Yildirim – Habarak – The Ship That Didn't Make It
The original name of "Habarak" Haapala ship was Yildirim/Yilderan in Turkish. The ship was not given another name because it never made it to Israel.
The original name of "Habarak" Haapala ship was Yildirim/Yilderan in Turkish. The ship was not given another name because it never made it to Israel. It was prepared for its journey to Israel from the Marseille port in France by Nachum Carmeli and Shaul Meirov (Avigur.)
The ship's first mission was to escort the "Haim Arlosoroff" Haapala ship that arrived at the Mediterranean from Sweden in early 1947. According to plan, the "Haim Arlosoroff" immigrants were scheduled to transfer at sea onto "Habark," which would take them to Israel.
The plan was cancelled due to a fire that broke out on board "Habark" upon leaving Marseille.
Once renovated, "Habarak" arrived at La Spezia port in Italy, where it was prepared to absorb about 600 immigrants. The ship commander was Yehuda Ben-Zur. The 'Gidoni' was Benny Geffen, who switched with Nachman "Bob" Burshtein, and flew back to Italy with Yehuda Burshtein (Ben-Zur.) On October 18th 1947, the ship left to pick up immigrants from Algiers. But it hit a bad storm on the way and its engine broke down. The "November 29" Haapala ship was summoned to rescue "Habarak," towed it to an anchorage in the northern Sardinia and took on the rest of "Habarak" mission.
The ship's first mission was to escort the "Haim Arlosoroff" Haapala ship that arrived at the Mediterranean from Sweden in early 1947. According to plan, the "Haim Arlosoroff" immigrants were scheduled to transfer at sea onto "Habark," which would take them to Israel.
The plan was cancelled due to a fire that broke out on board "Habark" upon leaving Marseille.
Once renovated, "Habarak" arrived at La Spezia port in Italy, where it was prepared to absorb about 600 immigrants. The ship commander was Yehuda Ben-Zur. The 'Gidoni' was Benny Geffen, who switched with Nachman "Bob" Burshtein, and flew back to Italy with Yehuda Burshtein (Ben-Zur.) On October 18th 1947, the ship left to pick up immigrants from Algiers. But it hit a bad storm on the way and its engine broke down. The "November 29" Haapala ship was summoned to rescue "Habarak," towed it to an anchorage in the northern Sardinia and took on the rest of "Habarak" mission.