Navy Stories

  • The Bombardment of Ras Zaafranah Shore by Mortar mounted on a Landing Ship

    One day during the Yom Kippur War Two Dabur boats under my command: Dabur number 865 commanded by Lieutenant Eli Gabrieli, and Dabur number 851 commanded by Lieutenant Fogel, with Zabo as an attachment. We patrolled off Ras Zaafranah from a base at Abu Zenima, to prevent the crossings of supplies to enemy tanks that…

  • Ashdod. Reserve Duty, Rough Seas, and One Depth Charge.

    Sometime in 1981, I was called up for reserve duty to command a Dabur patrol boat at the Ashdod base. Reserve service at that time was fun for me. I had already finished my studies. A few sails as a break from work and wife, in the company of a younger crowd with all that…

  • The Sea as a Remedy

    I began my reserve duty as a Dabur (patrol boat) commander in the 914th in Haifa port, unit. I was studying at the Technion and living in Haifa—everything fit perfectly. But as I was told, nature tends toward disorder. So, this “everything fit” didn’t sit well with a new base commander who remembered me from…

  • In the Naval Officers Course, I Learned to Know the Sea

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    Until then, in my childhood, I knew the sea through Saturday trips on the back of a truck with benches lined along the sides and two rows of benches in the middle (back-to-back). The passengers’ legs intertwined like a zipper. There were no sectorial problems, and no complaints were heard. The food baskets were under…

  • Continued Operations During the Tense Days Following the Yom Kippur War

    After the war, on Friday afternoon, November 2nd, two boats set out with me leading the pair, to carry out a patrol at the Milan Pass to keep an eye on Egyptian movements at the Yuval Pass and to thwart any mining of the Milan Pass. I positioned my boat at the northern end of…

  • Seizure of an Egyptian Intelligence Boat

    In 1972, during one of the “Montana” patrols, the boat of Lieutenant Roni Bilik (the lead of the pair), number 881, suffered a malfunction and had to stay overnight in At-Tur for repairs. My boat, 873, went out on a “solo” patrol off the coast of A-Tur. Right as we departed, we noticed unusually strong…

  • Landing at Sheikh Zuweid

    PrologueThose were innocent days. Flotilla 3 was still in its infancy. Lt. Col. Hedar Kimchi was holed up in his office, writing the combat doctrine. The ships were undergoing training based on exercises from the PT boats era (old Torpedo boats) and new drills to practice the capabilities of the newer Saar-class missile boats. In…

  • Post-army plans

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    About half a year before my planned discharge from the army, I went out with the commander of MarShal (Marhav Shlomo) on a Dabur boat to the Straits of Tiran so he could see them up close. Luckily for me, the commander of the Red Sea area (Mazar) didn’t come along, which gave me the…

  • Pilot Transfer at Sea. 1973.

    A few days after the end of the Yom Kippur War, two Dabur-class patrol boats patrolled the Milan passage to ensure it wasn’t mined by the Egyptians. The wind was blowing strongly, raising waves that tossed us around violently and gave no rest. In the evening, we were informed that the “Patria” (a tanker) would…