The Escorting Haapala Ships
In the midst of 1946, the Palmach came up with various action methods to increase the number of captured ships and crews. Those methods were approved by 'Hamossad for Aliyah Bet.' The 'Escorting Ships' method was one of them.
The confiscation of Haapala ships that were caught by the British caused severe financial damage to the Haapala movement; the reasonable fear of the foreign seamen being arrested also reduced their response to such an undertaking. In the midst of 1946, the Palmach came up with various action methods to increase the number of captured ships and crews. Those methods were approved by 'Hamossad for Aliyah Bet.' The 'Escorting Ships' method was one of them. According to this method, fewer ships risked captivity near the country's shores, without reducing the volume of immigrants.
It was decided that on some voyages, two Haapala ships would meet one travel day away from Israel. The immigrants would gather in one ship and its foreign crew would be replaced by an Israeli one, which would continue the voyage to the country's shores. Despite the great crowdedness (while keeping the ship steady) – this method was elected to enable repeated use of the vacated ship, and a continued collaboration with most of the foreign crew. Moreover, it served as proof of the efforts made by Haapala organizers to prevent the capturing of foreign crew by the British – proof that could convince other seamen.
The method was first implemented in the "Haviva Rayik" Haapala ship, which was aided by the "Rafi" escort ship on June 1946. "Rafi" also escorted the "Henrietta Szold" Haapala ship on August 1946. The "Albertina" escort ship transferred immigrants at sea to the following Haapala ships: "Palmach" (on September 1946), "Bracha Fuld (on October 1946), "Shabtay Luzinsky" (on March 1947) and "Shahr-Yeshuv" (on April 1947.) The "Albertina" was scheduled to transfer immigrants to the "Kadima" ship on November 1947, but due to communication difficulties, the "Albertina" arrived in Israel after breaking the British siege named "Aliyah." The "Abba Berdizhev" escort ship transferred immigrants to the "Knesset Israel" ship, after the latter one hit a storm and crashed on November 1946.
Some meetings between Haapala ships and escort ships did not pan out due to failures like: Stormy weather, bad wireless communication and the permitted number of immigrants. "Habarak" was scheduled to escort "Haim Arlosoroff" in early 1947; "Herzl" was scheduled to absorb the "Shahr-Yeshuv" immigrants on April 1947; "The Fourteen fallen of Gesher A-Zib" was scheduled to absorb the "Shivat Zion" immigrants in July 1947; and the "Jewish State" was scheduled to absorb the "Geula" immigrants on September1947. In those cases (apart from "Habarak") both ships eventually made it to Israel.
It was decided that on some voyages, two Haapala ships would meet one travel day away from Israel. The immigrants would gather in one ship and its foreign crew would be replaced by an Israeli one, which would continue the voyage to the country's shores. Despite the great crowdedness (while keeping the ship steady) – this method was elected to enable repeated use of the vacated ship, and a continued collaboration with most of the foreign crew. Moreover, it served as proof of the efforts made by Haapala organizers to prevent the capturing of foreign crew by the British – proof that could convince other seamen.
The method was first implemented in the "Haviva Rayik" Haapala ship, which was aided by the "Rafi" escort ship on June 1946. "Rafi" also escorted the "Henrietta Szold" Haapala ship on August 1946. The "Albertina" escort ship transferred immigrants at sea to the following Haapala ships: "Palmach" (on September 1946), "Bracha Fuld (on October 1946), "Shabtay Luzinsky" (on March 1947) and "Shahr-Yeshuv" (on April 1947.) The "Albertina" was scheduled to transfer immigrants to the "Kadima" ship on November 1947, but due to communication difficulties, the "Albertina" arrived in Israel after breaking the British siege named "Aliyah." The "Abba Berdizhev" escort ship transferred immigrants to the "Knesset Israel" ship, after the latter one hit a storm and crashed on November 1946.
Some meetings between Haapala ships and escort ships did not pan out due to failures like: Stormy weather, bad wireless communication and the permitted number of immigrants. "Habarak" was scheduled to escort "Haim Arlosoroff" in early 1947; "Herzl" was scheduled to absorb the "Shahr-Yeshuv" immigrants on April 1947; "The Fourteen fallen of Gesher A-Zib" was scheduled to absorb the "Shivat Zion" immigrants in July 1947; and the "Jewish State" was scheduled to absorb the "Geula" immigrants on September1947. In those cases (apart from "Habarak") both ships eventually made it to Israel.