Ile de la Rose – Amiram Shochat
"Amiram Schochat" sailed from Bacoli Port near Napoli in Italy on August 6th 1946, with 183 immigrants on board.
The "Amiram Shochat" Haapala ship (named after one of The 23 Yordey Hasira and one of the senior Jewish seamen and leaders of the Haapala ships) was prepared to depart for Israel in La Rochelle and Marseille ports in France.
The ship commander was Palyam member David (David'le) Ben-Horin. The 'Gidoni' was Yosef Yisraeli. Additional escorts were Palyam members Yonatan Kanarti and Yosef Lustig.
"Amiram Schochat" sailed from Bacoli Port near Napoli in Italy on August 6th 1946, with 183 immigrants on board. During the voyage, a Jewish deck boy from Algiers fell into the water and drowned (the ship had previously served as a French cargo ship on the Atlantic Ocean.) Ben-Horin made sure to give the ship the look of an ordinary cargo vessel making its way to the eastern Mediterranean under a French flag. He made sure the immigrants stayed inside the storage rooms most of the time. Despite the great heat in that time of year, it protected them from being spotted prematurely. And indeed, a British aircraft and destroyer passed by "Amiram Schochat" but did not notice any thing suspicious.
'Hamossad for Aliyah Bet' HQ set two possible locations for the ship's landing: Nahariya and Caesarea. The second option was eventually taken. On the morning of August 16th, the ship arrived from the north to Caesarea shore without being spotted. Three kibbutz Sdot-Yam boats carrying Palmach naval cadets helped unload the immigrants for about three hours. Once unloaded, the immigrants were dispersed in pre-arranged nearby settlements. Immediately following the disembarkation, the ship turned back towards France, but ran aground near the Island of Crete.
"Amiram Schochat" was the first ship in eight months that broke the British embargo and disembarked its passengers on an Israel shore Members of 'Hamossad for Aliyah Bet' and the Palmach were greatly encouraged by that success, especially in those days, when the British surveillance reached its peak on "Operation Igloo" (the beginning of immigrant deportation to detention camps in Cyprus).
The ship commander was Palyam member David (David'le) Ben-Horin. The 'Gidoni' was Yosef Yisraeli. Additional escorts were Palyam members Yonatan Kanarti and Yosef Lustig.
"Amiram Schochat" sailed from Bacoli Port near Napoli in Italy on August 6th 1946, with 183 immigrants on board. During the voyage, a Jewish deck boy from Algiers fell into the water and drowned (the ship had previously served as a French cargo ship on the Atlantic Ocean.) Ben-Horin made sure to give the ship the look of an ordinary cargo vessel making its way to the eastern Mediterranean under a French flag. He made sure the immigrants stayed inside the storage rooms most of the time. Despite the great heat in that time of year, it protected them from being spotted prematurely. And indeed, a British aircraft and destroyer passed by "Amiram Schochat" but did not notice any thing suspicious.
'Hamossad for Aliyah Bet' HQ set two possible locations for the ship's landing: Nahariya and Caesarea. The second option was eventually taken. On the morning of August 16th, the ship arrived from the north to Caesarea shore without being spotted. Three kibbutz Sdot-Yam boats carrying Palmach naval cadets helped unload the immigrants for about three hours. Once unloaded, the immigrants were dispersed in pre-arranged nearby settlements. Immediately following the disembarkation, the ship turned back towards France, but ran aground near the Island of Crete.
"Amiram Schochat" was the first ship in eight months that broke the British embargo and disembarked its passengers on an Israel shore Members of 'Hamossad for Aliyah Bet' and the Palmach were greatly encouraged by that success, especially in those days, when the British surveillance reached its peak on "Operation Igloo" (the beginning of immigrant deportation to detention camps in Cyprus).