla Brenner knew the Norwegian businessman Martin Siem
Martin Siem
Ole Martin Siem was a Norwegian businessperson and World War II resistance member.He was born in Horten as a son of naval commander Ole Siem and Marie Augusta Ursin Holm . The family moved to Tromsø, where Siem finished secondary education in 1933...
, who was able to provide assistance. The front company people were Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
members led by Benyamin Vered, one of the highest ranking commanders of Mossad.
The front company feigned interest in the boats as potential survey ships for searching for oil, and declared that the boats' specifications met their needs. To add to the deception Limon pretended to have "tough negotiations " with Starboat. The terms agreed were that the boats would be transferred to Starboat and would be crewed by members of the Israeli Navy due to their experience with the boats. The boats were sold and transferred legally by the government of Israel to the front company with the approval of Michel Debré
Michel Debré
Michel Jean-Pierre Debré was a French Gaullist politician. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France, and was the first Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic...
, the French minister of defence
Minister of Defence (France)
The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs is the French government cabinet member charged with running the military of France....
. This was the first part of the deception.
The next stage of the operation was to build a day-to-day routine with the aim of ultimately misleading the French at Cherbourg. The Israelis maintained a routine of short voyages, heading north into the Atlantic. Prior to the operation the Israeli crews were reinforced. Small groups of officers, ratings
Naval rating
A Naval Rating is an enlisted member of a country's Navy, subordinate to Warrant Officers and Officers hence not conferred by commission or warrant...
and sailors
Sailors
Sailors is the plural form of Sailor, or mariner.Sailors may also refer to:*Sailors , a 1964 Swedish film*Ken Sailors , American basketball playerSports teams*Erie Sailors, baseball teams in Pennsylvania, USA...
began to arrive at different destinations in France as tourists. The crews started to buy fresh and dry supplies from local grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
s in small quantities each time in order to prevent the exposure of their plot. They made their purchases in small groups to avoid attention, since Cherbourg was a small town and the men were known there.
Prior the escape the boats had to be fuelled with large amount of fuel. Loading this fuel in one go would have alerted observers to the fact that a long voyage was planned. Commander Rinat, the head of operations, instead ordered the boats to the gradually fuelled using a small 5 ton tank truck
Tank truck
A tank truck or road tanker is a motor vehicle designed to carry liquefied loads, dry bulk cargo or gases on roads. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tank cars which are also designed to carry liquefied loads...
. By 24 December the boats had been fully fuelled and stored.
Since sudden engine noise during the night of the escape would alert the French, the operation's commander, Captain Hadar Kimhi, ordered the boats' engines to be regularly started at nights, causing the inhabitants of Cherbourg to become accustomed to the noise. The local police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
visited the boats in response to inhabitants' complaints, and received the explanations that the electrical supply from the shore was not enough to warm the ship during the cold days of December. The boats received an authorization from the electrical company and police to operate their engines at night. The noise was loud since 20 Maybach
Maybach
Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH is a German luxury car manufacturer. It was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son. The company was originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1912.Today, the ultra-luxury car brand is owned by...
main engines were running.
Meanwhile the ZIM
Zim Integrated Shipping Services
Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. , formerly ZIM Israel Navigation Company Ltd. and Zim American Israeli Shipping Inc., is the biggest cargo shipping company in Israel, and 10th largest in the world...
navigation company Europe Lines were approached to help in providing fuel, once the boats had left Cherbourg. Assistance was provided by Edmond Wilhelm Brillant
Edmond Wilhelm Brillant
Edmond Wilhelm Brillant the Levi was a naval architect, Hagana member, among the founding fathers of the Israeli navy and was in the ZIM Navigation company the Israeli Merchant Marine. He dedicated his best years for the Navy buildup...
, a retired navy officer and a naval architect. He designated MV
Motor ship
A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The name of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V.- See also :...
Lea to provide fuel at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and MV Natanya as a backup in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
(both general cargo ships that were available at that time ). The main difficulty at this stage of the plan was the conversion of MV Lea into a fuelling ship. This was solved by conversion of the ballast tank
Ballast tank
A ballast tank is a compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water.-History:The basic concept behind the ballast tank can be seen in many forms of aquatic life, such as the blowfish or argonaut octopus, and the concept has been invented and reinvented many times by...
in the ship's bow into a fuel tank. The pump system was converted to operate as both a fire fighting and fuelling pump. Special hoses with high buoyancy were used and a fuelling drill was developed prior sailing to the rendezvous point near Gibraltar. According to international maritime regulations, MV Lea could not sail since safety regulations ban ships from carrying fuel in the bow since fuel vapour might cause an explosion. This issue was solved by Brillant with the aid of Kirstine shipyards and a Lloyd's Register
Lloyd's Register
The Lloyd's Register Group is a maritime classification society and independent risk management organisation providing risk assessment and mitigation services and management systems certification. Historically, as Lloyd's Register of Shipping, it was a specifically maritime organisation...
surveyor
Marine surveyor
A Marine Surveyor is a person who conducts inspections, surveys or examinations of marine vessels to assess, monitor and report on their condition and the products on them. Marine Surveyors also inspect equipment intended for new or existing vessels to ensure compliance with various standards or...
. The overall conversion and drill took 12 hours. Other Zim divisions provided the Dan, a Ro-Ro ship sister of MV Nili which would provide fuel near Lampedusa
Lampedusa
Lampedusa is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The comune of Lampedusa e Linosa is part of the Sicilian province of Agrigento which also includes the smaller islands of Linosa and Lampione. It is the southernmost part of Italy. Tunisia, which is about ...
. Captain of MV Dan was Yosef Dror, a retired Navy officer (Commander) and a Navy Seal. In this case, tanker trailers were loaded in the ship's garage. These Zim ships sailed with additional crew made up of members of the Israeli Navy.
The escape
There was a force 9 stormBeaufort scale
The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.-History:...
on the night of the escape, but a report on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
indicated that the storm would die down. Faced with the decision of cancelling the mission or proceeding, Captain Hadar Kimhi gave the order to sail at 2AM.
The French were initially unaware that the Israeli boats had left port, and their absence was first noticed by a reporter who came to the port and saw that all the boats were missing. He immediately reported it to the BBC almost 12 hours after the escape and the French learned of it from BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
.
The French were outraged and the French minister of defence Michel Debré ordered the French chief of staff to order an air strike and sink the boats. The French chief of staff refused to obey and replied he would resign rather than obey the order. The French prime minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Jacques Chaban-Delmas was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. In addition, for almost half a century, he was Mayor of Bordeaux and a deputy for the Gironde département....
cancelled the order and prevented any further escalation. Although the French government were furious, they realized that there was little they could do, since the boats were already on the high seas when the ruse was uncovered. French Foreign Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
Maurice Schumann
Maurice Schumann
Maurice Schumann was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the Second World War who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Georges Pompidou in the 1960s and 1970s...
warned that if the boats appeared in Israel, "the consequences will be very grave indeed".
During fuelling by MV Lea at Gibraltar, one of the Israeli navy crew members mistakenly allowed water into the fuel tanks of INS Hetz (Arrow). It was not initially known whether the water was seawater, if it was it could not be drained and might damage the engines. Commander Rinat asked the crew to taste the fuel and to indicate if it was salty or not. Having determined that it was not seawater the tanks were drained.
The Israeli boats sailed a total of 3,145 nautical miles, beginning in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, and arriving at the Kishon
Kishon River
The Kishon River is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the city of Haifa.- Course :The Kishon River is a 70-km-long perennial stream in Israel...
Shipyard port in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
bay on 31 December.
When the boats approached the Israeli coast, they were given an escort of Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
aircraft. The boats were met with public jubilation when they arrived in Israel.
The Navy's commander in chief during the operation was Rear-Admiral Avraham Botzer
Avraham Botzer
Avraham Botzer was the Commander of the Israeli Navy between 1968 and 1972.- Pre-establishment of the State of Israel :Avraham Botzer was born in Poland and he made aliyah to the Land of Israel in 1936 at the age of 7...
(Cheetah). The commanding officer of the operation was Captain Hadar Kimhi(later on Commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
commander of Haifa Navy-Base and Naval Attache in UK during the 1973 Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
), with Commander Ezra Kedm Krishinski, nicknamed Karish (Shark) as his deputy (later on Commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
and commander of the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
theatre ).
The boats were:
- INS Suffa (Storm), skipper Lt.LieutenantA lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Ronna Arie - INS Ga'ash (Volcano), skipper Lt. Gil Koren
- INS Herev (Sword), skipper Lt. Commander Gaddi Ben Zeev
- INS Hanit (Spear), skipper Lt. Commander Haim Shaked
- INS Hetz (Arrow), skipper Commander Moshe Tabak
Two young officers in the operation, Alex - Tal and Michael – Ram, went on to become commanders in chief of the navy.
The boats' names while being operated by the oil drilling company were Starboat 1,2,3,4,5. The boats joined the already acquired INS Sa'ar to form the Sa'ar 3-class missile boats.
International repercussions
The French government ordered the deportation of Mordechai Mokka Limon from France and declared him “persona non grataPersona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
“. It was said that the French president stated “I do not like tea with Lemon and Mokka coffee”. Generals Louis Bonte and Bernard Gazelles were suspended by the government. The Cherbourg affair, together with Mossad's theft of the plans for the Mirage 3, which were used as a baseline for the design of IAI Kfir
IAI Kfir
The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir is an Israeli-built all-weather, multirole combat aircraft based on a modified Dassault Mirage 5 airframe, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-made version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine.-Background:...
by Israel Aerospace Industries, ended a period of French-Israeli cooperation. Instead Israel turned to American supplies of weapons and support. The Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
began to be equipped by US aircraft, while the US Navy started to train the Israeli Navy's high command and increased the level of naval cooperation.
Missile Boat Flotilla
The boats taken from Cherbourg were still unarmed platforms on their arrival in Israel. They were brought into the navy and armed with Gabriel missileGabriel missile
Gabriel missiles, created by Israel Aircraft Industries, are a range of anti-ship missiles that use the technique of sea-skimming.- Origin :...
s and ECM
Electronic countermeasures
An electronic countermeasure is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar or other detection systems, like infrared or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy...
and EW
Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...
systems produced by MABAT and RFAEL. Their commissioning into the Israeli Navy was commanded by Commodore Yehoshua Lahave Schneidemesser, a Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
member who had volunteered with the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
during the Second World War, and who was at the time the head of Navy – Equipment and Platforms.
The flotilla's working up was overseen by Captain Hadar Kimhi, who was later promoted to Commodore commanding the Naval base of Haifa. New concepts of sea missile warfare was developed by the navy and new ECM/EW techniques were developed with the leadership of Captain Herut Zemach who was awarded the Israel Defense Prize
Israel Defense Prize
The Israel Defense Prize, in honor of Eliyahu Golomb, is a prize awarded annually to people and organizations who made significant contributions to the defense of the State of Israel....
for his efforts, sparking a new generation of missile boats. New Israeli Sa'ar boats were developed in Haifa Shipyards under the leadership of Haim Schachal, the chief engineer of the Israel Shipyards
Israel Shipyards
Israel Shipyards is one of the largest shipbuilding and repair facilities in the eastern Mediterranean. The company also operates the first and only privately owned port in Israel....
. Two of the boats were launched a few months before the Yom Kippur War, INS Reshef (Flame, Spark) and INS Keshet (Bow), Sa'ar 4 class missile boats. For his leadership Schachal was awarded the Israel Defense Prize. The Israeli Navy went on to win the sea battles with the Egyptian and Syrian navies with zero casualties and losses. The Israeli Navy became a pioneer in modern sea missile warfare, resulting in their successes in the Yom Kippur war in 1973.