In addition, the Israeli navy had been studying the lessons of the naval operations of WWII and decided that small and fast vessels that carry a disproportionally large punch are the way forward... To this end they purchased several PT boats... After using these for a while they realized that there were issues with the vessels they purchased... First, the problem that they were gas powered, second due to their small size they were limited in range and duration as well as the sea states they were able to operate in... Israel was also aware of Soviet
missile boat projects like the
Komar and
Osa which were to be equipped with
Styx missiles...
The solution was a new class of naval craft: the
FAC (Fast Attack Craft)... Basically a super sized PT boat with a new invention -
SSM's (Ship to Ship Missiles... The Israeli navy selected a German design, adapted it to their requirements and started building them in Cherbourg, France... Due to Arab pressure the Germans wouldn't build them for Israel and pre 1967 France was Israel's strategic partner... Furthermore, the French builder already had experience building designs from the German company... Interestingly enough, these boats were build like yachts - upside down...
The main weapon, the
Gabriel missile was being developed indigenously... The platform became known under the moniker Sa'ar (which means "tempest" in Hebrew and, incidentally, is the name of my 2nd son - he was
very lively during gestation) otherwise known as the Cherbourg Class... There were 3 versions of the platform:
Later in their operational lives (after the
1973 Yom Kippur War) the various Sa'ar models were also equipped with
US made Harpoons...
The first one had been launched just prior to the
1967 6 Day War but didn't get to participate... During the following
War of Attrition an Israeli destroyer, the
INS Eilat, was sunk by Egyptian Komars... Incidentally, this was the first ever sinking by SSM's... This incident proved to the Israeli navy that they were on the right track (something that was still debated at the time)... Shortly thereafter the Sa'ar class became operational... The 2nd batch arrived in Israel only in 1970...
Why did it take that long?!... After the 6 Day War the French imposed a weapons embargo on Israel... Due to domestic economic pressure the French allowed the completion of the building (they had been pre-paid) but didn't allow actual delivery to the Israeli navy... With typical "
chutzpah" the Israelis "liberated" the vessels in a seemingly simple but highly effective semi covert operation known as
Boats of Cherbourg...
Two followup classes were designed and build indigenously:
- Sa'ar 4 (a.k.a. Nadran Class)
- Sa'ar 4.5 (a.k.a. Noshav Class) which was essentially a stretched Sa'ar 4 design... This class had two subversions:
- Chochit, renamed Aliya Class... Incidentally, I was part of the original first (launching) crew of the INS Aliya... To date, these are the smallest helicopter capable naval craft... Both were sold to the Mexican navy (sans Harpoon missiles)... The "Launching Lady" was Ofira Navon, wife of the President...
- Nirit, renamed to Hetz class...
During the 1973 war Israel's navy operated Sa'ar 1, 2, 3 and 4 vessels... They excelled in executing their duties... Incidentally, this includes the
Battle of Latakia, the first SSM based naval battle and the
Battle of Baltim... Basically Israel ended up achieving naval supremacy (neither Egypt nor Syria attempted to use what little remained of their naval forces) with zero casualties and losses!...
Israel has sold new and used Sa'ar vessels (and Gabriel SSM's) to various naval forces around the world... Among these are Mexico, South Africa, Iran (prior to the Islamic Revolution there), Chile and so forth... A few were sunk as artificial reefs...
Additional follow up classes:
In addition to the various Sa'ar classes Israel operates a variety of smaller patrol boats:
With the recent discovery of large gas fields in Israel's EEZ (including some within relatively easy reach of Hamas or Hizballah) and their attendant installations (exploration, production and liquefaction platforms) the Israeli navy has a lot more to deal with... Israel was the first country to extensively develop and use UAV's... It's therefore no surprise that Israel is currently a world leader in developing and using unmanned naval craft...
More reading:
P.S. My eldest son, Ofek, recently discharged, was 3rd generation Israeli navy... My 2nd son, Sa'ar, is in the artillery...
