Shayetet 11

The Landing flotilla officially known as the Shayetet 11 is the Amphibious warfare fleet of the Israeli Navy. It is tasked with amphibious landings and logistics. The unit established during the 1948 Palestine war was abolished in 1993 and was re-established in 2022.

Roles

The function of the unit is amphibious landings and naval encirclement. In preparation for the 1948 Palestine war, its role was defined as the creation of coastal bridgeheads and transport of supplies to isolated settlements. From then till 1993, the flotilla took part in many wars and many operations when it was abolished. It was re-established in 2022 and became operational in 2024 amidst the backdrop of Gaza war.

Fleet

The table below includes the vessels that were used by the flotilla.

History

Establishment

Before the 1948 Palestine war the Palmach submitted a proposal to David Ben-Gurion in which the duties of the Israeli Navy were defined including amphibious assaults, reinforcement of operations, protection of coastal settlements, transportation of landing troops and vehicles, supply of fuel and equipment were included for which a specialised landing unit "Shayetet 11" was established.

1948 Palestine war

Supply missions

During the war, Nahariya was cut off from the rest of Israeli territory so the supply of troops and equipment to the isolated area was carried out by sea. On May 12–13, 1948, the 22nd Battalion of the Carmeli Brigade was transferred from the Port of Haifa to Nahariya. In addition, about 15 tons of supplies were transferred for the Hanita and Mitzva settlements, 3 tons of explosives and ammunition, 1000 gallons of gasoline and medical supplies. On May 14/15, 300 women and children, who were evacuated from the Western Galilee were evacuated to Haifa by the Flotilla.

Operation Ben Ami

Operation Ben-Ami began on the night of May 14, 1948 with the occupation of Tel Acre. This occupation allowed the passage of the convoy that left the Ein al-Faretz to the north. The naval force of the Flotilla (transporting 22nd battalion of Carmeli Brigade) landed at 02:30 on the beach of Shebi Zion and began to attack the village of Samaria from the north. In the morning the force arrived at Nahariya. From there the force continued to the village of Aziv which was captured.

Operation Kathreil

This operation was a planned naval landing on the coast of Lebanon. The operation was set to take place on June 9, 1948. On June 10, the troops boarded INS Hana Sanesh and set sail. When they were close to the target location in Lebanon, a cancellation order was received due to a truce about to take effect.

Operation Death to the Invader

During the Operation Death to the Invader Israel Defense Forces attacked Beit 'Affa by a company of the Flotilla and 54th battalion of the Givati Brigade. The naval unit advanced through a wadi from the north, hoping to surprise the Egyptians, but were in fact spotted while preparing to set up. At midnight, they emerged and attacked in two prongs, and despite heavy fire, managed to capture a frontal position and pushed ahead to the center of the village, setting up there and exchanging fire with the Egyptians.

Operation Horev

During Operation Horev a battalion of the Golani Brigade and personnel from Shayetet 11 launched a diversionary attack on positions near the Gaza-Rafah road, however the vessels of Shayetet 11 were not used and instead rubber boats were used due to convert nature of the operation.

Operation Olive Leaves

During Operation Olive Leaves, Aharon Davidi's 771 Reserve Paratrooper Battalion as well as units from the Nahal Brigade and Givati Brigade commenced their attack. The complex operation involved a two-column attack from the north and south, which included both infantry and armored vehicles, as well as an amphibious assault conducted by troops of the Flotilla who crossed the sea by boat.Almog, Orna: ''Britain, Israel and the United States, 1955-1958: Beyond Suez''P. R. Kumaraswamy, ''The A to Z of the Arab-Israeli conflict'', Scarcrow Press, Inc. (2006) p. 146Tyler, Patrick: ''Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country--and Why They Can't Make Peace''

Suez Crisis

Operation Kadesh

During Operation Kadesh, three amphibious vehicles were sent from Eilat to Sharm-e-Sheikh with AMX-13 tanks on them . Additional landings took place on the Gaza and Sinai coasts for logistical purposes including the seizure of an Egyptian MiG-15 that landed in Lake Bardawil.

Battle of the Chinese Farm

During the Battle of the Chinese Farm Matt's brigade began moving to Tasa at 4:30 pm on October 15, before turning eastwards on Akavish. The paratrooper brigade faced problems in acquiring the boats and transports assigned to it. But they ultimately had to use the flotilla boats.

Construction of new vessels

Before the Six Day War, the Flotilla acquired new vessels from the budget allocated by the Finance ministry, following vessels were acquired

* INS Etzion Gebr (P-51) on March 2, 1962. First Commander Captain Yitzhak (Ike) Aharonovich .
* INS Caesarea (P-53) on October 15, 1964. First commander Yaakov Nitzan.
* INS Shikmona (P-55) on May 13, 1965.
* INS Ashdod (P-61) on March 23, 1967, its first commander was Major Yosef Harari, who was the commander of naval voyages.
* INS Ashkelon (F-63) on May 19, 1967, its first commander was Ya'akov Nitzan .
* INS Akziv (P-65) on August 1, 1967, its first commander was Major Shmuel Shabach.

Prelude to Six Day War

Before the Six Day War the AMX-13 tanks were placed on the south coast and moved to the north of the gulf. The Flotilla vessels were also brought ashore and hidden in a wadi behind the base.

Six Day war

During the Six Day War, the Flotilla in the Gulf of Eilat accompanied the Paratroopers Brigade on its way south, provided cover and even landed tanks in the Gulf of Sharm el-Sheikh.

War of Attrition

Operation Raviv

During Operation Raviv "Pinko" Harel's small force of about a hundred men, six Tiran 5s and three BTR-50s, landed on the Egyptian coast at 03:37AM on the morning of September 9. Delivered by three vessels of the Flotilla to a beachhead secured by Shayetet 13, Harel's force landed at El Hafair, south of Suez and south of the anchorage at Ras Sadat. Laden with extra fuel and ammunition supplied by the Flotilla, the force headed south, wreaking havoc behind Egyptian lines and attacking installations along the way. The first of these was the Egyptian Army camp and radar site at Abu Darag, which by 07:17 had been secured.

Eilat raid

In 1970, Egyptian naval commando carried out a sabotage operation at Eilat Naval Base and damaged a vessel of the Flotilla INS Bat Sheva lander sank the INS Bat Galim.

Yom Kippur War

Operation Lady

The Flotilla participated in the Operation Lady. On October 16, 1973, a group of Flotilla vessels led the Shayetet 13 to attack Port Said. The operation was carried out successfully and multiple Egyptian vessels were damaged or destroyed.

Operation Green light

The Flotilla participated in the Operation Green Light which was to carry out an amphibious landing on Egyptian Red Sea coast but the operation was aborted mid way.

Operation Abirey-Halev

During the Operation Abirey-Halev, On the night of 15 October, 750 personnel of Colonel Matt's 55th Paratroopers Brigade crossed the canal in rubber dinghies. They were soon joined by tanks and additional infantry transported via the vessels of the Flotilla. The force encountered no resistance initially and fanned out in raiding parties, attacking supply convoys, SAM sites, logistic centers and anything else of military value, with priority given to the SAMs. Attacks on SAM sites punched a hole in the Egyptian anti-aircraft screen and enabled the IAF to strike Egyptian ground targets more aggressively.

Operation Birds of Eden

Three vessels of the Flotilla were transferred from Ashdod Naval Base to Eilat Naval Base by circumnavigating around Africa, It was codenamed "Operation Birds of Eden". The first vessel left on August 20, 1974, and the last arrived on October 30, 1974.

Prelude to the first Lebanon War

The flotilla vessels participated in the Lebanese Civil War to supply weapons and ammunition to the Christian phalanges forces in Lebanon usually by landing to the port of Jounieh.

Operation Litani

The flotilla took part in 1978 South Lebanon conflict against militants on the northern shores of Lebanon, without landing troops. The vessels were used as carrier platform for helicopters that attacked targets on the Lebanese coast.

1982 Lebanon War

The flotilla participated in the 1982 Lebanon War. On June 6, 1982, Israeli forces under direction of Defense Minister Ariel Sharon launched a three-pronged invasion of southern Lebanon in "Operation Peace for Galilee". Roughly 60,000 troops and more than 800 tanks, heavily supported by aircraft, attack helicopters, artillery, and missile boats, crossed the Israel–Lebanon border in three areas. Simultaneously, Israeli armor, paratroopers, and naval commandos set sail in amphibious landing ships from Ashdod Naval Base towards the Lebanese coast north of Sidon. Israel's publicly stated objective was to push PLO forces back to the north. An Israeli amphibious operation was conducted north of Sidon, beginning with a diversionary bombardment of targets away from the landing zone by missile boats and aircraft. Two groups of commandos from the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit then came ashore to probe enemy defenses and secure the landing site, one of which swam to the mouth of the Awali River and another which came ashore on the landing beach in rubber dinghies. After a brief gunbattle with armed Palestinians, the main landings began, with paratroopers coming ashore in rubber dinghies to establish a beachhead followed by three landing craft that unloaded troops and armor. Over the following days, the three landing ships moved between Israel and Lebanon, shuttling more troops and armor onto the beachhead.

Specialised units

Givati Brigade and a battalion from Golani Brigade were specially trained to act along with flotilla in wartime situations. They were given necessary training to transfer armoured vehicles as well as to assist in transport of tanks.

Dismantling of flotilla

In August 1993 all of flotilla vessels were taken out of service as they were deemed vulnerable and State-of-the-art fast landing craft were not defined as an operational necessity. So, some were sold to Eritrea while rest were sunk in naval exercises.

Re-establishment

In May 2022 it was announced that the Navy decided to re-establish the amphibious fleet, following this the IDF held an amphibious landing exercise in Cyprus and purchased two LSV vessels which will be used by the Israeli Navy to conduct amphibious landings as well as to transport supplies.

The flotilla is operated from Ashdod Naval Base. The first amphibious vehicle, INS Nachshon, was delivered to the Navy in August 2023. The second landing vessel, INS Kommiat, arrived in Israel in June 2024. The squadron became fully operational in 2024 and participated in Gaza war.

Commanders

It is usually commanded by a single commander but from 1967 to 1978, the command was distributed between two sectors, one housed at Ashdod Naval Base while second at Eilat Naval Base. The dual command was abolished in 1978.

References

Sources

נחתות
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620173456/http://www.amutayam.org.il/?CategoryID=597 , date=2020-06-20 On the website of the Navy Association (Israel)
* 22nd Battalion Veterans Association

on the website of the battalion
* Pinchas Pick
הנחתות בין עזה לאל עריש
"Marine Systems", LA, December 1956, p. 56
* Benjamin Schif
הנחתות ירדו לשארם א שייך
'Naval Systems' 37–38, The Decade File for the Navy, July 1958, p. 142
* M. Ron
נחתות במערכה
"Marine Systems" Booklet No. 85-86, July 1967, pp. 49–50
* Uri Porat
נחתתי באל עריש
"Marine Systems" Booklet No. 85-86, July 1967 pp. 51–52
* Yehuda Ben-Zur
פינוי תחמושת שלל מאל - עריש
'Marine Systems' 62, December 1962, p. 8
* Yehuda Ben-Zur
שייטת הנחיתה במבצע קדש
"Marine Systems" 94, June 1969, pp. 25–22

אלבום תמונות נחתות
2012
* Dear Jonah
נחתת הטנקים שלנו
'Marine Systems' 62, December 1962, p. 28
* Shahar Landau
הימאים האמיתיים - מפקד נט"ק
"Between Waves" February 1979, p. 5.
* Merv Buschfen
הגדול של הנט"קים - הנחיתה באוואלי
'Between Waves' Special Issue 1, June 8, 1982, p. 3
* Shlomo Man
כהה - גבעתי בנחיתה
between waves" 169 December 1986, p. 9.
* Yehuda Ben-Zur
פלגת נמ"כים במפרץ אילת מערכת סיני 1956
On the Navy Association (Israel) website, May 2006
תרגיל נחיתה במפרץ אילת, אוגוסט 1973
Shaul Nagar, website Yad Leshryon, August 22, 2010
* Gideon Raz
''האיגוף הימי בקרב היבשה''
Israeli Institute for National Security Studies Army and Strategy, Volume 3, Issue 1, May 2011
* חיל הים לחטיבה 9', Heads of Chapters for Information to the Commander in the Navy, Chief of Staff Chief Officer Hanoch, Headquarters of the Navy Education, 1966, pp. 22–23.
* Yehuda ben-Zur, כלי הנחיתה במבצע קדש לתמיכה בחטיבה 9, 'Naval Systems' 94, June 1969, p. 23.
* Zvi Singer, "'הנחיתות שהקיפו את אפריקה'", issue 41, June 16, 1976
* Eliezer Tal, "פעולות חיל הים במלחמה הקומוניסטית", Systems Publishing 1964. Second and expanded edition, published by the Navy Association 2002, pp. 60 62.
* David Maguri Cohen, on the operation of the amphibious landings in Eilat during the Six Day War. In his book "צעד אחד קדימה!", published by Efi Meltzer, pp. 77 – 80.
* Raphael Eitan and Dov Goldstein, ''רפול'', ''סיפורו של חייל'', Maariv Publishing. 1985, pp. 205 –302.
* Yorem Yair, ''אני מלבנון'', ''חטיבת הצנחנים במלחמת 1933'', Systems Publishing, 1992, pp. 21–32.
* Dov Rosenthal, ''Navy Vessel Album'', Navy Headquarters Publishing House, 1992.
* Mike Elder, ''צי 13'' ''סיפורו של הקומנדו הימי'' Maariv 1993 pp. 607–625.
* Mike Elder, ''Sheitat 11 - The Battle of the Shalesh'', Maariv Library, 1996

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