Guardian – Herzl
"Herzl" sailed from Sete port in France on April 2nd 1947, with 2,641 immigrants on board.
The "Herzl" Haapala ship (named after the author of "The Jewish State" and founder of the Zionist Movement) was prepared to depart for Israel in Marseille port, France, by Gideon (Geda) Shochat, Nachum Carmeli and the escort team. The ship had been previously used as for laying underwater telephone cables. The ship commander was Palyam member Mordechai (Mocha) Limon. The 'Gidonim' were Nachman Burshtein and Willy Reiter. The escorts were Palyam members Yehosha Halevy, Arieh Weissman, Bezalel Feldman, and Chaim Weinchelboim (Rimon) and Y. Tsizling.
"Herzl" sailed from Sete port in France on April 2nd 1947, with 2,641 immigrants on board. Despite the fair weather, many malfunctions were discovered on board, early on in the voyage: Dysfunctional ventilation system; engine malfunctions; water supply problems; difficulties in operating the radio; it moved at a slower pace than expected and veered off to one side. The "Herzl" was scheduled to pick up additional immigrants from Italy, but due to the difficult conditions over there, the escorts decided to head directly to Israel. 'Hamossad for Aliyah B' was informed of the ship's diversion from its scheduled route only on April 12th, when the ship made its first communication. Until then, the fate of the ship aroused much concern in Israel. On April 9th, two British reconnaissance aircrafts circled above the "Herzl" near Crete, but did not identify it as a Haapala ship because of the darkness. The following day, a destroyer search-lit the ship, and disappeared. On April 11th, the ship escorts began to prepare the immigrants for the anticipated confrontation. They made sure to load up on about 200 rubber sticks, knuckle dusters and some 50 gas masks before they departed. The forces were divided into areas, and the ship was set up with obstacles and improvised means of defense. Once contact was made with 'Hamossad for Aliyah B' HQ, the ship was requested to absorb the immigrants from "Shahr-Yeshuv." But due to the tough conditions on board the "Herzl," the request was cancelled.
A British destroyer spotted "Herzl" on the evening of April 13th, was it was about to enter the territorial waters opposite the Herzliya shore.
The destroyer tailed the sterns of the "Herzl;" under a shower of bottles and objects thrown by the immigrants, only seven out of the 30 takeover crew made it on board, aided by water hoses and tear gas. The British soldiers ran towards the navigating bridge but were faced with vigorous resistance. Due to its maneuvers and the wave fluctuations, the destroyer failed to transfer additional soldiers onto the "Herzl." The few soldiers that made it on board found themselves isolated and cut off on the navigation bridge. When they ran out of teargas grenades and feared the onslaught of immigrants, the soldiers began firing their personal arms that were intended for self-defense should their lives be in danger. They first fired above the immigrants' heads, but at some point, some of them thought the immigrants were returning fire, and they fired into the crowd. Meanwhile, another destroyer showed up at the scene, and the two-hour immigrants' resistance ceased.
The battle's consequences were tragic: Two immigrants died; Aharon Dov (24, from Czechoslovakia) and Pinchas (Estvan) Weiss (24, from Hungary.) Menachem Samet was critically injured (19, from Slovakia) and died of his wounds a few days later. 23 other immigrants were injured. When the confrontation was over, the British provided medical assistance to the injured, and transferred 16 badly injured immigrants to Haifa on board a destroyer.
The ship was towed to Haifa port on April 15th. On that same day, about 1200 immigrants were transferred onto four British corvettes that took them to detention camp No. 68 in Cyprus. The remaining immigrants were brought there the following day.
Some of the escorts pretended to be ill and managed to disembark with the ailing immigrants who were transferred to Atlit camp. They were rescued from there later on. Three other escorts hid in a 'Slik' between the water tanks on board, and were later rescued by a team of Jewish 'Solel Boneh' cleaners.
The incident on the "Herzl" and the large number of injured immigrants raised much fear and concern among the Yishuv institutions, regarding a change in the British policy against the Haapala. As a lesson learnt from the "Herzl" incident, 'Hamossad for Aliyah B' instructed the escorts to be more cautious during future resistance occurrences.
"Herzl" sailed from Sete port in France on April 2nd 1947, with 2,641 immigrants on board. Despite the fair weather, many malfunctions were discovered on board, early on in the voyage: Dysfunctional ventilation system; engine malfunctions; water supply problems; difficulties in operating the radio; it moved at a slower pace than expected and veered off to one side. The "Herzl" was scheduled to pick up additional immigrants from Italy, but due to the difficult conditions over there, the escorts decided to head directly to Israel. 'Hamossad for Aliyah B' was informed of the ship's diversion from its scheduled route only on April 12th, when the ship made its first communication. Until then, the fate of the ship aroused much concern in Israel. On April 9th, two British reconnaissance aircrafts circled above the "Herzl" near Crete, but did not identify it as a Haapala ship because of the darkness. The following day, a destroyer search-lit the ship, and disappeared. On April 11th, the ship escorts began to prepare the immigrants for the anticipated confrontation. They made sure to load up on about 200 rubber sticks, knuckle dusters and some 50 gas masks before they departed. The forces were divided into areas, and the ship was set up with obstacles and improvised means of defense. Once contact was made with 'Hamossad for Aliyah B' HQ, the ship was requested to absorb the immigrants from "Shahr-Yeshuv." But due to the tough conditions on board the "Herzl," the request was cancelled.
A British destroyer spotted "Herzl" on the evening of April 13th, was it was about to enter the territorial waters opposite the Herzliya shore.
The destroyer tailed the sterns of the "Herzl;" under a shower of bottles and objects thrown by the immigrants, only seven out of the 30 takeover crew made it on board, aided by water hoses and tear gas. The British soldiers ran towards the navigating bridge but were faced with vigorous resistance. Due to its maneuvers and the wave fluctuations, the destroyer failed to transfer additional soldiers onto the "Herzl." The few soldiers that made it on board found themselves isolated and cut off on the navigation bridge. When they ran out of teargas grenades and feared the onslaught of immigrants, the soldiers began firing their personal arms that were intended for self-defense should their lives be in danger. They first fired above the immigrants' heads, but at some point, some of them thought the immigrants were returning fire, and they fired into the crowd. Meanwhile, another destroyer showed up at the scene, and the two-hour immigrants' resistance ceased.
The battle's consequences were tragic: Two immigrants died; Aharon Dov (24, from Czechoslovakia) and Pinchas (Estvan) Weiss (24, from Hungary.) Menachem Samet was critically injured (19, from Slovakia) and died of his wounds a few days later. 23 other immigrants were injured. When the confrontation was over, the British provided medical assistance to the injured, and transferred 16 badly injured immigrants to Haifa on board a destroyer.
The ship was towed to Haifa port on April 15th. On that same day, about 1200 immigrants were transferred onto four British corvettes that took them to detention camp No. 68 in Cyprus. The remaining immigrants were brought there the following day.
Some of the escorts pretended to be ill and managed to disembark with the ailing immigrants who were transferred to Atlit camp. They were rescued from there later on. Three other escorts hid in a 'Slik' between the water tanks on board, and were later rescued by a team of Jewish 'Solel Boneh' cleaners.
The incident on the "Herzl" and the large number of injured immigrants raised much fear and concern among the Yishuv institutions, regarding a change in the British policy against the Haapala. As a lesson learnt from the "Herzl" incident, 'Hamossad for Aliyah B' instructed the escorts to be more cautious during future resistance occurrences.