Yellow Fleet
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From 1967 to 1975, 15 ships and their crews were trapped in the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
after the
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 Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
between
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. The stranded ships, which belonged to eight countries (
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
,
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, and
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
), were nicknamed the Yellow Fleet after the desert sand that coated them. During the war, Egypt blocked both ends of the canal to prevent its use by Israel. Scuttled ships,
sea mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...
s, and other debris continued to block transport through the canal until the wake of the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...
, after which the blockade was lifted. In 1975, the Canal was reopened, enabling the ships to leave after eight years of being stranded. At that time, only two ships were capable of moving under their own power.


History


Closing of the canal

In June 1967, the 15 ships were sailing northward through the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
as a war broke out between Israel and Egypt in what was to become known as the
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 Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
. Both ends of the canal were closed, and after three days it became apparent that the canal would remain blocked for some time as a result of the scuttling of ships to block passage. Fourteen ships were forced to anchor in the widest part of the Suez Canal, the Great Bitter Lake. Some of the scuttled ships cut off the SS ''Observer'' from the other ships and it had to anchor in
Lake Timsah Lake Timsah, also known as Crocodile Lake (); is a lake in Egypt on the Nile delta. It lies in a basin developed along a Fault (geology), fault extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Suez through the Bitter Lakes region. In 1800, a f ...
. Ships, dredgers, other floating craft and even a bridge were sunk to block the canal. In addition to the vessels that were sunk, there were a number of sea mines that prevented navigation. With the war having left the Israelis in possession of the entire east bank of the canal, the Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
quickly resolved to keep the canal closed to all shipping indefinitely. The only alternative would have been to allow the Israelis to use it, which was anathema to the Egyptian government. Even if the political issues surrounding the canal could have somehow been resolved, its maintenance would have been economically nonviable since very few (if any) shippers would have been willing to send their vessels and crews through what was effectively a no man's land in an active combat zone. Throughout the eight years, the Israeli and Egyptian armies faced off against each other on either side of the Suez Canal. Sometimes raiding parties from both sides would slip across the canal to gather intelligence. One of the big concerns was that the canal would become silted up without regular dredging. It turned out to be a non-issue: 90 percent of the canal's silt had been a result of currents caused by the turning of ships' propellers, which was virtually non-existent during this period.


Eight years of war

In October 1967, the officers and crews of all fourteen ships met on the ''Melampus'' to found the "Great Bitter Lake Association" which provided mutual support. Crew members continued to regularly meet on board their ships, organized social events, founded a yachting club and held the "Bitter Lake Olympic Games" to complement the
1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...
in Mexico City. Life boat races were arranged and soccer games were played on the largest ship, the MS ''Port Invercargill'', while church services were held on the West German motorship ''Nordwind'' and movies were shown on the Bulgarian freighter '' Vasil Levsky''. The Swedish ''Killara'' had a pool. In time, it was possible to reduce the number of crew members on board the ships, and in 1969 the ships were gathered into several groups to further reduce the number of crew necessary for their upkeep. Those crew that were left to maintain the vessels were rotated every three months. In 1972, the last crew members of the German ships were finally sent home, with the maintenance of the ships left to a Norwegian company. A postal system evolved, the hand-crafted
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
s of which became collectors' items around the world. The Egyptian postal authority recognized the stamps, allowing their use worldwide.


Re-opening of the canal

In early 1975, the Suez Canal was once again opened for international transport, and on 24 May 1975, the German ships ''Münsterland'' and ''Nordwind'' finally reached
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
port, cheered by more than 30,000 spectators. They were reportedly the only ships to have returned to their home port under their own power. For the ''Münsterland'', this was the end of a voyage to Australia which had lasted eight years, three months, and five days.


Legacy

In the 2010s, there was renewed interest in this incident. Two books have been published that chronicle the eight-year sojourn of the ships in the Great Bitter Lake, (in German) by Hans Jürgen Witthöft (2015), and ''Stranded in the Six-Day War'' (in English) by Cath Senker (2017).


Stranded ships

;Table notes


See also

* Closure of the Suez Canal (1967-1975) * 1974 Suez Canal Clearance Operation *
2021 Suez Canal obstruction The Suez Canal was blocked for six days from 23 to 29 March 2021 by the , a container ship that had run aground in the canal. The , 224,000-ton, vessel was buffeted by strong winds on the morning of 23 March, and ended up wedged across the w ...


Citations


References

* * - Total pages: 208 * * * * * *
Seemotive – Post vom Großen Bittersee (German)


External links

* {{cite web , url=http://www.bluefunnel.myzen.co.uk/bluefunnel/melampus/melampus.htm , title=Melampus in Suez , author=Ian Russel , work=The Blue Funnel Line 1866–1986 , access-date=6 September 2010 , archive-date=13 November 2010 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113060437/http://www.bluefunnel.myzen.co.uk/bluefunnel/melampus/melampus.htm , url-status=dead International maritime incidents Maritime incidents in 1967 Suez Canal Six-Day War