Page 635 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

635
ActA
Operations “Escort & Raviv”

Benny MICHELSOHn

uring the War of Attrition, the main operational theater of the Israel Navy was
D the Red Sea. The Egyptians initiated continuously firing, bombardment and raids
on the eastern coast causing the IDF (Israel Defence Force) paining losses. There was
a need for retaliation acts against targets that will surprise the enemy at the area where
he feels confident and does not expect any raids from the sea. The Israel Navy units at-
tacked the targets located on the western coast of the Gulf of Suez and this way shifted
the war to the enemy’s territory.
The most dominant operations, in which all of IDF arms participated, were “Escort”
and “Raviv” Operations - Commando raid and armored attack on the western shore and
amidst of the Gulf of Suez. During the night of September 7th -8th, SOF attacked the
Ras Sa’adat anchorage by two “Pigs” and sank two Egyptian P-183 Class torpedo boats
in order to achieve naval freedom of operations. In that raid three soldiers of the flotilla
were KIA on their way back due to an accident. The day after, tank landing-crafts, landed
armored forces on the Abu-Drage shore. The force attacked guarding posts, army bases
and radar stations, caused much damage and many losses among the enemy’s lines. The
operation shocked Egypt. The Egyptian Chief of General Staff and commander in Chief
of the Egyptian navy were dismissed from their duties by Nasser and he himself got
heart attack. The media all over the world responded to this daring operation with great
headlines.

Pre-landing survey
On 25 of July 1969, landing beach survey was carried-on towards a large scale ride
th
by armor force on the west bank of Suez gulf. The survey action was carried on 17 July
by 707 Unit (defensive divers). The results were negative and the operation was post-
poned until finding proper beach.

Operation “Raviv Katan”
On August 13, 1969, a S - 13 force set out to survey a landing beach on the west
coast of the Gulf of Suez. A team of two “pigs” and four swimmers, all under the com-
mand of Lt Commander Emanuel Paz (“Paulin”), was towed from Ras Sudar by a pair of
Bertrams. After eight miles, the “pigs” headed off towards the Egyptian coast, while the
Bertrams returned to the middle of the Gulf and waited for the commandos to complete
the mission. Several critical discoveries were made over the course of the patrol. The
beach found to be appropriate for an armed landing.
It basically served as a “live model” for the sinking action and important data was
secured about the enemy’s patterns of behavior.